The books that inspired this year's TIFF lineup

The Snowden Files by Luke Harding

This is the story of whistle-blower Edward Snowden who made headlines in 2013 after exposing classified files from America’s National Security Agency that detailed enormous privacy breaches and surveillance. If you love conspiracies, this book is for you.

Nocturnal Animals by Austin Wright

Previously named Tony and Susan, this book follows Susan Morrow, a suburban wife who is forced to face her past after she receives a manuscript of her first husband’s unpublished novel.  She gets caught up in her ex’s thriller and her orderly life takes a violent turn.

American Pastoral by Phillip Roth

Swede Levov is living the American dream: he is a former high-school athlete who married a former beauty queen. But in 1968, the effects of the social and political disorder in America begin to ruin his perfect family life.

Lion, Based on A Long Way Home by Sario Brierley

After getting lost on a train in India when he was five years old, Saroo Brierley gets separated from his family and survives for weeks on the streets of Calcutta before getting adopted by an Australian couple. In this autobiographical work, Brierly tells the story of searching for his biological family and what happens when he finally finds what he’s looking for.  

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

This story explore’s 13-year old Conor’s struggle to understand his mother’s terminal cancer. Every night at 12:07 a monster visits Conor, but rather than being feared, he becomes a friend who tells Conor stories and helps him cope with the trauma of losing a loved one.

The Queen Of Katwe: A Story Of Life, Chess, And One Extraordinary Girl's Rise From An African Slum by Tim Crothers

An inspiring true story about Phiona, a young girl from Uganda who goes from struggling to find food, to discovering herself and fame through the game of chess.

The Secret Scripture: A Novel by Sebastian Barry

Having lived through the political and religious upheavals of twentieth-century Ireland, 99-year-old Roseanne McNulty writes an autobiography that weaves her past as a beguiling young woman and the rigid values of the Catholic church.

Denial: Holocaust History on Trial by Deborah E. Lipstadt

Deborah Lipstadt writes about her fight against the Holocaust denial movement publicized by David Irving after Irving filed a libel suit against her, and explains the dangers of such a movement.

Unless by Carol Shields

Reta Winters struggles to understand why her daughter Norah abandoned their seemingly happy home to live on the streets of Toronto. The novel chronicles Reta’s pain and her attempts to bring her daughter back.