ConsolationConsolation

When Professor David Hollis throws himself off a ferry into the frigid waters of Lake Ontario, he leaves behind both a historical mystery and an academic scandal. He postulated that under a building site lie the ruins of a Victorian boat containing an extraordinary treasure: hundreds of never-seen photographs of early Toronto, a priceless record of a lost city. His colleagues, however, are convinced that he faked his research. Interwoven into the contemporary story is a narrative set in the 1850s: the tale of Jem Hallam, a young man struggling to make a living so he can bring his wife and daughters from England. He establishes a photography business in Toronto, and sets out to create images of the fledgling city.