New York by Edward Rutherfurd

A book review

New York is a sweeping panorama of New York City history in the grand style of James A. Michener, but also something more interesting. The characters, with few exceptions, are drawn with genuine depth; the plot offers numerous surprising twists; and a theme of real weight builds to a moving conclusion. It opens in 1664 with a Dutch immigrant and the half-Indian daughter he loves but does not acknowledge for fear of offending his proud wife.

Manhattan was founded on a misunderstanding. What the Indians considered a gift made "for the right to share their hunting grounds for a season or two," the Europeans considered the price for "buying the land in perpetuity." Dirk van Dyck and Tom Master are heirs to the city's original sin, but they and their descendants are sympathetic, many-faceted human beings: loving and prejudiced, generous and ambitious, part of a community in which the desirability of wealth is taken for granted.

Almost a third of the novel covers the Revolutionary War, beginning with the early tensions between England and the Colonies. New York was under British rule during much of the War, its merchant families mostly loyal to the Crown. The fictional Master family is divided, so both loyalist and patriot viewpoints are explored with perceptive sympathy, though without moral blinders. Rutherfurd's heart clearly lies with the American effort to forge a more democratic society.

The story of the wealthy Master family encompasses that of other New Yorkers descended from Dutch, African, German, Irish, Jewish, Italian, and Puerto Rican immigrants. Naturally, such notable events as the Civil War draft riots and the 1929 stock market crash are explored—but it's typical of Rutherfurd's approach to portray the 1977 electrical blackout while only alluding to the more easily stereotyped 1965 blackout. The disastrous 1911 Triangle factory fire in which 146 garment workers died, mostly young immigrant women, poignantly foreshadows September 11, 2001—and reminds readers of the city's persistence in turning tragedy to strength. (2009, 880 pages)