New York

A solid piece of historical fiction, full of edifying asides, although nothing to write home about.

I LOVED this novel! No surprise though, Edward Rutherfurd never disappoints. Starting in the 1600's and ending in 2009, the novel follows a family and those who interacted with them through the years. It's beautifully written and the characters just come to life. I could hardly put this down and at 1000+ pages that makes for some sore arms! LOL Mr. Rutherfurd just has such an amazing way of combining fact with fiction and making an enjoyable and compelling read. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next!

  ‘'Big river, calling him to thenorth.Big sky, calling him to the west. Land of many rivers, land of many mountains, land of many forests. How far did it continue? Nobody knew. Not for certain. High above the eagles, only the sun on its huge journey westward could ever see the whole of it.''
Edward Rutherfurd is a master of Historical Fiction. He is a writer who communicates the time and place to perfection, an artist who communicates the feelings of his vast cast of characters to such an extent that you are able not only to recall their names with ease but their personality, their ideals and course in life as if they were people you have met in daily life, relatives, friends, family. I have yet to read another writer's books whose 1500+pages go by like a breeze in the course of four days. And when it comes to Historical Fiction, I am an expert in the genre, thank you very much.
‘'When there is a little breeze, listen to the voice of the wind sighing in the pine trees. Then you will hear me.''
A wampum belt becomes the beacon in the epic story of the true capital of the USA, New York. The Metropolis, the Modern Goddess, the Land of Dreams and Hopes and Chances and Sorrows. Paying the utmost respect to the history of the city, her people, their religions (and Rutherfurd has always been a writer who treats Christianity with absolute respect unlike other writers...), we are gifted a monumentary journey within the heart of the modern world. Divided into five chapters, dedicated to a specific era, guided by British, Dutch, Italian, Jewish, Puerto Rican families, the entire history of New York passes before our eyes. 
‘''[...] that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.''           Abraham Lincoln
Along the families that are the heart of the novel, meet Henry Hudson, Captain Kidd, Andrew Hamilton, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Enrico Caruso, Rockefeller, and a multitude of characters that shaped the USA and our world as we have come to know it. Visit Niagara Falls, the Empire State Building, the Islands, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Gramercy Park, Central Park, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Fifth Avenue, the Statue of Liberty, the Flatiron Building, the Museum Mile. Marvel at (my favourite) brownstones, feel the buzz, the multiculturalism that defined the city, its almost anarchic personality, the Arts, the Opera, the musicals, the literary scene and the hypocrisy of the old money families. Divided and united in its differences, New York is the result of God's absolute inspiration.
‘'When the invitation to the Seder was recited, not in Hebrew but in Aramaic, it stuck him with great force that, of course, these were exactly the proceedings that Jesus must have followed at the Last Supper. And as he considered the crisp New England Episcopalians he knew so well, he wondered how many of them truly understood the rich Middle Eastern texture to which their own religion belonged.''
1664: The British and the Dutch, divided by religion, united by ambition. The birth of Manhattan, the customs of the Native Americans, the slaughter they suffered, the nightmare of slavery.
1735-1790: Glimpses of Boston and Philadelphia through the eyes of spirited young women, the Quakers, the War of Independence (brought to mind the exceptional film The Patriot with the one and only Mel Gibson).
1825-1896: The bond between London and New York, the Civil War,  the battle of Gettysburg, and Lincoln's famous address, the end of slavery, the impact of the Great Famine of Ireland, the immigrants, the Riots of 1863, the rising of Wall Street.
1901-1987: A new century is seen primarily through the eyes of an Italian family. The tragedy of the Triangle factory, the Great War, the Crush of 1929, WWII, the Jewish immigrants facing constant anti-semitism, the Civil Rights marches, the Vietnam War, the drugs, the assassinations, the seismic political changes on both sides of the Atlantic.
2000-2009: The boom of the economy, the threat of the Y2K bug, the unimaginable tragedy of 9/11.The fear and hope of a new world rising...
New York is waiting for you, safe in the hands of an exceptional writer.
P.S. To the ‘lady' who called the novel ‘trash Historical Fiction'': Excuse me, (not really...) your favourite writers are Nora Roberts and Kristin Hannah. Are you EVEN SERIOUS? The only thing that is trash is your opinion and your reading taste. Or, rather, your lack of it. So shut up!
‘'Let us have faith that Right is Might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to doo our duty as we understand it.'' Abraham Lincoln
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