Invisible Line

A hostile government.

A desperate escape.

A sanctuary city that holds their future.

In a near-future New York crushed under authoritarian rule, history teacher Laek can no longer hide his radical past. After a brutal confrontation with the NYPD, he and his family must flee across the border—by bicycle—into Québec. Their only chance lies in convincing Montreal to grant them refugee status.

Janie, an activist lawyer, fights to build a new life while protecting her family in a transformed Montreal. Between legal battles and cultural adjustments, she discovers that sanctuary comes with its own challenges.

Their children, Siri and Simon, must navigate a new world where everything is different—the language, the culture, and their place in it. As they adapt to their refuge, they learn that sometimes the strongest borders are the invisible ones we create ourselves.

Will they find safety in their new home, or will the past catch up with them?

Su J Sokol is a social rights activist and a writer of speculative and interstitial fiction. Xe is the author of three novels: Cycling to Asylum, which was long-listed for the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic; Run J Run; and Zee, a finalist for the Janet Savage Blachford Prize for Children's and Young Adult Literature. Su's short fiction and essays have appeared in various magazines and anthologies. Originally from Brooklyn where xe worked as a housing rights lawyer, Sokol has made xyr home in Montréal/Tiohtià ke since 2004.