Liberty Street
by Heather Marshall
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Women trying to survive the patriarchy, societal injustices and the money machine, but you know, within an amazing story based on true events. That’s Liberty Street.
An intelligently written story about blatant misogyny in 1960’s Ontario that digs into a law that could incarcerate women based on the flimsiest, most subjective reasons, as long as a man brought the case to a judge. Didn't fit societal norms? Postpartum psychosis? Unwed and pregnant? An unhappy husband with a grudge? That was enough.
Inside, the "treatment" was abusive with unnecessary, medically violating experiments included. One woman makes it her mission to expose the whole rotten institution; an abuse facility built to make money and keep the powerless in their show more place.
The past collides with the present through a female detective, carrying her own baggage, who lands a case tied straight back to that institution. Two timelines, two mysteries, woven seamlessly into one heck of a story about women's lives, psyches, and the fight against prejudice.
Don't skip this one, or the author's notes, there's some seriously interesting stuff in there. 4.5 stars for me.
I received an arc, through NetGalley, for an honest review. show less
An intelligently written story about blatant misogyny in 1960’s Ontario that digs into a law that could incarcerate women based on the flimsiest, most subjective reasons, as long as a man brought the case to a judge. Didn't fit societal norms? Postpartum psychosis? Unwed and pregnant? An unhappy husband with a grudge? That was enough.
Inside, the "treatment" was abusive with unnecessary, medically violating experiments included. One woman makes it her mission to expose the whole rotten institution; an abuse facility built to make money and keep the powerless in their show more place.
The past collides with the present through a female detective, carrying her own baggage, who lands a case tied straight back to that institution. Two timelines, two mysteries, woven seamlessly into one heck of a story about women's lives, psyches, and the fight against prejudice.
Don't skip this one, or the author's notes, there's some seriously interesting stuff in there. 4.5 stars for me.
I received an arc, through NetGalley, for an honest review. show less
A very well written book, telling a really interesting story, inspired by insanely horrific real-life events.
The author had important things to say and said them well. I'm really glad I read this, and never bored of it, constantly wanting to pick it up again. I felt the writing was smart but accessible, and that while the book is long, it didn't feel like it. There were a couple moments I felt things were delivered a little too heavy handed, but that didn't happen too often. I also really liked the formatting, the gorgeous cover, and appreciated the author laying out her inspirations and the history that inspired this story at the back of the book.
I often end up feeling prologues are pointless, but this one intrigued me, and the book show more keeps taking your mind back to it, wondering, so it was off to a great start right away. I remained curious and scared about the identity of Jane Doe throughout.
I usually find myself unhappy with dual POVs because I always care about one far more than the other, being unhappy when I have to return to the lesser one, but here I was engaged no matter whose timeline I was in.
While there's disturbing subject matter, the content isn't too hard to read. I'm glad things never devolved into "torture porn", as it was upsetting enough on it's own, and to be more descriptive about the cruelty would be unnecessary.
There were some misleads that I found very clever, not annoying or too much of a stretch like they easily could be; and some little things that barely stood out from the beginning, that you remember just enough to be happy about their comeback much later in the book, really impressing me with the writing at times.
I'm glad I got the Indigo exclusive edition with the bonus chapter, which I believe should be standard. It was important to me, and it's a bummer knowing not everyone is reading the book with this ending.
Our main character is a mixed bag for me. She is admirable in so many ways. Determined, brave, but also believable. She feels and wants differently than her peers, but isn't overly sure or confident, isn't unrealistically rebellious for her time. She has doubts and doesn't completely reject what's expected of her, she just wants options, to not have to sacrifice her job, and isn't afraid to stand up for herself for the most part. I think a lesser story would have made her more "not like other girls", and I was really impressed that that didn't happen here.
I love that she never judged anyone too harshly and that she genuinely tried to teach her fellow inmates how to type. Unfortunately, I often found myself incredibly frustrated with her decision making, wondering how anyone could be as clueless as she is. Some of it makes sense, and she comes to acknowledge her privilege and naivety which I appreciate, but there are still a couple things that I just don't think there's any excuse for - one of which led to the most heartbreaking part of the book, and it honestly made me hate her a little bit.
I thought all the side characters, even some unseen characters, and all their backstories, were interesting. I really felt for a grandmother we never really met, and came to love and want the most for one of the inmates above every other character. I lived for moments of comradery within the prison, and the partnership that developed between cops. The story of one of these side characters is also what I struggled with the most though. I ultimately felt quite bad for a character that I'm not sure we're meant to sympathize with much. While the author has said she deliberately avoided making this storyline too black and white, and the character herself even says to one of our main characters that things aren't always so cut and dry, it did feel like the book wanted us to side more with that main character. I'm not sure if it's intentional, but this character certainly seems to be part of the problem. A cop who can't really see the complexities in people - they're either good or bad. I found myself pretty satisfied with everyone's ending in this story, except for the ending of those two.
I may have some criticisms, but they're nothing compared to how strong and important of a story this is. This is a powerful book that was told very well and is easy to recommend. show less
The author had important things to say and said them well. I'm really glad I read this, and never bored of it, constantly wanting to pick it up again. I felt the writing was smart but accessible, and that while the book is long, it didn't feel like it. There were a couple moments I felt things were delivered a little too heavy handed, but that didn't happen too often. I also really liked the formatting, the gorgeous cover, and appreciated the author laying out her inspirations and the history that inspired this story at the back of the book.
I often end up feeling prologues are pointless, but this one intrigued me, and the book show more keeps taking your mind back to it, wondering, so it was off to a great start right away. I remained curious and scared about the identity of Jane Doe throughout.
I usually find myself unhappy with dual POVs because I always care about one far more than the other, being unhappy when I have to return to the lesser one, but here I was engaged no matter whose timeline I was in.
While there's disturbing subject matter, the content isn't too hard to read. I'm glad things never devolved into "torture porn", as it was upsetting enough on it's own, and to be more descriptive about the cruelty would be unnecessary.
There were some misleads that I found very clever, not annoying or too much of a stretch like they easily could be; and some little things that barely stood out from the beginning, that you remember just enough to be happy about their comeback much later in the book, really impressing me with the writing at times.
I'm glad I got the Indigo exclusive edition with the bonus chapter, which I believe should be standard. It was important to me, and it's a bummer knowing not everyone is reading the book with this ending.
Our main character is a mixed bag for me. She is admirable in so many ways. Determined, brave, but also believable. She feels and wants differently than her peers, but isn't overly sure or confident, isn't unrealistically rebellious for her time. She has doubts and doesn't completely reject what's expected of her, she just wants options, to not have to sacrifice her job, and isn't afraid to stand up for herself for the most part. I think a lesser story would have made her more "not like other girls", and I was really impressed that that didn't happen here.
I love that she never judged anyone too harshly and that she genuinely tried to teach her fellow inmates how to type. Unfortunately, I often found myself incredibly frustrated with her decision making, wondering how anyone could be as clueless as she is. Some of it makes sense, and she comes to acknowledge her privilege and naivety which I appreciate, but there are still a couple things that I just don't think there's any excuse for - one of which led to the most heartbreaking part of the book, and it honestly made me hate her a little bit.
I thought all the side characters, even some unseen characters, and all their backstories, were interesting. I really felt for a grandmother we never really met, and came to love and want the most for one of the inmates above every other character. I lived for moments of comradery within the prison, and the partnership that developed between cops. The story of one of these side characters is also what I struggled with the most though. I ultimately felt quite bad for a character that I'm not sure we're meant to sympathize with much. While the author has said she deliberately avoided making this storyline too black and white, and the character herself even says to one of our main characters that things aren't always so cut and dry, it did feel like the book wanted us to side more with that main character. I'm not sure if it's intentional, but this character certainly seems to be part of the problem. A cop who can't really see the complexities in people - they're either good or bad. I found myself pretty satisfied with everyone's ending in this story, except for the ending of those two.
I may have some criticisms, but they're nothing compared to how strong and important of a story this is. This is a powerful book that was told very well and is easy to recommend. show less
Trapped on Liberty Street
A review of the Penguin Random House Canada eBook ARC via NetGalley to be published February 24, 2026.
The ironically titled Liberty Street crafts a historical fiction around the exposé of the deplorable conditions in the Mercer Reformatory for Women (1890-1969) which was eventually closed and torn down. It is now the site of the present day Lamport Stadium in the part of Toronto known as Liberty Village. The southern boundary is Liberty Street which was the location of the previous prison gates and also where freed prisoners exited.
See plaque photo at https://andrewmercerreformatory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Andrew-Mercer-Ref...
Commemorative plaque at the site of the former Andrew Mercer Reformatory for show more Women in Toronto. Image sourced from Andrew Mercer Reformatory.
Author Heather Marshall provides a detailed Afterword which gives the background to her research of the Mercer Reformatory. Newspaper articles in the Toronto Star actually began the exposure. Marshall has turned that into a 1961 exposé in the magazine Chatelaine led by its editor Doris Anderson with an intrepid (fictional) young reporter Emily Radcliffe being the so-called "stunt girl journalist" who goes undercover to investigate the prison conditions. Emily is inspired by the work of the real life journalist [author:Nellie Bly|4372012] and her articles and book [book:10 Days in a Madhouse|3475243] (1887) exposing conditions in a mental institution in New York State.
The 1961 story is toggled with a later 1996 timeline involving the investigation of an unmarked grave by Ontario Provincial Police investigator Rachel Mackenzie in Southern Ontario. At first the connection between the two storylines is not clear and that raises the reader's level of suspense as you begin to imagine whose body from the 1961 timeline is perhaps being discovered 35 years later. No further spoilers on that from me.
The harrowing storyline of Emily's incarceration has its further horrifying background in the actual Ontario legal statue of the Female Refuges Act (1913-1964) which allowed for the imprisonment of young women for the slightest of reasons.
Heather Marshall has crafted a compelling tale which provides a shocking view into a somewhat "secret history" of the persecution of women in Ontario, Canada in a not that distant past.
My thanks to Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advance ARC copy for which I provide this honest review.
Trivia and Link
One of the sources for Heather Marshall's research was the memoir [book:Incorrigible|24383945] (2004) by Velma Demerson. The book synopsis reads:
A review of the Penguin Random House Canada eBook ARC via NetGalley to be published February 24, 2026.
The ironically titled Liberty Street crafts a historical fiction around the exposé of the deplorable conditions in the Mercer Reformatory for Women (1890-1969) which was eventually closed and torn down. It is now the site of the present day Lamport Stadium in the part of Toronto known as Liberty Village. The southern boundary is Liberty Street which was the location of the previous prison gates and also where freed prisoners exited.
See plaque photo at https://andrewmercerreformatory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Andrew-Mercer-Ref...
Commemorative plaque at the site of the former Andrew Mercer Reformatory for show more Women in Toronto. Image sourced from Andrew Mercer Reformatory.
Author Heather Marshall provides a detailed Afterword which gives the background to her research of the Mercer Reformatory. Newspaper articles in the Toronto Star actually began the exposure. Marshall has turned that into a 1961 exposé in the magazine Chatelaine led by its editor Doris Anderson with an intrepid (fictional) young reporter Emily Radcliffe being the so-called "stunt girl journalist" who goes undercover to investigate the prison conditions. Emily is inspired by the work of the real life journalist [author:Nellie Bly|4372012] and her articles and book [book:10 Days in a Madhouse|3475243] (1887) exposing conditions in a mental institution in New York State.
The 1961 story is toggled with a later 1996 timeline involving the investigation of an unmarked grave by Ontario Provincial Police investigator Rachel Mackenzie in Southern Ontario. At first the connection between the two storylines is not clear and that raises the reader's level of suspense as you begin to imagine whose body from the 1961 timeline is perhaps being discovered 35 years later. No further spoilers on that from me.
The harrowing storyline of Emily's incarceration has its further horrifying background in the actual Ontario legal statue of the Female Refuges Act (1913-1964) which allowed for the imprisonment of young women for the slightest of reasons.
Heather Marshall has crafted a compelling tale which provides a shocking view into a somewhat "secret history" of the persecution of women in Ontario, Canada in a not that distant past.
My thanks to Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advance ARC copy for which I provide this honest review.
Trivia and Link
One of the sources for Heather Marshall's research was the memoir [book:Incorrigible|24383945] (2004) by Velma Demerson. The book synopsis reads:
On a May morning in 1939, eighteen-year-old Velma Demerson and her lover were having breakfast when two police officers arrived to take her away. Her crime was loving a Chinese man, a “crime” that was compounded by her pregnancy and subsequent mixed-race child. Sentenced to a home for wayward girls, Demerson was then transferred (along with forty-six other girls) to Torontos Mercer Reformatory for Females. The girls were locked in their cells for twelve hours a day and required to work in the on-site laundry and factory. They also endured suspect medical examinations. When Demerson was finally released after ten months’ incarceration weeks of solitary confinement, abusive medical treatments, and the state’s apprehension of her child, her marriage to her lover resulted in the loss of her citizenship status.show less
This is the story of how Demerson, and so many other girls, were treated as criminals or mentally defective individuals, even though their worst crime might have been only their choice of lover. Incorrigible is a survivor’s narrative. In a period that saw the rise of psychiatry, legislation against interracial marriage, and a populist movement that believed in eradicating disease and sin by improving the purity of Anglo-Saxon stock, Velma Demerson, like many young women, found herself confronted by powerful social forces. This is a history of some of those who fell through the cracks of the criminal code, told in a powerful first-person voice.
This is the first book I’ve read by this Canadian author and I came away impressed by this historical fiction which alternates between two timelines.
In 1961, Emily Radcliffe is an editorial assistant with Chatelaine magazine. In order to investigate rumors of horrific conditions in the Mercer Women’s Prison, Emily goes undercover. She has her father tell a judge that Emily is uninterested in marriage, disregards curfew, and has no respect for authority so is in need of reform. This claim is sufficient to get her sent to the prison for six months. What she uncovers, she is certain will launch her career as a journalist.
In 1996, unidentified female remains are discovered in an unmarked grave in a small-town cemetery. Detective Rachel show more Mackenzie is tasked with unraveling the mystery. Her investigation leads to the now-shuttered Mercer Women’s Prison. At the same time Rachel is still dealing with the trauma of a family tragedy, details of which are slowly revealed through flashbacks to the 1980s.
A major question throughout is how the two stories will connect. Is the body that of one of the women in the prison during Emily’s time there? Rachel’s backstory, on the other hand, feels unnecessary. Her complicated and difficult relationship with her mother I found a distraction. Yes, it does touch on mental health issues, but there’s sufficient examination of that topic without this addition.
I appreciate how much research the author did for this novel. As explained by the lengthy Author’s Note at the end, the characters are based on real people. I enjoyed the portrayal of Doris Anderson, the long-time editor of Chatelaine, a magazine my mother read faithfully all her life. And the deplorable prison conditions depicted in the novel are based on actual conditions uncovered in the Andrew Mercer Reformatory.
I want historical fiction to enlighten me and that is certainly the case here. In particular, I learned about the Female Refuges Act, an oppressive law that made it easy to institutionalize women for subjective misbehaviour. Prostitution or pregnancy outside marriage were offenses but a parent could bring before a judge any female under 25 who was deemed unmanageable or incorrigible.
What is emphasized is the lack of women’s rights. Women had few choices; what was expected is that they conform to society’s expectations. The author notes that the prison was intended to reform women: “to instill the valued feminine virtues of the era – namely subjugation and docility – in the name of reform.”
I did have some issues with characterization. One character, Dr. Eris Stone, is almost a cartoon villain because she has no redeeming qualities. And then there’s Emily who is too naive. She is convinced that she will be given a 3-month sentence and that she’ll be able to cause a public uproar with her story. Even after all she’s heard and her own experiences with Dr. Stone, it never occurs to her that she could jeopardize her release by confronting the doctor? I understand that her naivety propels the plot and creates suspense, but it’s as if her time in prison has had no effect on her. Emily acknowledges being “green and naive and bursting at the seams with idealism” but it’s a bit late.
Sometimes the novel feels somewhat heavy-handed in its development of theme. For example, “Women who came from broken homes and poverty, who were ill in the mind or body. She could see now how those things limited a person’s opportunities, dictated the direction of her life as they forced her down paths that were rockier, darker and more dangerous than the ones Emily had been allowed to traverse” and “society always calls a woman crazy when she knows she is right about something, or when, like the ill-fated Cassandra of lore, she sees something the others cannot – or will not.” I prefer less telling and more showing; there should be no need to tell the reader what is already made obvious by events.
Despite some weaknesses, this book is a worthwhile read. It sheds light on women’s rights (or lack thereof) in the 1960s, on the conditions in reformatories, and on the treatment (or lack thereof) of mental illness.
Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/). show less
In 1961, Emily Radcliffe is an editorial assistant with Chatelaine magazine. In order to investigate rumors of horrific conditions in the Mercer Women’s Prison, Emily goes undercover. She has her father tell a judge that Emily is uninterested in marriage, disregards curfew, and has no respect for authority so is in need of reform. This claim is sufficient to get her sent to the prison for six months. What she uncovers, she is certain will launch her career as a journalist.
In 1996, unidentified female remains are discovered in an unmarked grave in a small-town cemetery. Detective Rachel show more Mackenzie is tasked with unraveling the mystery. Her investigation leads to the now-shuttered Mercer Women’s Prison. At the same time Rachel is still dealing with the trauma of a family tragedy, details of which are slowly revealed through flashbacks to the 1980s.
A major question throughout is how the two stories will connect. Is the body that of one of the women in the prison during Emily’s time there? Rachel’s backstory, on the other hand, feels unnecessary. Her complicated and difficult relationship with her mother I found a distraction. Yes, it does touch on mental health issues, but there’s sufficient examination of that topic without this addition.
I appreciate how much research the author did for this novel. As explained by the lengthy Author’s Note at the end, the characters are based on real people. I enjoyed the portrayal of Doris Anderson, the long-time editor of Chatelaine, a magazine my mother read faithfully all her life. And the deplorable prison conditions depicted in the novel are based on actual conditions uncovered in the Andrew Mercer Reformatory.
I want historical fiction to enlighten me and that is certainly the case here. In particular, I learned about the Female Refuges Act, an oppressive law that made it easy to institutionalize women for subjective misbehaviour. Prostitution or pregnancy outside marriage were offenses but a parent could bring before a judge any female under 25 who was deemed unmanageable or incorrigible.
What is emphasized is the lack of women’s rights. Women had few choices; what was expected is that they conform to society’s expectations. The author notes that the prison was intended to reform women: “to instill the valued feminine virtues of the era – namely subjugation and docility – in the name of reform.”
I did have some issues with characterization. One character, Dr. Eris Stone, is almost a cartoon villain because she has no redeeming qualities. And then there’s Emily who is too naive. She is convinced that she will be given a 3-month sentence and that she’ll be able to cause a public uproar with her story. Even after all she’s heard and her own experiences with Dr. Stone, it never occurs to her that she could jeopardize her release by confronting the doctor? I understand that her naivety propels the plot and creates suspense, but it’s as if her time in prison has had no effect on her. Emily acknowledges being “green and naive and bursting at the seams with idealism” but it’s a bit late.
Sometimes the novel feels somewhat heavy-handed in its development of theme. For example, “Women who came from broken homes and poverty, who were ill in the mind or body. She could see now how those things limited a person’s opportunities, dictated the direction of her life as they forced her down paths that were rockier, darker and more dangerous than the ones Emily had been allowed to traverse” and “society always calls a woman crazy when she knows she is right about something, or when, like the ill-fated Cassandra of lore, she sees something the others cannot – or will not.” I prefer less telling and more showing; there should be no need to tell the reader what is already made obvious by events.
Despite some weaknesses, this book is a worthwhile read. It sheds light on women’s rights (or lack thereof) in the 1960s, on the conditions in reformatories, and on the treatment (or lack thereof) of mental illness.
Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/). show less
This is a read that is going to linger with you, a time in History that was wrong, and reminiscent of Nellie Bly, but this is a fictional story, based with fact!
A dual split read 1961/1996, and based on The Female Refuges Act, passed in Ontario in 1913, allowed judges to commit women to industrial refuges for reasons like public intoxication and moral crimes. This act was repealed in 1964 due to increasing scrutiny over the conditions in these facilities.
A story that is built around this act, and through the words of the author we are transported into one of these horrible facilities.
A body found in an unmarked grave in 1996, and a journalist in 1961, and how do these two mesh together? We find out, and page turn for answers. Sad, yes, show more but there is closer in the end!
Be sure to read the author's notes, full of good information!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Ballantine Books, and was not required to give a positive review. show less
A dual split read 1961/1996, and based on The Female Refuges Act, passed in Ontario in 1913, allowed judges to commit women to industrial refuges for reasons like public intoxication and moral crimes. This act was repealed in 1964 due to increasing scrutiny over the conditions in these facilities.
A story that is built around this act, and through the words of the author we are transported into one of these horrible facilities.
A body found in an unmarked grave in 1996, and a journalist in 1961, and how do these two mesh together? We find out, and page turn for answers. Sad, yes, show more but there is closer in the end!
Be sure to read the author's notes, full of good information!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Ballantine Books, and was not required to give a positive review. show less
Engaging story with two timelines; a reporter trying to get the inside scoop on a woman’s prison, and a modern day Detective trying to solve the mystery of an unknown body discovered in a cemetery. I loved it.
Dual timeline story of Emily (journalist) and Rachel (investigator) of the Mercer Women’s Prison in Toronto. This is a historical novel of a journalist who is placed in the prison to reveal all the atrocities that are being done to the women in the prison. 25 years later, Rachel is assigned to identifying a body found in an unmarked grave.
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Author Information
7 Works 619 Members
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Liberty Street
- Original publication date
- 2026
- People/Characters
- Rachel Mackenzie; Emily Radcliffe; Annie Little
- Important places
- Mercer Women's Prison, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Huron County, Ontario, Canada; Clinton, Ontario, Canada
- Dedication
- This one's for Mum and Dad:
Proud parents to an incorrigible feminist. - First words
- Several people had already asked her what it was like to live across the street from a cemetery.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"With all of my heart, I hope."
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- Reviews
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- Rating
- (4.25)
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- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
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