''New York: a Novel'' (2009) is an
historical novel
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...
by British novelist
Edward Rutherfurd
Edward Rutherfurd is a pen name for Francis Edward Wintle (born in 1948). He is best known as a writer of epic historical novels that span long periods of history but are set in particular places. His debut novel, '' Sarum'', set the pattern f ...
. The United States edition is published by
Doubleday under the title ''New York: The Novel''.
Synopsis
The novel chronicles the birth and growth of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, from the arrival of the first Dutch and other European colonists in the 17th century to the summer of 2009. Rutherford builds his novel on the histories of fictional families who live there. In ''New York'', these families represent the successive waves of immigrants who have made the city multicultural.
The early Dutch founders of
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...
are typified by the Van Dyck family, who prosper in trade with the
Native Americans; both the local
Algonquian tribes, especially the Lenape, and the
Iroquoian
The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking.
As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoian la ...
Mohawk Mohawk may refer to:
Related to Native Americans
*Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York)
*Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people
*Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been t ...
who lived farther up the
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...
and primarily along the Mohawk Valley. The Van Dycks soon unite with the English Thomas Master family (he also has a natural Native American daughter, whom he brings with him from Puritan New England). Van Dyck-Master descendants continue to live in New York through the entire saga, providing one of the unifying narrative strands. The character Quash is an
enslaved African, who was brought forcefully to
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...
and is held by Thomas Master; his descendants become part of the New York cultural mix.
As the novel progresses, more families are introduced: the Irish O'Donnels, German Kellers, Italian Carusos, German-Jewish Adlers, and Puerto Rican Campos. Through their intertwining stories, Rutherfurd explores the various cultural traditions of the national groups and intercultural relations, which play out against the development of the city.
Rutherfurd breaks the narrative into sections by date, twenty-seven in all. Most dates comprise one chapter; a few dates continue through two or three chapters. A set of three well-drawn maps of
Manhattan Island
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
helps the reader follow the action as the city develops. A fourth map of the New York City region provides a larger geographical context.
Critical reception
Brigitte Weeks of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' praised the novel and advised readers against trying to determine the accuracy of every name or event:
But analyzing the veracity of every incident will spoil the fun, and what makes this novel so entertaining is the riotous, multilayered portrait of a whole metropolis. Rutherfurd offers the reader a chance to watch a rural outcrop grow into one of the world's greatest cities in a mere 350 years. He delivers magnificently on the challenge; it is hard to imagine any other writer combining such astonishing depth of research with the imagination and ingenuity to hold it all together.
''New York'' won the
Langum Prize for American Historical Fiction in 2010.
The Langum Charitable Trust
See also
*History of New York City
The written history of New York City began with the first European explorer, the Italian Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524. European settlement began with the Dutch in 1608.
The "Sons of Liberty" campaigned against British authority in New York Ci ...
References
External links
* Edward Rutherfurd websit
{{DEFAULTSORT:New York (Novel)
2009 British novels
Novels by Edward Rutherfurd
Historical novels
Novels set in New York City
History of New York City
Hutchinson (publisher) books