City of God

City of God, the latest installment in Beverly Swerling's gripping saga of old New York, takes readers to Manhattan's clamorous streets as the nation struggles to find a compromise between slave and free, but hears the drums of war. This is New York when one synagogue is no longer adequate for thousands of Jewish immigrants, when New Evangelicals rouse complacent Protestants with the promise of born-again salvation, and when it first sees Catholic nuns and calls them whores of Satan. It is New York when ships bring the fabulous wealth of nations to its wharves and auction houses, while a short distance away rival gangs fight to the death with broken bottles and teeth filed to points. Into this churning cauldron comes young Dr. Nicholas Turner. Nick knows that the discoveries of antisepsis and anesthesia promise medical miracles beyond the dreams of ages. He learns that to make such progress reality he must battle the city's corrupt politics and survive the snake pit that is Bellevue Hospital, all while resisting his love for the beautiful Carolina Devrey, his cousin's wife. Sam Devrey, head of the shipping company that bears his name and a visionary who believes the future will be ushered in by mighty clipper ships spreading acres of sail, battles demons of his own. The life he lives with Carolina in the elegant brownstone on newly fashionable Fifth Avenue is a charade meant to disguise his heart's true home, the secret downtown apartment of the exquisite Mei-hua, his Chinese child-bride. The worlds of all four are imperiled when Sam must rely on Nick's skills to save the woman he loves, and only Nick's honor guards Sam's secret. On a night when promises of hellfire seem to become reality and the city nearly burns to the ground, Carolina and Mei-hua confront the truth of their duplicitous marriages. Rage and revenge join love and passion as driving forces in a story played out against the background of the glittering New York that rises from the ashes, where Delmonico's and the Astor House host bejeweled women and top-hatted men, both with the din of commerce in their ears and the glint of gold in their eyes. As always, Swerling has conjured a dazzling cast of characters to people her city. Among those seeking born-again salvation are Addie Bellingham, befriended by the widow Manon Turner but willing to betray her, and Lilac Langton, who confesses her sins but avoids mentioning that she's a skilled abortionist in a city that has recently made abortion a crime. Ben Klein, a brilliant young physician, must balance devotion to his mentor and dedication to research with duty to the Jewish community. Wilbur Randolf, Carolina's father, indulges her in everything but fails her when she needs him most. Jenny Worthington, Wilbur's longtime mistress, is driven by avarice to make common cause with Fearless Flannagan, a member of a New York police force as corrupt as the city it serves. Ah Chee, Mei-hua's devoted servant, struggles through Manhattan's streets on bound feet and burns incense to the kitchen god in this place of foreign devils. They are all here, heroines and saints, villains and victims, and a vanished New York made to live again in an intricate tale of old debts and new rivalries. From Publishers WeeklyThe sparkling latest in Swerling's historical series (after City of Glory) about the Turner and Devrey families and the growth of New York City takes place in the decades leading up to the Civil War. While in China, merchant Samuel Devrey trades a cache of opium for the beautiful and young Mei-Hua, whom he secretly ensconces in New York and marries. Samuel also marries saintly heiress Carolina Randolph and tries to hold together the two households, though Carolina eventually cools to Samuel's secretiveness and brutish behavior, and begins to return the ardor of Samuels cousin, Dr. Nicholas Turner. As Nicholas campaigns to improve conditions and fund research at Bellevue Hospital, he's drawn into Samuels secret life, saving Mei Huas life after a botched abortion and later delivering her daughter. This highly entertaining novel suffers whenever the villainous Samuel is not on the scene, and though the last hundred pages drop off in intensity, theres still much to commend in Swerlings great eye for detail, convincing and conniving characters, and subplots that really flesh out 19th-century New York. (Dec.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistAcclaimed historical novelist Swerling submits the latest installment in her series of fictional treatments of early American history, following City of Dreams (2001), Shadowbrook (2004), and City of Glory (2007). The time period in her new novel is the 1830s to the 1850s, and the narrative finds its location in the tumultuous New York City of poor immigrants in unsanitary neighborhoods, high-society matrons in luxurious mansions, and entrepreneurs in businesses growing wealthier by the day. As in previous volumes in the series, the author maintains a focus, within the maelstrom of New York life, on two related but competitive families with long ties to the city and its development. One flash point between the two families is a husband who attends to his Chinese mistress while neglecting his wife, the latter of whom, years later, goes on to marry across the family divide; the other flash point is the question of who from within the two families can capture control of Jacob Astor’s lucrative shipping business. The general issues of the day, which both families must deal with, to varying extents, include slavery and abolitionism, religious conflict, technological advancement, progress in health and medicine, and organized labor. In keeping with the series’ traditions, the plot here is long and involved but rich in period detail, with characters brought to vivid but not melodramatic color. Expect high demand. --Brad Hooper