In the skin of a lion

The novel follows the journey of Patrick Lewis, a young man from rural Ontario who moves to Toronto and gets caught up in the city's turbulent immigrant life. He works a series of dangerous manual jobs, including construction on the Bloor Street Viaduct and a waterworks tunnel under Lake Ontario, while also seeking a vanished millionaire named Ambrose Small. The narrative weaves together the stories of diverse characters, such as the anarchist Alice Gull and the thief David Caravaggio, highlighting themes of social inequality, identity, and the hidden histories of those who built the city's infrastructure.