Stephanie Makes a Scene by Bruce Bishop

Anne of Green Gables is near and dear to a wide range of readers, Canadian literature enthusiasts, and especially special to those in the Maritimes and PEI. Classic stories of a young girl navigating life as an orphan in rural Canada, and Bishop honours all of that while reimagining the scene, characters and stories. At least his main character, Stephanie Whittaker, does as this author takes the reader on the journey of a playwright.

Stephanie Whittaker is the star of this novel after being introduced in a previous novel of Bishop’s, Grow Up, Rory Rafferty, as a secondary character. In Stephanie Makes a Scene, we meet her decades later and Rory takes the back seat. It is thrilling to connect the stories and see her develop into a promising older playwright, returning to Landers Cove, Nova Scotia at sixty-seven years old. Leaving Toronto in her rearview with the promise of rediscovering the love for the Maritimes and the place Rory has settled, and in search of herself, Stephanie’s stars align when a local community theatre options her play, an envelope-pushing take on Anne of Green Gables.

Stephanie’s stars align when a local community theatre options her play, an envelope-pushing take on Anne of Green Gables.

A project straight from the heart, Stephanie loves that the play is set to premiere in the Maritimes, where Anne is especially loved. All seems to be very promising until she meets with the manager of the local theatre who is vague, disgruntled and ruder than your average Maritimer. Arlee Antle, of unknown origins and intentions, dismisses the play, ignores the contract and encourages Stephanie to take her show on the road to Maine.

Trouble continues when Arlee is the bearer of bad and confusing news, passing on conflicting messages from her manager followed by mysterious phone calls with a stranger. With her friend Rory off on his own adventure, she makes herself at home in his home, meeting Rod, and feeling even more lost than she did in Ontario.

Arlee insists Stephanie’s script needed much work and that she would not be running the play in her theatre, at least until it’s tested elsewhere. With the help of neighbours, road trips and Maritime hospitality, Stephanie realizes she is onto something much bigger than her playwright career, and even smells a bit of romance on the saltwater tides.

Bishop has a way of making each character wonderful and with depth without belabouring their role. The plot moves along quickly with humour, a touch of romance and a tragic accident that may just ruin it all. Introducing fresh characters with devious intentions, Maritime friendliness and the classic reconsecration and transformation of a rural church, this story is a must have if you are a fan of the young red-headed Maritimer. And, while there may not be a light at the end of the tunnel, there is a lighthouse and a road trip to discover more of what brings Nova Scotia to life.

Unraveling and knitting back together this plot of promise, passion and particularly pleasant Canadian plots, Bishop invites his readers to challenge the norm and delight in the results.

Bruce Bishop, originally from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, has been writing professionally since the mid-1990s, primarily for travel, tourism and leisure freelance markets. He has written and contributed to several guidebook companies over the years, especially Fodor’s, Michelin, and DK Eyewitness Guides. From 2000 to 2002, he was the elected president of the Travel Media Association of Canada. In 2020 at the outset of the pandemic, he began writing fiction for the first time, and his debut novel Unconventional Daughters (Icarus Press) was published the same year. Based on its popular appeal, he chose to embark upon writing a trilogy, and the second novel, Uncommon Sons, was released in 2021. The final novel in the trilogy, Undeniable Relations was published in 2022. The coming-of-age Grow up, Rory Rafferty, set in 1979 Toronto, was published in 2024. Its follow-up, Stephanie Makes a Scene, was released in May 2026. All his books are published in affiliation with Icarus Press Publishing in Fredericton, N.B. He was one of five authors selected to read at the Read by the Sea annual literary festival in July 2023 and he read an excerpt from Undeniable Relations. Bishop is a member of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia and the Writers’ Union of Canada.

Publisher: Bruce W. Bishop/Icarus Press Publishing (May 8, 2026)
Paperback 5″ x 8″ | 210 pages
ISBN: 9781068862816

Sarah Butland

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I am a struggling artist, a challenging and challenged mother who always thinks she is failing, an emerging freelance writer and reporter, an author with my name on several books crossing genres and always hoping to find more readers who enjoy them.

I am also a successful artist, a wonderful and thriving mother of one, a reacher towards both people and dreams despite all of the turned backs and obstacles in my way. I am a thriving freelance writer and reporter, an author loved by enough readers to make it worthwhile and a discombobulated conundrum who loves to hear new music, tell new tales and meet new authors. And I’m doing something I always dreamed of doing – reviewing books to support others as well as myself and my family.