A novel can be a portrait of a place as much as a person. Take two different novels by Toronto writers Maggie Helwig and Austin Clarke, for example.

The titular characters of Helwig's eerie and beautiful Girls Fall Down (Coach House Books) collapse in the subways of Toronto. Soon, people everywhere are stricken. People wonder if it's terrorism or a public health crisis gripping Toronto the Good.

In the midst of the chaos is Alex, a diabetic photographer who's losing his sight.

"I started this book years ago, before 9/11," Helwig says. "The novel originated before SARS as well, but once SARS happened, I had to write around it.

"One of the deep themes of the book is problems in the blood: Alex and his blood sugar. So many of the collapses happen in the subway, and a subway map is like a circulatory system.

"My first novel was set in London, England and East Timor, and my second took place in The Hague. It seemed about time to write about the city I live in. And I love Toronto."

More (Thomas Allen) is the story of Idora Morrison, a long-ago immigrant to Canada, now living in one of the rougher parts of Toronto. Her husband is gone, and she's worried about her son and the local gangs. The book is like a stream-of-consciousness exploration of a city and an individual.

Idora is the creation of Austin Clarke, winner of the Giller Prize for his last novel, The Polished Hoe.

"She's one character I've described fully in all her idiosyncrasies," Clarke says. "She got into my blood. In her journey of recognition, to know herself more deeply, I recognize my own trials and tribulations. 

"I also think I might have had my mother in mind," he adds, "her drive, her declaration for wanting more in life."

Idora lives across from Moss Park but dreams of a bungalow, perhaps in Brampton, Ont.

"When she walks, she becomes part of the street," Clarke says. "She hates it usually, but in times of crisis she is willing to accept that she is part of the neighbourhood.

"The house in the suburb is a illusion," he adds, "but she must continue to hold on to that thought. She would hardly have anything to pin her dream of a better life (on).

"When you finish the book," Clarke promises, "you will know her as well as I do."