In the year 1907, all of Brampton is present at the sod-turning ceremony for the Carnegie Library. At the end of the event, the crowd rises as one to walk to the Presbyterian Church for a consecration service... Everyone except Jessie Stephens and her family. Her father will not allow them to enter the Presbyterian Church.

No one will tell young Jessie the reason, but she learns that it has something to do with her grandfather Jesse Brady, who built it. As she seeks to solve that mystery over many years, Jessie slowly begins to learn the history of the town in which she lives. Her tales of everyday life in small town Ontario combine to craft a vivid portrait of a life and a family that are, upon closer inspection, anything but ordinary.

Lynne Golding was born and raised in Brampton, Ontario. She obtained a bachelor's degree in History and Political Science from Victoria College at the University of Toronto before studying law at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. She is a senior partner at the international law firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP where she leads their health law practice group. Lynne lives in Brampton, Ontario, and has three grown children. Lynne is also the winner of the OBPO's "What's Your Story Short Prose and Poetry Competition."

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"Lynne Golding has opened a magical door to the past and ushered us into Edwardian Brampton to marvel at a simpler time... “?[The Innocent?] will make you laugh and weep and wonder, and be fondly remembered long after the final pages are read."
-Cheryl Cooper, author of the Seasons of War series