As Julia Harrison’s first summer of living in Ontario approached, she became aware of the culture of the cottage. Friends talked of nothing but languid afternoons on the dock, but Harrison marveled at the investment of money and labour that the idyllic escapes demanded. Curious about the rich and passionate meaning these places seemed to hold, she studied cottagers in the Haliburton region over the course of seven years. Thoughtfully and engagingly written, A Timeless Place considers the family cottage as a place where memories are treasured, national identity is celebrated, spiritual balance is restored, and a few dark secrets are kept.

Julia Harrison's profile page

Julia Harrison is a professor of anthropology at Trent University and author of Being a Tourist: Finding Meaning in Pleasure Travel (UBC Press, 2002).

“Cottaging” in Ontario is a much-discussed phenomenon, and Harrison has set out to shed light on why people are so passionate about this form of domestic tourism. There is surprisingly little written on this, and her excellent book is both compelling and novel.

Marion Joppe, co-author of <EM>Challenges and Opportunities of Incentive Travel</EM>