Hopkinson's compelling work of magical realism and Jamaican-futurism explores the center of "donut cities" found when a higher caste group abandons a lower caste group in the historical center of a city. Ti-Jeanne and her matriarchal family headed by Gros-Jeanne, a healer, live in The Burn at the center of future Toronto. Left to fend for themselves, Ti and Gros-Jeanne build community and take down the leader of organized crime in this feminist page-turner.