In the Skin of a Lion

A Novel

243 pages

English language

Published Jan. 23, 1987 by Knopf, Distributed by Random House.

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Bristling with intelligence and shimmering with romance, this novel tests the boundary between history and myth. Patrick Lewis arrives in Toronto in the 1920s and earns his living searching for a vanished millionaire and tunneling beneath Lake Ontario. In the course of his adventures, Patrick's life intersects with those of characters who reappear in Ondaatje's Booker Prize-winning The English Patient.

16 editions

Review of 'In the skin of a lion' on 'Goodreads'

In his trademark fragmented prose Ondaatje connects unlikely characters into a story with no beginning, no end and no questions answered. A construction daredevil turned baker saves a nun who falls from unfinished Bloor Street viaduct in Toronto, she turns into an actress and meets a dynamiter who's in love with her best friend, who runs away with a millionaire... Like in all his novels, Ondaatje waves beautiful prose, but completely disregards the storyline. Result is a confused mosaic of events which never fit into a complete picture - an equivalent of a beautiful puzzle with several center pieces missing.

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Subjects

  • Poor -- Ontario -- Toronto -- Fiction