What happens when the person who saves you is also the person taking advantage of you? That question sits at the heart of Melanie Dugan’s The Antique Picker’s Daughter, a compelling novel about survival, exploitation, and the uncomfortable space between doing good and doing harm. Releasing September 15, 2026, the novel follows Frankie, a young woman living on the streets of Toronto, who finds an unlikely protector in Francis, an older man who teaches her how to make money buying and selling collectibles and small antiques.
When winter approaches, Frankie is fortunate—or perhaps simply less unfortunate than she could have been—to cross paths with Francis. He takes her off the streets and gives her food and a place to sleep. In return, she becomes part of his business, traveling with him through small towns and villages across southern Ontario as they acquire items to resell for a profit. Francis teaches Frankie the rules of the game, and she proves herself to be remarkably capable at it.
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