Sarah Henstra

Event: What Women Write

Bio: Sarah Henstra is a professor of English at Ryerson University, where she teaches courses in Gothic Literature, Fairy Tales & Fantasy, and Women in Fiction. Some of her best story ideas come from class discussions. She lives in Toronto with her husband, two sons, and a poodle named Nora. Mad Miss Mimic is her first novel.

Book: Mad Miss Mimic, Razorbill

Synopsis: London, 1872. The city is gripped by opium fever and seventeen-year-old heiress Leonora Somerville is preparing to be presented to society—again. Leo has a curious speech disorder causes her to stutter but also allows her to imitate other people's voices flawlessly. Leo's brother-in-law Dr. Dewhurst and his new business partner Francis Thornfax are frontrunners in the race to patent an injectable formula of opium. Friendly, forthright, and devastatingly handsome, Thornfax seems immune to the gossip about Leo's "madness." But their courtship is endangered from the start. As the city erupts in violence, Leo finds herself in the middle of a dangerous plot. But before she can stop it, she must find her voice.