Stephanie Makes a Scene by Bruce W. Bishop

Review by Anne Smith-Nochasak

In Grow Up, Rory Rafferty, author Bruce Bishop introduced us to the unforgettable characters Rory Rafferty and Stephanie Whittaker, two young Maritimers reaching for their dreams in late 1970s Toronto. In that novel, Stephanie was already living in Toronto, striving to make her way as an actress. Rory was just arriving, planning to work as a busboy while gaining the expertise and cash necessary to start his own seafood restaurant back home. The novel focused on interpersonal connections and the wonders of youth—a time when dreams can still happen and friendships are based on loyalty, not the connections they bring. A marvellous story that celebrates friendship and dreams but does not shy away from the harsh realities of life, especially those facing the LGBTQ2S+ community.

In his new novella Stephanie Makes a Scene, we visit Stephanie and Rory forty years later, when they are back in Nova Scotia, still following dreams, still placing friendship above everything. Stephanie has built a life in Toronto and has had a quiet career of small roles and insignificant accomplishments, but retains hope for major recognition in a reimagined Anne of Green Gables that she has written. She now has a venue for its production—at the Wigmaq Community Theatre in Rory’s Lander’s Cove.

Rory, meanwhile, is the proprietor of the successful Harold’s Seafood Place there. As he is taking a sabbatical in Australia, Stephanie moves in to be his house sitter while she directs her play. The scene is set for a peaceful summer of rehearsals, small rewrites, and the amenities of life in Lander’s Cove.

This, however, is not the scene Stephanie will make! On the first page, we meet our antagonist, Arlee, who pronounces the first rehearsal an “effing disaster,” says a parent has made objections, and suggests moving the play to a new producer and playhouse—in Portland, Maine. They will just change the name, model it on Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm to appeal to an American audience, and start production.

Cape Breton-born Stephanie does not agree, and the battle is on. It seems this is not the first time Arlee and her friend Jason in Maine have conspired to steal a playwright’s work. They have not, however, bargained on Stephanie and the host of friends who join forces to support her in producing her play in accordance with her vision. Noteworthy among these is Rod, the chef of Harold’s Seafood Place, with whom Stephanie forges a friendship that has romantic undertones. Then there is Winnie, theatre volunteer, dishwasher, and talented cook, whose partner Genny is a retired American lawyer. We meet Bernadette, an Elder who is a theatre enthusiast with both connections and determination to see Stephanie’s play succeed. And others will join in when they are needed.

Beneath its calm surface, Lander’s Cove is a seething mass of intrigue: a theatre is a channel for money laundering, the limits of American copyright law are probed, and a battle over creative content is waged. We see Arlee at her most nefarious as she researches ways to best direct AI in rewriting Anne’s Odyssey, while her colleague Jason has no qualms about stealing the play because “You can’t copyright an idea.” There will be life-changing events, and Rory Rafferty himself will return to the scene to support his friends. And when Stephanie does indeed make a scene, I will only say that it is not on stage. But it is magnificent, with a cast of true friends.

Characterizations are again rich and many-layered; with dialogue, thoughts, actions, and reactions consistent to character, we feel like these are people in our actual lives. I had a strong sense of “catching up” with my old friends Rory and Stephanie, and seeing that friendship and kindness still define them. The plot moves along at a good pace, with true-to-life events and the right touch of humour. The explorations on copyright of written material and the uses of artificial intelligence in the generation of—or rewriting—creative content will be of special interest to writers, and fascinating for all readers as well. As well, the exploration of American politics is well done; the character of Jason, notable for his misogynistic references, putdowns about the fifty-first state, arrogance, and greed, is neatly juxtaposed by calm, clinical, but fair-minded Genny, also American, who takes him on. He should not have called her “Little lady.”

I strongly encourage you to read this novella for its delightful and also its sinister characters, for a plot that comes together uniquely, for its clear prose, and for the author’s subtle humour. If you have already read Grow Up, Rory Rafferty, you now have the opportunity to catch up with old friends and meet some new ones. But even if you have not read the earlier book, this is a fine read on its own. After you read it, I suggest you seek out the first book, and learn of their adventures in that long ago time, when they were young and life was just beginning.

My thanks to author Bruce Bishop and The Seaboard Review of Books for the opportunity to read this one.

About the Author

Bruce W. Bishop is in Act III of his life and began writing fiction in 2020 at the outset of the pandemic. He had been a freelance travel writer and author for over a decade, and he loves making up entertaining stories about people who always surprise others, and often, themselves. Bishop lives in Nova Scotia, Canada, where he was born and raised.

About the Reviewer

Anne M. Smith-Nochasak grew up in rural western Nova Scotia, where she currently teaches part-time after years in northern communities. She has self-published four novels with Friesen Press: A Canoer of Shorelines (2021), The Ice Widow (2022), and two books in the Taggak Journey trilogy: River Faces North (2024) and River Becomes Shadow (2025). A member of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia, Anne enjoys incorporating local settings into her writing. In her spare time, she likes reading, kayaking, gardening, renovating, and exploring the woods with her golden dog, Shay, while her cat, Kit Marlowe, oversees the house. Anne can be contacted through her website. https://www.acanoerofshorelines.com/

Book Details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bruce W. Bishop & Icarus Press Publishing

• Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 6 2026

• Language ‏ : ‎ English

• Print length ‏ : ‎ 210 pages

• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1068862815

• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1068862816