When Nature Calls: Life at a Gulf Island Cottage

Monika Rohlmann is an environmental consultant in Victoria, B.C.

When Nature Calls is a tongue-in-cheek book about the joys and
tribulations of cottage life on an island. The author speaks lovingly
and laughingly about his veritable Polynesia Canadiana— Saturna
Island—the warmest island in British Columbia’s “South Pacific.”


A newspaper columnist by trade, Nicol spews ruthless and witty
commentary on every aspect of island life: building a cottage, dealing
with neighbors and visitors, summer bugs, pesky tourists, the outhouse,
and much more. Like a modern-day Stephen Leacock, he explores the
idiosyncrasies (including his own) of the island denizens. Through his
microscope, we come to understand that this wonderful little island,
warts and all, is a microcosm of the larger world, a metaphor for
humankind’s struggle for Eden in an imperfect world.