Toronto Life’s 10 most popular long-form features of 2017

Toronto Life’s long-form features are consistently some of the most widely read articles we publish online. This year, our 10 most popular features included wrenching personal memoirs, probing profiles and in-depth investigations. If you missed them—and even if you didn’t—here they all are.

1

The Good Wife

How a woman put herself through school and escaped an abusive arranged marriage.

Life

I was forced to marry a stranger when I was 16. Ten years later, I made my escape

I was isolated, humiliated and assaulted. The whole time, I was planning my escape

2

A Restaurant Ruined My Life

A would-be entrepreneur learns why starting a restaurant isn’t for amateurs.

Food & Drink

I poured my blood, sweat and life savings into my restaurant. Dumbest thing I’ve ever done

I was a foodie who figured he could run a restaurant. I couldn’t have been more wrong—and it cost me my house, my sanity and nearly my wife

3

We Bought a Crack House

A Parkdale property purchase becomes a waking nightmare for one young family.

Real Estate News

Five years, three contractors and $1.1 million later, we finally finished our nightmare reno

We were cash-strapped and desperate to move, so we took a chance on a crumbling rooming house populated by stray cats and squatters

4

Love and Death

A seemingly happy marriage ends in death and chaos.

City News

Mohammed Shamji and Elana Fric Shamji: the inside story of a marriage gone horribly wrong

Their life seemed like a fairy tale—until her body turned up in a suitcase by the Humber River

5

Disgraced

A successful ER doctor learns—the hard way—that anyone can get addicted to opioids.

Life

I was a doctor with a perfect life, until I got hooked on Fentanyl

I had a gorgeous wife, three kids and a beautiful waterfront house. Then I started prescribing myself opioids

6

The Playboy of Yorkville

The lavish lifestyle of an accused identity fraudster.

City News

This guy is accused of swindling millions of dollars out of unsuspecting Torontonians

The inside story of a $10-million Toronto fraud syndicate

7

The $1-Billion Hellhole

What it’s like inside Toronto’s dangerous, dysfunctional superjail.

City News

Inside the Toronto South Detention Centre, Toronto’s $1-billion hellhole

It was supposed to herald a progressive era of incarceration. Instead, the South has become a house of horrors

8

Josh Donaldson vs. the World

Before Josh Donaldson made it big with the Blue Jays, he was a kid with a lot to be angry about.

Life

At home with Josh Donaldson, the Blue Jays’ resident hothead

He’s a superstar with one goal in mind: to win a World Series, no matter how many enemies he makes along the way

9

Screwed

They thought their pre-construction homes were as good as built. They were wrong.

Life

The real estate mogul who left 200 homebuyers in the lurch

When one of Toronto's most prolific developers filed for bankruptcy protection, pre-construction buyers lost their future homes

10

The New Hamiltonians

Why Hamilton is the new Toronto.

Real Estate News

The New Hamiltonians

Diehard Torontonians are saying buh-bye to the bidding wars, the seven-figure semis, the gridlock, the constant construction