New York

Author: Edward Rutherfurd
Genre: Historical Fiction / Family Saga
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group, 2009
Pages: 8 discs*
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Rutherfurd celebrates America's greatest city in a rich, engrossing saga that showcases his extraordinary ability to combine impeccable historical research and storytelling flair. As in his earlier, bestselling novels, he illuminates cultural, social, and political upheavals through the lives of a remarkably diverse set of families.

As he recounts the intertwining fates of characters rich and poor, black and white, native born and immigrant, Rutherfurd brings to life the momentous events that shaped New York and America; the Revolutionary War, the emergence of the city as a great trading and financial center, the excesses of the Gilded Age, the explosion of immigration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the trials of World War II, the near demise of New York in the 1970s, and its roaring rebirth in the '90s, and the attacks on the World Trade Center. Sprinkled throughout are captivating cameos appearances by historical figures ranging from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln to Babe Ruth.

New York is the book that millions of Rutherfurd's American fans have been waiting for. A brilliant mix of romance, war, family drama, and personal triumphs, it gloriously captures the search for freedom and prosperity at the heart of our nation's history.

Review: This book was recommended to me because I like family sagas and historical fiction. This is both of those, but when I had a hard time getting into the print version, I switched to the audio. It's a slow start, but Rutherfurd keeps the story moving. He hits all the highlights in New York City's history through the eyes of the Master family.

I should point out that I listened to the abridged version. I didn't realize this until after the fact, and I do feel slightly cheated, but not enough to go back and read the print version.