German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) finds himself reincarnated on the Ward's Island ferry dock in Toronto. He befriends island resident and psychotherapist Ainsley Gidding. Mixing into their eccentric affair are island airport politics and a civic uprising in downtown Toronto against a G20-like Summit that evokes the 1930s resistance against Fascism in Berlin. Brecht is caught in the police sweep and thrown into a temporary jail with hundreds of other civilians.

Ainsley's exertions at translating modern life to Brecht while trying to remain resolutely apolitical lead to their escape to Berlin where time takes another half-twist around these two mismatched lovers. Past pierces Present in a startling conclusion that may help explain what brought Ainsley and Brecht together.

Sarah Sheard is the author of two other critically acclaimed novels, The Swing Era, and the national bestseller The Hypnotist. Sarah won the 45 Below Award for her fiction, and a National Magazine Award for her essay on the Coach House Press. She lives in Toronto, where she mentors writers at Humber College and Ryerson Polytechnic University, and maintains a private practice as a psychotherapist and mediator.

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