Inside the secret history of the Kootenay valley Doukhobors

Vera Maloff has grown up trying to learn the stories of her family’s history — ones they were hesitant to discuss. Now, she’s resurected those tales in her book Our Backs Warmed by the Sun: Memories of a Doukhobor Life.

She shares an insider’s perspective on the incarceration of both adults and children in Canada, and what it was like growing up in the Kootenay valley as a Doukhobor. It’s a departure from the scandalous headlines of arson and nudity, and takes a closer look at their pacifist roots and way of life.