KatieMc

A showcase of New York history from 1664 to the present day, told through the stories of several New York based (mostly old money Anglo and Dutch) families. I initially found it very frustrating because the narrative would switch to a new character/generation just as something interesting seemed to happen. There isn't a plot in the traditional sense, and once I accepted the tempo, I started to enjoy it more. Don't feel bad if you completely forget character names because they come and go.

Linking the people and stories together was a wampum belt, initially given to Dirk van Dyck by his Native American daughter Pale Feather. The belt gets passed down though the generations and sometimes crosses family lines and becomes the symbolic thread weaving everyone together. It was an interesting device, but I found it slightly ironic that the meaning of the belt quickly got lost, all the while one of the later characters laments that 'kids these days don't really know the history of New York".





This was a book club read, suggested by a member who recently visited New York who realized that she didn't know much about the city and was interested in learning. This is the perfect book for that. It was super long, but easy to read and does a good job of hitting on many of the important eras and events in the history of New York. It sadly ends on September 11, 2001, which coincidentally the same day I finished the book, 14 years on.