List of fiction set in Toronto explained

A list of fiction set in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in whole or in part.

English

Novels

• Lovers and Strangers by Joyce Marshall (1957)
• The Meeting Point by Austin Clarke (1967)
• Cabbagetown by Hugh Garner (1968)
• The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood (1969)
• Cabbagetown Diary: A Documentary by Juan Butler (1970)
• A Fine and Private Place by Morley Callaghan (1975)
• The Engineer of Human Souls by Josef Škvorecký (1977, Translated 1984)
• Life Before Man by Margaret Atwood (1979)
• The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies (1981)
• The Martyrology Book 5 by B. P. Nichol (1982)
• Fables of Brunswick Avenue by Katherine Govier (1985)
• What's Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies (1985)
• In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje (1987)
• Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (1988)
• The Lyre of Orpheus by Robertson Davies (1988)
• Born To Lose (novella and stories) by Trevor Clark (author) (1989)
• Killshot by Elmore Leonard (1989)
• A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (1989)
• Barking Dogs by Terence M. Green (1989)
• Losing Joe's Place by Gordon Korman (1990)
• Murther and Walking Spirits by Robertson Davies (1991)
• Blood Price (Vicky Nelson, P.I.) by Tanya Huff (1991)
• No New Land by M. G. Vassanji (1991)
• Blood Trail (Vicky Nelson, P.I.) by Tanya Huff (1992)
• Blood Lines (Vicky Nelson, P.I.) by Tanya Huff (1993)
• Blood Pact (Vicky Nelson, P.I.) by Tanya Huff (1993)
• Headhunter by Timothy Findley (1993)
• The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (1993)
• The Innocence of Age by Neil Bissoondath (1993)
• The Cunning Man by Robertson Davies (1994)
• How Insensitive by Russell Smith (1994)
• Deadly by Nature by Meredith Andrew (1995)
• The Terminal Experiment by Robert J. Sawyer (1995)
• Moonlit Days and Nights by D. H. Toole (1995)
• Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (1996)
• Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels (1996)
• To Dance At The Palais Royale by Jane McNaughton (1996)
• Blood Debt (Vicky Nelson, P.I.) by Tanya Huff (1997)
• Blue Limbo by Terence M. Green (1997)
• Buying On Time by Antanas Sileika (1997)
• Where She Has Gone by Nino Ricci (1997)
• "1978" by Daniel Jones (1998)
• Brown Girl in the Ring Nalo Hopkinson (1998)
• Factoring Humanity by Robert J. Sawyer (1998)
• Noise by Russell Smith (1998)
• Flyboy Action Figure Comes With Gasmask by Jim Munroe (1999)
• A Witness to Life by Terence M. Green (1999)
• Sanctuary & Other Stories by Jennifer Duncan (1999)
• The Rules of Engagement by Catherine Bush (2000)
• The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (2000)
• Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer (2000)
• Courage My Love by Sarah Dearing (2001)
• Thirsty by Dionne Brand (2001)
• Margery Looks Up by Meredith Andrew (2002)
• Back Flip by Anne Denoon (2002)
• Making a Killing by Warren Dunford (2002)
• The Neanderthal Parallax by Robert J. Sawyer
  • Hominids (2002)
  • Humans (2003)
  • Hybrids (2003)
• Cat's Crossing by Bill Cameron (2003)
• The Double by Philip Quinn (2003)
• Doctor Bloom's Story by Don Cole (2004)
• Death in the Age of Steam by Mel Bradshaw (2004)
• An opening act of unspeakable evil by Jim Munroe (2004)
• The City Man by Howard Ackler (2005)
• Gently Down the Stream by Ray Robertson (2005)
• What We All Long For by Dionne Brand (2005)
• Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow (2005)(available online)
• The Secret Mitzvah of Lucio Burke by Steven Hayward (2005)
• Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam
• How Happy to Be by Katrina Onstad (2006)
• Consolation by Michael Redhill (2006)
• Blood Bank (Vicky Nelson, P.I.) by Tanya Huff (2008)
• Girls Fall Down by Maggie Helwig (2008)
• Barnacle Love by Anthony de Sa (2008)
• Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving (2009)
• "The Carnivore" by Mark Sinnett (2009)
• Dragging The River by Trevor Clark (2009)
• Holding Still for as Long as Possible by Zoe Whittall (2009)
• The Charlie Salter mysteries by Eric Wright
• The Jane Yeats mystery series by Liz Brady
• Ghosted by Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall (2010)
• Old City Hall by Robert Rotenberg (2010)
• Love On The Killing Floor by Trevor Clark (2010)
• Six Metres of Pavement by Farzana Doctor (2011)
• The Guilty Plea by Robert Rotenberg (2011)
• Dawn at the Royal Star by Jeff Sinasac (2011)
• Stray Bullets by Robert Rotenberg (2012)
• Kicking the Sky by Anthony de Sa (2013)
• Stranglehold by Robert Rotenberg (2013)
• The Placebo Effect (Junction Chronicles) by David Rotenberg (2013)
• A Murder of Crows (Junction Chronicles) by David Rotenberg (2013)
• Dream Caster by Najeev Raj Nadarajah (2013)
• The Glass House (Junction Chronicles) by David Rotenberg (2014)
• The Cheese Stealer's Handbook by Shoshaku Jushaku (2014)
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (2014)
• Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis (2015)
• The Unquiet Dead by Ausma Zehanat Khan (2015)
• The Society of Experience by Matt Cahill (2015)
• The Hidden Keys by Andre Alexis (2016)
• Ghost Pains by Alan Michael Beau (2016)
• The Language of Secrets by Ausma Zehanat Khan (2016)
• Heart of the City by Robert Rotenberg (2017)
• Among the Ruins by Ausma Zehanat Khan (2017)
• A Death in Sarajevo by Ausma Zehanat Khan (2017)
• A Dangerous Crossing by Ausma Zehanat Khan (2018)
• The Grimoire of Kensington Market by Lauren B. Davis (2018)
• Bellevue Square by Michael Redhill (2017)
• Ayesha At Last by Uzma Jalaluddin (2018)
• The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (2019)
• A Deadly Divide by Ausma Zehanat Khan (2019)
• The Diamond Queen of Singapore by Ian Hamilton (2020) The Ava Lee Series
• The Bank Street Peeper by Erma Odrach (2021)
• Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury (2022)
• Blood Like Fate by Liselle Sambury (2022)

Graphic novels

• Jellaby

Monster in the City by Kean Soo (2009)

• Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley (2004–2010)
• Skim by Mariko Tamaki (2008)

Short stories

• Toronto Short Stories by Morris Wolfe and Douglas Daymond (1977)
• Streets of Attitude: Toronto Stories by Cary Fagan and Robert MacDonald (1990)
• "People One Knows: Toronto Stories" by Daniel Jones (1994)
• This Ain't No Healing Town by Barry Callaghan (1995)
• Canada Geese and Apple Chatney by Sasenarine Persaud (1998)
• Concrete Forest by Hal Niedzviecki (1998)
• Natasha and Other Stories by David Bezmozgis (2004)
• Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood (2014)
• Immigrant City by David Bezmozgis (2019)
• Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta (2019)
• The Vinyl Cafe series by Stuart McLean
  • 1995 – Stories from the Vinyl Cafe
  • 1996 – When We Were Young: A Collection of Canadian Stories
  • 1998 – Home from the Vinyl Cafe
  • 2001 – Vinyl Cafe Unplugged
  • 2003 – Vinyl Cafe Diaries
  • 2005 – Stories from the Vinyl Cafe 10th Anniversary Edition
  • 2006 – Secrets from the Vinyl Cafe
  • 2006 – Dave Cooks the Turkey
  • 2009 – Extreme Vinyl Café
  • 2010 – The Vinyl Cafe Notebooks
  • 2012 – Revenge of The Vinyl Cafe
  • 2013 – Time Now For The Vinyl Cafe Story Exchange
  • 2015 – Vinyl Cafe Turns the Page

TV series

• Airwaves
• Alias Grace
• The Arrow
• The Associates
• Being Erica
• Billable Hours
• Bitten
• Blood Ties
• Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures
• Blue Murder
• The Border
• Captain Flamingo
• The City
• Connor Undercover
• Cracked
• Da Kink in My Hair
• Degrassi, including:
  • The Kids of Degrassi Street
  • Degrassi Junior High
  • Degrassi High
• The Detail
• Diamonds
• Dino Dan
• Dino Dana
• Drop the Beat
• E.N.G.
• Flashpoint
• Forever Knight
• Frankie Drake Mysteries
• The Great Detective
• Hangin' In, 1981–1987
• The Indian Detective
• King
• Kim's Convenience
• King of Kensington, 1975–1980
• Kenny vs. Spenny
• Life With Derek
• Liberty Street
• The Line
• The Listener
• Mary Kills People
• Material World
• Metropia
• Murdoch Mysteries
• The Next Step
• The Newsroom
• Nirvanna the Band the Show
• Once a Thief
• Orphan Black
• Our Hero
• Private Eyes
• Pure Pwnage
• Ransom
• Really Me
• ReGenesis
• Remedy
• Riverdale
• Rookie Blue
• Saving Hope
• Secret Millionaires Club
• Seeing Things
• Side Effects
• Straight Up
• Street Legal
• This Is Wonderland
• Total Drama Island
• Traders
• Train 48
• Twitch City
• Wojeck
• Workin' Moms
• The Zack Files

Film

• The Adjuster (1991)
• Ararat (2002)
• The Art of Woo (2001)
• Blood and Donuts (1995)
• Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2006)
• Breakfast with Scot (2007)
• Calendar (1993)
• Camilla(1994)
• Canadian Bacon (1995)
• Childstar (2004)
• Chloe (2009)
• Circle of Two (1981)
• Citizen Gangster (2011)
• Crash (1996)
• Dead Ringers (1988)
• Deadly Eyes (1982)
• Down the Road Again (2011)
• Dr. Cabbie (2014)
• Driven (2001)
• Enemy (2013)
• Every Day (2018)
• Exotica (1994)
• The F Word (2013)
• Foolproof (2003)
• Goin' Down the Road (1970)
• Going the Distance (2004)
• H (1990)
• Highpoint (1982)
• Hollywood North (2003)
• How She Move (2007)
• The Hurricane (1999)
• I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987)
• Ivory Tower (2010)
• Khaled (2001)
• The Kidnapping of the President (1980)
• Last Night (1998)
• Let's All Hate Toronto (2007)
• The Love Guru (2008)
• Monkey Warfare (2006)
• My Life Without Me (2003)
• Picture Day (2012)
• One Week (2008)
• Owning Mahowny (2003)
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
• The Silent Partner (1978)
• Sugar (2004)
• Take This Waltz (2011)
• This Movie Is Broken (2010)
• The Uncles (2000)
• Toronto Stories (2008)
• Turning Red (2022)
• Videodrome (1983)
• When Night Is Falling (1995)

Overviews

• Greg Gatenby's Toronto: A Literary Guide (McArthur, 1999) provides an encyclopaedic literary tour of Toronto places.
• Robert Fulford’s lecture from 1996 called: "The Invention of Toronto".
• Amy Lavender Harris' Imagining Toronto (Mansfield, 2010), a comprehensive study of literary representations of Toronto.

French

Novels

• Du vieux vin dans des bouteilles neuves by Frederick J. A. Davidson (1926)
• Ainsi parle la tour CN by Hédi Bouraoui (1999)
• Toronto, je t’aime by Didier Leclair (2000)
• Ce pays qui est le mien by Didier Leclair (2003)
• 69, rue de la Luxure by Paul-François Sylvestre (2004)
• Déclic à Toronto by Mireille Messier (2004)
• La première guerre de Toronto by Daniel Marchildon (2010)
• Toronto (érotique gay) by Bravery (2012)
• Tila à Toronto by Jean-Baptiste Mubalutila Mbizi (2013)
• Les dragouilles T.16 : Les bleues de Toronto by Karine Gottot (2016)
• À bientôt, Toronto ! by Louis Laforce (2021)
• Welsford by Claude Guilmain (2023)

Chinese

Novels

• Sun Bo (孙博)，《男人三十》 (Nanren sanshi) (Men in 30s)。北京：文化艺术，2000.
• Yu Xi 余曦，《安大略湖畔》 (Andalue hupan) (The Shores of Lake Ontario)。北京：作家，2005.
• Zhang Ling 张翎，《邮购新娘》(Dougou xinniang) (Mail order wife) 北京：作家，2004.

Short stories

• Zhang Ling 张翎，《雁过澡溪》(Yan guo zaoxi) (四川成都：成都时代，2006.
• Zhang Ling 张翎，《盲约》(Mang yue)。广东广州：花城，2005.
• Zhang Ling 张翎，《尘世》(Chen shi) (The world of flesh)。广西南宁：广西人民，2004.

Hindi

Films

• Bollywood/Hollywood. Deepa Mehta, 2002.
• Kismat Konnection. Aziz Mirza, 2008.

Tamil

Films

• Arasangam (2008)

References

• Imagining Toronto
• Essential Toronto Reads, Reading Toronto
• https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3526078/?ref_=rvi_tt