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Cdnbookworm
Sep 10, 2011Cdnbookworm rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This wonderfully quirky novel absolutely enthralled me. Great story, great characters, great writing. Kip is a young woman who works hard at a variety of self-employed endeavors, making a living and enjoying her life. As the story begins, she and her boyfriend are entering a house under renovation, driven there by Mani's outrace at the house owner's attack against their livelihood. Things go horribly wrong. Kip, in shock, agrees to a deal in exchange for her silence, and wanders back into the night. We learn about her life in Kensington Market; her roommate Nancy, who has been politically motivated by the actions of Mayor Ford; her friend Henry, who moons after Nancy; the Ghost, who also shares the apartment with Nancy and Kip; and Kip's father Lionel, who has secrets he hasn't given up yet. We also learn about Pat York, the young man who caused Mani's antigonism, and about his life and how he became the man he is now, and how he turns into a different man. There is wonderful humour here, social commentary, and Dixon gives a real picture of Toronto in the present day.