Genevieve Graham just continues to impress with her dedication to researching and bringing to life aspects of Canadian history that most of us have never been taught or heard about before. Her latest book is set in 1960s Canada and features Marion and Sassy, two completely opposite women living in the same Isabella Street apartment in downtown Toronto.

Where Marion is a straight-laced psychiatrist who works at the Ontario Hospital (formerly the Hospital for the Insane) at time just before the mass deinstutionalization of Canada's psychiatric patients leading to an uprising of untreated unhoused people left on their own without access to proper care or medications.

Sassy on the other hand, is an aspiring singer and proud part of the counterculture movement whose brother voluntarily went to fight in the Vietnam war. She struggles with being the daughter of a real estate magnate (himself a veteran of the Second World War).

Marion and Sassy eventually strike up a moving friendship that sees the two women growing in their own distinct ways, taking chances and standing up for the causes that are dear to them. While this book relies on a lot of (at times) unrealistic coincidences, it is also full of heart, friendship, found family and amazing mental health rep.

Readers are sure to learn lots, especially thanks to the detailed historical notes section included at the end of the book. There are also a lot of fun Easter eggs sprinkled throughout that are sure to delight those who have read Graham's previous novels. I have no doubt this will be a favorite book of 2025 for me and I highly recommend it for anyone who has read and loved Kristin Hannah's The women.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review. To say I was eagerly waiting to get my hands on an eARC of On Isabella Street would be a gross understatement and it did NOT disappoint!!