Kamaniskeg “Lake Girl” gets shout-out from PM

With the release of its December issue on November 13th, Toronto Life magazine announced its list of 50 most influential Torontonians of 2025. The magazine’s No.1 pick is Prime Minister Mark Carney, thanks to his pro-Canadian stance against Donald Trump. In a video acknowledging the accolade from Toronto Life, Carney said he was honoured to be included and listed some of his fellow TL50 influencers – including story teller and Madawaska Valley native, Carley Fortune. Above: Carley Fortune at 2022 author talk in Barry’s Bay (Photo: Facebook/Madawaska Valley Public Library)

Sorry Mr. Prime Minister, the TL50 may be new for you but Fortune has been here before – her internationally-acclaimed successes as a romance novelist have kept her in the TL top 50 since 2023. With the release of her second book, Meet me at the Lake, Fortune captured the No.21 spot in Toronto Life’s list that year because “Meghan and Harry love her books” a reference to the fact that their production company Archewell Productions had optioned her first story, Every Summer After, a stunning debut novel set in Barry’s Bay. While it is a standalone read, fans around the world celebrated the return of the same characters as they met again in the Valley for One Golden Summer. Fortune scooped the No.11 spot in 2024 for “turning up the heat on the beach-read scene.” And her ranking in TL this year is No.14 because “her steamy beach reads are unabashedly Canadian.”

Unsurprisingly Fortune’s One Golden Summer holds the No.2 spot among the top five circulated books so far this year at Madawaska Valley Public Library.

So no one in the Valley will criticize the PM for giving Carley Fortune a shout-out … after all, she is our very own Lake Girl whose work celebrates her home town! (More on this later in The Current)