Toronto Star bestsellers: Former partner of mass shooter Gabriel Wortman tells her story in ‘The First Survivor’

Lisa Banfield was subject to controversy during an inquiry into the worst mass shooting in Canadian history. While victims’ families expressed frustration over the fact that Banfield, common-law spouse of killer Gabriel Wortman, wasn’t cross-examined during the inquiry, others objected to the criminalization of Banfield and of victims of domestic violence in general.

Banfield was charged with transferring ammunition to Wortman in the weeks before his 2020 rampage, although that charge was later withdrawn.

Now Banfield is telling her story and reclaiming her voice, in the words of her publisher, in “The First Survivor: Life With Canada’s Deadliest Mass Shooter.”

Publisher Sutherland House calls the book “an unflinching memoir that reframes a national tragedy,” with Banfield detailing the 19 years she spent in an abusive relationship with Wortman and “the horrific night she fled barefoot into the freezing woods as Wortman began a murderous rampage that left 22 people and an unborn child dead.” It’s No. 2 on the original non-fiction list and No. 3 on the Canadian list.

Another new addition to both the original and Canadian non-fiction lists is Linda McQuaig‘s “Cancelling Billionaires Before They Cancel Us: The Urgent Case for a Wealth Tax.”

In it, McQuaig, a Toronto Star contributor, and co-author Neil Brooks, argue that the superrich are undermining democracy and destroying the viability of human life on Earth. A tax on those earning above $25 million could bring in $40 billion a year, funding public programs that would improve the lives of millions of Canadians, they say.

On the fiction side, a popular author of romances set in the sporting world returns to the original list — no, not Rachel Reid, whose “Game Changers” novels continue to dominate the fiction rankings.

Tessa Bailey is back with “Catch Her If You Can,” about a “fake” marriage between a New York Yankees catcher and the burlesque club owner he’s been in love with since high school.

A couple of homegrown authors have new works on the Canadian fiction list. Shen Tao’s debut novel, “The Poet Empress,” is set in a fantasy version of ancient China, where the daughter of a rice farmer becomes a concubine in an imperial court in which women are forbidden to read.

Jennifer Chevalier‘s “The Winter Witch” is inspired by the filles de roi, or daughters of the king, young women who immigrated to what was then New France in the 1600s to marry the male colonists. In Chevalier’s novel, two sisters on a “bride ship” from Normandy to Montreal turn to a witch on board the vessel to help them lift a curse.

CANADIAN FICTION

1.Heated Rivalry, Rachel Reid, Carina

2.The Long Game, Rachel Reid, Carina

3.Game Changer, Rachel Reid, Carina

4.Tough Guy, Rachel Reid, Carina

5.Role Model, Rachel Reid, Carina

6.Common Goal, Rachel Reid, Carina

7.Hollow (deluxe limited edition), Celina Myers, Hanover Square

8. The Poet Empress, Shen Tao, Bramble

9. The Winter Witch, Jennifer Chevalier, Simon & Schuster

10. Love Poem, Rupi Kaur, Andrews McMeel

CANADIAN NON-FICTION

1.The Wealthy Barber, David Chilton, Financial Awareness

2.Values, Mark Carney, Signal

3. The First Survivor, Lisa Banfield, Sherri Aikenhead, Maureen Banfield, Sutherland House

4. Attention Seeker, Darcy Michael, DK

5.Book of Lives, Margaret Atwood, McClelland & Stewart

6. Cancelling Billionaires Before They Cancel Us, Linda McQuaig, Neil Brooks, Dundurn

7.The Smiling Land, Alan Doyle, Doubleday Canada

8.North of Normal, Cea Sunrise Person, HarperCollins Canada

9.We Breed Lions, Rick Westhead, Random House Canada

10.Sorry, Not Sorry, Mark Critch, Viking

ORIGINAL FICTION

1.Heated Rivalry, Rachel Reid, Carina (5)*

2.Woman Down, Colleen Hoover, Montlake Romance (2)

3. The Long Game, Rachel Reid, Carina (4)

4. My Husband’s Wife, Alice Feeney, Pine & Cedar (1)

5.Game Changer, Rachel Reid, Carina (3)

6. Half His Age, Jennette McCurdy, Doubleday Canada (1)

7.The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, Crown (3)

8. Twelve Months, Jim Butcher, Ace (1)

9. Catch Her If You Can, Tessa Bailey, Avon (1)

10. Tough Guy, Rachel Reid, Carina (3)

ORIGINAL NON-FICTION

1.The Wealthy Barber, David Chilton, Financial Awareness (9)

2. The First Survivor, Lisa Banfield, Sherri Aikenhead, Maureen Banfield (1)

3.Nobody’s Girl, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Knopf (13)

4.Enough, Oprah Winfrey, Ania M. Jastreboff, Avid Reader (2)

5. Attention Seeker, Darcy Michael, DK (1)

6.Book of Lives, Margaret Atwood, McClelland & Stewart (11)

7.1929, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Viking (12)

8.Cancelling Billionaires Before They Cancel Us, Linda McQuaig, Neil Brooks, Dundurn (1)

9. Junglekeeper, Paul Rosolie, Convergent (1)

10.The Smiling Land, Alan Doyle, Doubleday Canada (8)

CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT

1. Talons of Power (Wings of Fire #9), Tui T. Sutherland, Mike Holmes, Graphix

2. Big Jim Believes (Dog Man #14), Dav Pilkey, Graphix

3.For the Fans! (KPop Demon Hunters), Angela Song, Golden Books

4.Partypooper (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #20), Jeff Kinney, Amulet

5.Little Blue Truck’s Valentine,Alice Schertle, Jill McElmurry, Clarion

6.Love You Forever, Robert Munsch, Sheila McGraw, Firefly

7.Powerless, Lauren Roberts, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

8. Dr. Seuss’s Who Loves You?, Dr. Seuss, Random House for Young Readers

9.The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle, Penguin Young Readers Group

10. The Humble Pie, Jory John, Pete Oswald, HarperCollins

SELF-IMPROVEMENT

1. The Let Them Theory, Mel Robbins, Sawyer Robbins, Hay House

2. The Mountain Is You, Brianna Wiest, Thought Catalog

3. The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene, Joost Elffers, Penguin

4. 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think, Brianna Wiest, Thought Catalog

5. Big Trust, Shadé Zahrai, Fayçal Sekkouah, HarperOne

6. Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankel, Beacon

7. Let That Sh*t Go, Nina Purewal, Kate Petriw, Collins

8. Something to Hold Onto, Kate Robson, Simon & Schuster

9. The Pivot Year, Brianna Wiest, Thought Catalog

10. Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill, TarcherPerigee

*Weeks on list

The bestseller lists are compiled by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited from information provided by BookNet Canada’s national sales tracking service, BNC SalesData.