WORD UNDER THE STREET
You know when you see a stranger on the subway immersed in a book and you’re just dying to know what they’re reading? Well, we asked for you.
Jean Walker, 75, retired
Book: Ladybug, Ladybug by W.O. Mitchell Stop: College Walker loves to read on the TTC since no one bothers you there — except for Toronto Star reporters seeking subway-riding book reviewers, of course (sorry Jean). She delved into Ladybug, Ladybug by the Canadian author and dramatist, W.O. Mitchell, because she enjoyed a few of his other novels, including The Kite and According to Jake and the Kid. Ladybug is the story of a lonely widower who opens his home to an actress and her young daughter. Walker says the plot rings true. “It’s real life, you know?” she said. However, she could do without all the swearing. “I guess I’m a prude,” she shrugged.
Marjorie Lecker, 50, casting director
Book: The Sewing Circle by Axel Madsen Stop: Bloor In the golden age of Hollywood, onscreen sex symbols such as Marlene Dietrich had to keep their sexuality under wraps. She and many other starlets were part of a secret lesbian society known as the Sewing Circle, the subject of Madsen’s book. For an actor to come out at the time was tantamount to “box office poison,” said Lecker, who has worked in the movie biz for more than 20 years.
Sarah Soucy, 28, student
Book: Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan Stop: Osgoode When she was about Soucy’s age, the author of Brain on Fire started to show symptoms of a mysterious mental illness. Cahalan describes her month-long struggle with that disease — anti-NMDA receptor autoimmune encephalitis — relying on doctors’ notes, hospital video and her parents’ memories. For Soucy, a nursing student, the book may be a window into the heads of future patients. “It seems as though the healthcare staff are really nice to her,” Soucy said, “but it’s nice to have that background, how scared someone is when they have an undiagnosed illness.”
Maria Lemos, 52, cleaner
Book: As Aventuras de Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Stop: St. Andrew Lemos sees mysteries everywhere and is keen to unravel them. Police and detective stories are her favourite. She’s reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, translated into her native Portuguese. “He’s a very smart guy,” Lemos said about the sleuth of 221B Baker St. “I have lots of things in my life he could solve,” she noted, with a laugh.