Love, betrayal, and ‘Undead’ medical students – this is what Celeste Wintergreen comes face-to-face with when she begins attending the University of Toronto’s medical school in 1847, posing as a man due to limitations in women’s education at the time. As Celeste progresses through her medical training, she is recruited by the ‘phantom’ of the university, Jack Islington, to assist his efforts to provide medical treatment to Toronto’s most underserved citizens. Jack – a medical student who died due to lack of access to medical care himself – leads a group of ‘Undead’ students who also met untimely ends, but share a common passion for doing good. Jack and Celeste’s friendship soon blossoms into a powerful romance, as he shows her a world she never had access to in the previous confines of life as an upper-class woman. Tragically, Celeste is later mortally wounded in a rebellion between Toronto’s rich and poor. Jack must now make the ultimate decision – perform a surgical technique that will cause him to die permanently but save Celeste, or allow Celeste to lose her life.

Queen of Hearts is a story of doing what is right, fighting for love, and learning to let go. It’s a reminder that medicine is about more than simply building a name for ourselves, but about the patients we serve, and the incredible impact we can have in both our recognized and unrecognized efforts.