ST. ALBERT, ALTA. – A new historical novel by K.J.K. Edgeworth is shedding light on the rich and sometimes turbulent history of southeast Saskatchewan. Shadows of Our Former Selves, released in November, blends fiction with real-life historical events, drawing from the experiences of the author’s own ancestors, who settled in the Bienfait and Estevan area in the early 20th century.
Edgeworth, whose given name is Kelly, was born into a family with deep roots in the region.
“My mother was born there, my brother was born there, and my great-grandparents immigrated from England to the Bienfait area, the coal mines there,” Edgeworth said. “So, we have a strong connection to Bienfait, Estevan, Carlyle.”
Although Edgeworth now resides in St. Albert, Alta., his ties to southeast Saskatchewan remain strong. He spent many summers in the area as a child and teenager, experiences that shaped the settings and atmosphere of his novel.
“The community of Bienfait – that's where the family graveyards are. That's where everybody that I know on my mother's side is resting now. So, I have a very strong connection to Bienfait,” he said. “During my high school years, junior high years, I spent all my summers there. So, when I was writing my book, in my mind, I was on the streets of Bienfait, and I was at Carlyle Lake.”
Bringing southeast Saskatchewan’s history to life
The novel, which spans the 1920s to the 1950s, explores significant moments in regional history, including the 1931 Estevan Riot, also known as Black Tuesday, when striking coal miners clashed with RCMP. It also follows the Â鶹´«Ã½AV Saskatchewan Regiment through its World War II training and battles, including the infamous Dieppe Raid and later campaigns in the Netherlands.
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​“The riot in Estevan with the coal miners, that's my grandfather's story to me,” Edgeworth said. “And my great-uncle that was serving with the Â鶹´«Ã½AV Saskatchewan Regiment and his trials and tribulations during the war years—that's, again, the facts that I know from researching my history background and remembering the stories that were told around the kitchen table.”
Edgeworth classifies Shadows of Our Former Selves as historical fiction, a roman à clef that incorporates real people and events while adding fictional elements to create a compelling narrative. While some characters and details remain true to history, others have been altered or imagined.
To create his main character, Edgeworth drew inspiration from an ancestor whose existence was only recently discovered.
“We found out that my grandfather’s family – I don’t think he knew – he had an older brother that died in the United Kingdom before they immigrated,” he said. “So I brought him back to life as the main character.”
The novel also captures the atmosphere of the post-war years, incorporating stories Edgeworth heard firsthand from his father.
“Especially after [the war], in the 1950s, his stories of working in the oil industry in Alberta and his stories that he told around the kitchen table when he came back from work,” he said.
Blending history and fiction was both a challenge and an opportunity.
“When I taught history, I always put myself in the boots of the people that are going through it,” Edgeworth said. “So when the Â鶹´«Ã½AV Saskatchewan Regiment was leaving Halifax and when they arrived on Christmas Day in Scotland, how would that go through somebody's mind? What would they be thinking about? What would they be worried about? What would they be excited about?”
Edgeworth spent 40 years as a high school history and social studies teacher, including time as a department head and curriculum writer. And he said he’s always written fiction, which no one has seen.
“I wrote it for myself, and then these stories started to accumulate in my head,” he recalled. “I was backpacking in the foothills of Alberta with my wife, going on the trail for about one or two days, and the storyline connected. All the stories that I wrote when I was in my teens, my twenties, my thirties, all of them connected in one central character, and it's like, okay, I can make this novel work from beginning to end.”
Edgeworth called himself an “accidental published author.”
“The original purpose was family history. And when I started working on it and getting some help polishing it up, I said, you know, this is okay, and maybe other people would like to read it.”
From the Prairies to Times Square
While Edgeworth may not have envisioned becoming a published novelist, his book’s reach has been wide. As part of his publisher’s promotional strategy, Shadows of Our Former Selves was featured in a New York Times Square advertising campaign.
“To honour my grandmother and my great-uncles and my great-great-uncle by having their images in Times Square – I don’t think they ever thought that would ever be a possibility, never did I,” he said. “So I decided to pull the trigger on that and say, well, let's do it.”
The cover of Shadows of Our Former Selves features real photos from Edgeworth’s family archive.
“The woman that's standing is my grandmother. And I'm guessing she's in her 20s,” he said. Seeing those images displayed in one of the world’s most famous locations was both surreal and deeply meaningful.
Although the campaign originally ran in January, Edgeworth’s publisher has indicated it may run again later in the year.
Connecting with readers and local promotion
Even as the novel reaches an international audience, Edgeworth is thinking about connecting with readers in the place that inspired the story. He is considering a visit to southeast Saskatchewan and may host an event at the Estevan legion.
“They were instrumental in a lot of the details I needed,” he said.
Edgeworth hopes local readers will see themselves and their community reflected in the novel’s pages.
“It's Bienfait, Estevan, Weyburn, Carlyle, White Bear Lake Resort,” he said, listing southeast sites included in the novel besides other places.
“And in my mind, as a kid growing up there, that's all part of who I am. It's all me from the 1960s to the 1980s, when I was growing up.”
Edgeworth’s book is currently available through online retailers listed on as a print-on-demand.
