Aahana Swrup
‘Every Year After’ presents a story about romance, betrayal, and redemption through the love story between two lifelong friends-turned-exes, Percy Fraser and Sam Floreck. However, as much as the characters shape the identity of the series, the setting itself also becomes a foundational nucleus of the story. The show takes place in Barry’s Bay, the Canadian lake town that is home to the Florecks and a beloved summer vacation spot for the Frasers. That is, until teenage heartbreak and all its ensuing complications drive Percy away from the town,n never to return again.
Ten years later, the woman, now an obituary writer, returns to the town to attend the funeral of Sue Floreck, her ex-boyfriend’s mother, who played a huge role in her teenage years. Upon her arrival, Barry’s Bay’s small-town nostalgia and its local lake, which has always been a source of inspiration for Percy, inevitably compels her to reckon with her own past and the wreckage of her relationship with Sam. For fans of the show, the central town will prove to be as significant to the narrative as any other part of it. Thus, its background remains worth exploring!
Barry’s Bay is a Real Small Town in Canada
The central town, which becomes the home to the on-screen nuanced romance that unravels between Percy and Sam, is actually based on a real eponymous small town. Barry’s Bay is a real community in Ontario, Canada, located in the township of Madawaska Valley. The town, with a population in the thousands, Barry’s Bay, houses the Kamaniskeg Lake, which remains its biggest attraction during the in-season. The town was also home to Carley Fortune, the author behind ‘Every Summer After,’ the literary source material on which Amy Harris and Leila Gerstein’s show is based.
Fortune grew up in Ontario’s small town of Barry Bay, forging strong memories of her own childhood and teenage years in the place. In a conversation with Hey it’s Carly Rae, the author spoke about her past and shared, “I grew up in Barry’s Bay. Our house was down a dirt road in the middle of the bush and on the water. I spent my summers much like Percy and Sam — swimming, reading, and when I got older, working in the evenings at my parents’ restaurant.” It wasn’t until 2020 that Fortune decided to use her own past in the lake town as inspiration for her debut novel. Fuelled by re-readings of her own journals and churning creativity, she created the fictitious characters of Percy and Sam, setting their love story in the familiar backdrop.
Every Year After’s On-Screen Barry’s Bay was Filmed on Bowen Island
Even though Barry’s Bay is an actual small town in Ontario, Canada, the on-screen portrayal of the similarly christened town in ‘Every Year After’ does not find a direct connection to the real place. Carley Fortune’s own literary counterpart of the town, its community, and local haunts err on the side of fiction, sporting made-up locations, characters, and histories. In the series, the visuals of the town also become disconnected from the real place.
For ‘Every Year After,’ filming primarily took place on Bowen Island, located in Howe Sound, British Columbia. Many of the local businesses and establishments of Bowen Island, such as Doc Morgan’s and Tippy’s Cookhouse, were used as filming destinations for imperative locations in the story. Therefore, a certain distance remains between the real Barry’s Bay and its on-screen counterpart. Yet, thematically, the Barry’s Bay that Sam and Percy grow up in remains intimately tied to the real-life location. Fortune’s literary depiction of the place, which becomes an integral touchstone for the on-screen portrayal as well, lends a sense of authenticity and realism that lives on even in the on-screen town.
Read More: Every Year After Ending Explained: Does Charlie Die?
