Our Lady of Mile End

“Sarah Gilbert writes of an old neighbourhood that is disappearing and being born anew. Her stories are as vibrant and intimate as drinking a cup of coffee on a stoop while gossiping with a neighbour in their housecoat.” (Heather O’Neill, author of When We Lost Our Heads)

Recommended in The New York Times.Our Lady of Mile End is a neighbourhood of stories about gentrification and displacement in a once affordable area that is feeling the squeeze of social and cultural transformation. The overlapping lives of girls and women, tenants and landlords, neighbours and strangers, the old generation and the next chart the tensions and affections among people living in a community that has turned into a destination. Artists clean the homes of more affluent neighbours to make ends meet; a college professor bumps up against trigger warnings, cancel culture and privilege. As children confront the dark corners of the adult world, another generation reckons with their home turf shifting under their feet. This is an era of uncertainty, and sometimes menace, where the lack of privacy evokes village life. Yet when everything seems precarious, a neighbour who’s paying attention may make all the difference, reminding us that connection is still possible.

“Sarah Gilbert writes of an old neighbourhood that is disappearing and being born anew. Her stories are as vibrant and intimate as drinking a cup of coffee on a stoop while gossiping with a neighbour in their housecoat.” (Heather O’Neill, author of When We Lost Our Heads)