Sweetly

A Novel

Follow the misadventures of free-spirited young schoolteacher Betty Wheatley – or Sweetly – as she’s nick-named by her handful of students at a remote school house in the Canadian wilderness. She soon encounters bears, risqué romance, revelry – and retribution from judgemental locals. An insightful engaging novel based on the real-life experiences of author Denise McKay, a former teacher at a one-room schoolhouse in the rugged British Columbia interior. Denise McKay was born in Vancouver and now resides in Ancaster, Ontario. She studied creative writing at Ryerson University and Humber College. She is a gifted writer and a highly creative artist in oil painting, acrylic, sculpture and pottery with many awards to her credit.


"When I heard Denise had written a novel, I was curious, but not surprised.
Once I started to read, the vivid world she was creating and the characters who lived there pulled me in. I couldn’t put the book down.
Informed by a lived experience, Denise takes us on a journey back in time to the early nineteen-fifties in the interior of B.C. There, a nineteen-year-old girl accepts an impossible job of trying to teach three different grade levels all at once, in a one-room schoolhouse, with a wood stove, and no plumbing.
The close quarters of a small community, creates something of a crucible where this young woman seeks to find her way through patriarchy, gossip, twisted minds and naysayers, into the warmth of friendship and the gradual discovery of her own values.
Denise McKay is a gifted painter with oil or words. Sweetly is a truly enjoyable read.
- Ian Thomas, singer-songwriter, author: Bequest and The Lost Chord


Denise McKay has written an insightful engaging novel based on the author’s real-life experiences as a former teacher at a one-room schoolhouse in the rugged British Columbia interior… A young, free-spirited woman walks off a ferry boat and into a new life dramatically different from anything she’s ever known... it’s a life-changing experience of bears, revelry, risqué romance, – and retribution from judgemental locals, for teacher Betty Wheatley – or Sweetly – as she’s nick-named by her students at a remote schoolhouse in the Canadian wilderness...”
- Michael B. Davie, author: The Late Man