In the Skin of The Lion is set in the city of Toronto and surrounding rural areas during the years 1913 – 1938.
The novel brings to life the unsung and invisible manual labor that was instrumental in building the infrastructure of the city of Toronto, and landmarks such as the Bloor Street Bridge and the tunnel under Lake Ontario that now provides all of the water filtration for the city. The book stresses the contrast between the lives of the rich and the lives of the poor immigrant laborers, many of whom risked their lives in the dangerous work of building the the infrastructure of our city.
Some have argued that In the Skin of a Lion is a novel of Toronto in the same way that Tales of the City is of San Francisco or Devil in the White City is of Chicago. While the novel's main characters are deeply and skillfully described, the city of Toronto itself is just as well-developed and becomes another major character in the story.
"Then the new men arrive, the “electricals,” laying grids of wire acrosse the five arches, carrying the exotic three-bowl lights, and on October 18, 1918 it is completed. Lounging in mid-air. The bridge. The bridge. Christened “Prince Edward.” The Bloor Street Viaduct."
The book was published in 1987 and was a popular and critical success. It was Michael Ondaatje's second novel, prior to his "blockbuster", "The English Patient".
