Praires Book Review of 'That Summer in Jasper Park' by Wayne Sherrard, 2025

An evocative, tender tale of first love set against the majesty of the Rockies.
Sherrard delivers an affecting, nostalgic tale of youth, freedom, and first love in his latest novel. In 1968, Wayne Sherrard takes a summer job at Maligne Lake, looking for nothing more than a little excitement before life closes in. The mountains give him that and more: friendships, freedom, and a brush with danger. But it’s Eileen, a bright, spirited young woman, who changes the shape of his summer, and perhaps his heart. 
Sherrard approaches the young couple’s relationship with restraint and honesty, letting intimacy grow out of silence, uncertainty, and small acts of care. It’s a romance that feels lived-in rather than written. The setting hums with the pulse of its time; the Beatles on every radio, weekends filled with laughter and dancing, and the quiet belief that the world was changing for the better, all come alive on the page. Beneath the novel’s romantic current lies something deeper. Wayne’s near-fatal mountain climb mirrors his youthful struggle as he tries to balance control with vulnerability. The Rockies—immense, detached, eternal—echo his human vulnerability and the hard-won clarity of self-discovery. Sherrard’s prose is clean and unadorned, perfectly suited to the clarity of the setting and the sincerity of the story he tells. Quietly nostalgic yet profoundly moving, the novel is less about grand plot twists and more about the quiet transformations that mark the passage from youth to adulthood. 
Readers looking for a wistful yet uplifting story about youth, freedom, and the risks of the heart will find much to savor here.

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