In a parish register in Ireland, Akenson discovered a record naming an Eliza McCormack White as John's sister. Employing imaginative reconstruction, he proposes that Eliza McCormack, a transvestite prostitute who was in central Canada at the time John White arrived on the Canadian scene, was actually John's sister. Further, he suggests that John White can be best understood by recognizing that he was in fact Eliza!

Donald Harman Akenson, Professor of History at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, is one of the -world's leading authorities on Irish history. He received his bachelor's degree from Yale and his Ph.D from Harvard. The author of twenty books, including five novels, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society (Canada) and of the Royal Historical Society (U.K.). He has held both a Guggenheim Fellowship and a writing fellowship at Villa Serbelloni, Bellagio, Como. In 1993 he received the prestigious Grawmeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order, for his book God's People: Covenant and Land in South Africa, Israel and Ulster (1992). In 1996 he was named Molson Prize Laureate; this is Canada's highest cultural award.

Donald Harman Akenson's profile page

"A wonderful concoction of historical sleuthing and sheer invention ... an absorbing and entertaining read ... I admired the panache with which Akenson broke the gender-loaded rules of historical biography." Joanne Page, Kingston Whig-Standard. "Outrageous and intriguing ... Akenson's writing is clear and fluid, his narrative well paced, and his feel for character unerring. Setting his yarn against a rich historical background ... Akenson holds the reader's attention while slipping in a wealth of historical detail ... At Face Value demonstrates the impressive reach of Akenson's imagination." Curtis Fahey, Quill & Quire. "A fascinating and plausible tale ... Akenson paints a vivid portrait of the person known as John White ... At Face Value raises plenty of possibilities that could make us reconsider our history." Dave Obee, Calgary Herald.