In writing the novel, Grainger drew on his experiences as a logger working in the coastal forests of British Columbia, Canada.
The accuracy of detail in Grainger's work has led it to be called "one of the finest examples of local realism in Canadian writing.
It is entitled Woodsmen of the West, is dedicated 'to my creditors affectionately,' deals with actual life in the Canadian woods, and describes vividly typical characters among the loggers.
One or two brief extracts will indicate the hereditary quality of the Grainger pen — shrewd, satiric, pungent, biting, and withal frank and kindly : Carter's egotism and lust of power are admirably depicted — ambition in the rough — tyrants of primitive civilization.
Young Mr. Grainger's book is exceedingly interesting to Australians opening up a great country under other physical conditions, but on the same human principles as in the land of the maple and the pine.