When Carley Fortune began writing her first novel during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, she never anticipated having it published. Not only did Every Summer After land a spot on the New York Times best-seller list shortly following its publication in 2022, but now, readers who fell in love with Fortune’s protagonists (and their romantic saga that played out in the lakeside town of Barry’s Bay) can see the story brought to life in the Amazon Prime series, Every Year After. “When I wrote Every Summer After, we spent that summer at a cottage very close to where I grew up on the lake in Barry’s Bay,” Fortune, who is currently based in Toronto, tells Observer. “I was writing really early in the morning before my job, before my kid got up, and I was writing just for myself—I was trying to write about how I grew up and where I grew up.”
In the four years since the release of her debut novel, Fortune has written four more bestselling books, all of which are set in different picturesque locations in her native Canada. And while she notes that her writing process has changed, one thing that remains the same is allowing the location to serve as her foundation. “I need to know where the action takes place before I can figure out what that story will be,” she says. “And the settings so far are all places that I’m very familiar with, like Barry’s Bay, where I grew up, which is the setting for two of my books.”
In her latest novel, Our Perfect Storm, Fortune decided to re-explore the coastal town of Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. “I visited Tofino twice when I was in my 20s living on Vancouver Island, and I just fell in love with it,” she recalls. “There are ancient rainforests with trees that are like 300, 400 years old, and then the rainforest runs right into the beach. And the beaches are very moody and rocky with fog that comes and goes, so it has this kind of eerie, mythical quality,” she explains.
Much of the transportive quality of Fortune’s books comes from her lush location descriptions, a skill she credits to her 15-year career as a journalist. “I write everything down, I double-check everything that I’m doing; I pay attention to the smells and the way the light is,” says Fortune, who also returned to Tofino for research. “Because I write these sweeping love stories, and the emotions are so big, I think that having these real places grounds it all and helps you feel like you’re there with the characters.” For Our Perfect Storm, those characters came from a flash of an idea Fortune had while watching her kids play in the backyard. “I watched them chase a rabbit, and the rabbit kind of scurried under the hedges around our yard, and I just had this image of two children meeting this way,” she shares. “I thought about those kids for years, and eventually they became George and Frankie.”
Fortune is already working on her sixth novel, due out next year, and this summer, filming starts for a Netflix series based on her third book, This Summer Will Be Different. “We’re casting that now, and it’s going to be shooting in Toronto and on Prince Edward Island, where it’s set,” says Fortune. But in the meantime, it’s all about Barry’s Bay. “Amazon also has the rights to One Golden Summer [Fortune’s fourth novel, an interconnected standalone that features characters from Every Summer After], so the intention would be to weave One Golden Summer into the second season, but we’re just keeping our fingers crossed.” With Every Year After officially out on Amazon Prime, Carley Fortune spoke with Observer about the book’s onscreen adaptation and her current essentials, including the must-see spots in Tofino that inspired her latest book.
Carley Fortune’s Essentials
Her morning skincare routine
I love skincare, so I’ve got lots of layers, and steps and moisture going on. I wash my skin with this very soothing, I feel like it’s a cocoa butter cleanser, like a shea butter cleanser—I have super-sensitive, reactive skin. And then I use the SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic serum, love that. I have a Laneige toner I use that’s very gentle, and then I use a Dr. Jart hyaluronic acid that’s super-moisturizing. I’ve been changing up my moisturizer. Right now, I’m using a moisturizer from a Canadian natural skincare brand called Pure + Simple. They have spas throughout Toronto, but I think they ship to the United States, too. Their stuff is so good. I just bought three moisturizers from them…it just feels so, so good on my skin. And I have a SkinCeuticals tinted sunscreen that I use, an SPF 50.
SkinCeuticals.
SkinCeuticals
What she’s binge-watching
I just finished Hacks. I’m so sad that it’s done, I am such a Hacks fan. And then I’m in the middle of Off Campus. I’m loving that, and I’m so excited that it’s an adaptation of a fellow Canadian’s work, Elle Kennedy.
Off Campus.
Courtesy of Prime
What she’s reading
I’m reading this book by Allegra Goodman, and it’s called This Is Not About Us. I’ve been traveling so much for the book tour and for the show, and I keep trying to read and not being able to read, so I’ve been doing audiobooks. I just finished Famesick by Lena Dunham, but now I’m between audiobooks, so I’m trying to refinish this book. It’s really, really good, but it’s also many characters and many points of view, so it probably wasn’t the right one to pick up when I’m all over the place.
“This Is Not About Us” by Allegra Goodman.
Penguin Random House
Favorite vacation destination
If it’s not at the lake near Barry’s Bay, where the cottage is, I would be torn between Tofino and Prince Edward Island. I think going to Prince Edward Island now feels like going home, so Tofino still feels like a vacation. There are so many great places to stay there: Long Beach Lodge is wonderful, Pacific Sands is great, The Wickaninnish Inn is gorgeous. You should definitely go whale watching; it was a transformative experience for me. Tonquin Beach, when the tide is low, there’s this secret little beach you can get to where on the rocks are all these different kelps, and seaweeds and starfish. We call it starfish city because there are so many starfish: red, purple, orange, yellow starfish. And sea anemones in the tidal pools, these green and pink sea anemones; it’s incredible.
There’s this place called Hot Springs Cove, where you can only get to it by boat or a little seaplane. You do this walk through the rainforest on this raised wooden trail—it’s like this 30-minute walk through the rainforest—and then you come across these hot springs, it’s just magical. The Pointe Restaurant at The Wickaninnish Inn is just out of this world food; there’s a restaurant right down on the harbor called the Shed. Pluvio, which is in the book, is probably one of the most memorable food experiences I’ve ever had. It’s in Ucluelet, which is the town kind of closest to Tofino, but honestly, there’s so much good food in Tofino, it’s hard to go wrong.
Wickaninnish Inn.
Marcus Paladino
Her go-to Toronto spots
Le Swan restaurant, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Flying Books and Diana’s Seafood Market.
Art Gallery of Ontario.
Donna Lay via Unsplash
What she’s traveling with
I wish I was a carry-on person, but I have far too much skincare and too many shoes to make it work. I have Away Flex suitcases, and I adore them. On the plane, I always have Caudalie face mist, noise-canceling AirPods and a book.
Away.
Away
Her “Every Year After” non-negotiable
The number one thing I was really adamant about was it being set in Canada. I read a version of the script—the first version of the first episode—over two years ago, and it was set in Barry’s Bend, Wisconsin. Having the show feel like the book was really important to me. An adaptation is not just taking a book and putting it onto the screen; there are, and should be, changes. But I think that it should be emotionally true to the story, and fans of the book should have a similar experience. Once Amy B. Harris came on board as our showrunner, it was in such good hands with her; she really understood the book, she really understood setting as character, she’s very empathetic, she’s really great at character development.
Carley Fortune with Matt Cornett and Sadie Soverall, who star as Sam and Percy in “Every Year After.”
Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Prime Video
