The Lawyer and the Laundress

Suntz debuts with a captivating tale of forbidden love and second chances in mid-19th-century Toronto. Sara O’Connor, 29, was disowned by her wealthy father after marrying a stable boy who later died of cholera; now a young window, she’s forced to work as a laundress at an inn to make ends meet. She crosses paths with widowed barrister James Kinney when he sends his precocious nine-year-old daughter, Evie, to etiquette lessons at the inn. James can’t deny he’s intrigued by the attractive laundress, but starts to worry when Evie befriends her, fearing Sara’s low social standing will reflect badly on his daughter. But there’s a lot about Sara that James doesn’t know—she’s started teaching Evie French, and has a repository of medical knowledge that comes in handy when Evie falls deathly ill. James and Sara bond while caring for Evie, but as their lives intertwine, Sara faces a past she thought she’d left behind and grapples with a faith she lost when her husband died. Suntz’s nimble prose burnishes the propulsive plot as the pair find their way to each other while tackling the social strictures that separate them. Fans of Julie Klassen and Laura Frantz will be transported. (June)