From the highways of Cairo to the outports of Newfoundland, the soul-crushing cubicles of Montreal city work and the deceptive perils of the Quebec countryside, these brilliant short stories lay bare the workings of power and the small acts of both courage and compromise by which those on the margins defy them.

Marshy’s distinctive style and untamed strength guides the reader in an electrifying high-wire act through the inner lives of refugees, queers in love and grief, wives, workers, and so many others fighting their way out from under.

Beautifully cohesive across a stunning depth and range of setting and subject, no one is innocent in My Thievery of the People.

Leila Marshy is of Palestinian-Newfoundland parentage, which might explain a lot. She has worked for the Palestine Hospital in Cairo, the Palestinian Mental Health Association in Gaza, and Medical Aid for Palestine in Montreal. She founded a ground-breaking community group bringing Hasidim and their neighbours together for dialogue. She’s been a baker, a chicken farmer, an early mobile app designer, a film editor and a political campaigner. Her stories, poetry and articles have appeared in journals, newspapers, magazines and anthologies. Her first novel, The Philistine, was published in 2018. She lives in Montreal.