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Cover of In the Skin of a Lion

Literary Fiction · 2011 · PG-13

In the Skin of a Lion

by Michael Ondaatje

The hidden workers who built a city—and the lives invisible to history.

In the Skin of a Lion is a love story and an irresistible mystery set in the turbulent, muscular new world of Toronto in the 20s and 30s. Michael Ondaatje entwines adventure, romance and history, real and invented, enmeshing us in the lives of the immigrants who built the city and those who dreamed it into being: the politically powerful, the anarchists, bridge builders and tunnellers, a vanished millionaire and his mistress, a rescued nun and a thief who leads a charmed life. This is a haunting tale of passion, privilege and biting physical labour, of men and women moved by compassion and dri

For14+GenreLiterary FictionLength244 pagesRead time~6.5 hoursCommunity ratings0

This analysis was generated by AI from publicly available reader reviews, literary criticism, and book discussions. It has not been verified by a BookLens community reviewer and may contain errors. Be the first to verify →

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What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.

Violence

Some

Labor violence and some physical conflict in working-class settings

Language

Some

Moderate language

Sexual Content

Some

Adult romantic and sexual content

Substance Use

Barely any

No significant substance use

Emotional Intensity

Some

Themes of class, invisibility, and the psychological weight of erasure from history

What this book is about

Patrick Lewis searches for a missing millionaire in 1920s Toronto, uncovering the immigrant laborers—loggers, bridge builders, dynamiters—whose invisible work built the modern city in Ondaatje's lyrical, politically charged literary fiction.

Notes for sensitive readers

Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.

Some violence in labor conflict settings

Adult romantic content

Deaths of immigrant workers

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