''The City Beautiful'' is a
young adult
A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...
,
historical fantasy
Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Arthur ...
novel by
Aden Polydoros
Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
, about a gay Jewish teenager in 19th century Chicago who is possessed by a
dybbuk seeking revenge for its murder.
The novel won the
Sydney Taylor Book Award, and was nominated for the
National Jewish Book Award, the
Lambda Literary Award, and the
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year a ...
.
Background and development
Polydoros was inspired to write ''The City Beautiful'' after reading an article about real-life serial-killer
H. H. Holmes
Herman Webster Mudgett (May 16, 1861 – May 7, 1896), better known as Dr. Henry Howard Holmes or H. H. Holmes, was an American con artist and serial killer, the subject of more than 50 lawsuits in Chicago alone. Until his execution in 1896, he ...
.
He wrote the novel as part of an
independent study in his undergraduate degree.
Synopsis
The novel follows Alter Rosen a 17-year-old
Romanian Jewish immigrant in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
in 1893, who works at a
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
newspaper to pay his family's passage from Europe. He avoided death as an infant but believes he curses the people around him to die, including his father. He is in love with his roommate, Yakov Kogan. When Yakov is found dead at the
Chicago World's Fair, Alter becomes suspicious that he was murdered, one in a string of disappeared Jewish boys.
Alter helps to prepare Yakov's body for burial but falls into the
ritual bath
Ritual purification is the ritual prescribed by a religion by which a person is considered to be free of ''uncleanliness'', especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification may ...
and has a vision that their bodies fuse together. Alter begins to have visions and hallucinations that parallel Yakov's experiences (like feeling pain where Yakov was injured) and sometimes loses control of his actions.
Alter is joined in his investigation of the disappearances by his neighbour Raizel Ackermann and his old friend Frankie Portnoy, who both also know missing or dead boys. Frankie is a thief and Alter used to be in his gang, but left after witnessing Frankie violently beat a man. Frankie now fights illegal boxing matches, but faces antisemitism from his wealthy patrons. Although Alter dislikes Frankie's work, the two become close again. Alter struggles with his attraction to Frankie, at one point kissing him and later denying it meant anything.
Alter, Frankie and Raizel investigate at
a club that idolises serial killers, invited by Frankie's patron, Whitby. Whitby introduces them to his friend Gregory, who has a tattoo of a dragon on his arm. They find no leads, but Alter starts uncontrollably raving about dead Jewish boys in Europe. With his visions becoming more intense, Alter confesses to Frankie about it. Frankie suggests Alter is possessed by Yakov's
dybbuk and takes him for an exorcism. Although the possession will eventually kill him, Alter refuses the exorcism, fearing it will destroy both Yakov and himself. Instead, he plans to end the possession by killing Yakov's murderer.
Another dead Jewish boy is found in
a meatpacking factory, and they suspect the factory's owner, Katz—the same man Frankie beat up the year before—is the murderer. Alter sneaks into the factory but is captured by Katz, who admits to sexually abusing boys including Frankie. Frankie and Raizel arrive, and goaded by Katz, Alter admits his love for Frankie. A fight ensues where Frankie kills Katz.
In the aftermath, Frankie tells Alter that Katz lured him with a job offer, and he turned to thieving to avoid further abuse. Frankie confesses his love to Alter—while Alter fears violating the biblical commandment against homosexuality, Frankie argues that the prohibition is actually against sexual abuse.
With Katz dead, Alter assumes Yakov has left. However, there is another killing, meaning Katz was not the murderer and Alter is still possessed. In a vision, Yakov tells Alter that his family died when their synagogue was burned by Tugarin Zmeyevich—the name of
a mythical dragon. Alter remembers Gregory's dragon tattoo and realises he is the murderer. Gregory has been following the World's Fair, killing Jewish boys, and Whitby is now helping him. Yakov followed Gregory for vengeance, but was murdered instead.
Frankie goes after Gregory alone, but gets injured. He warns Alter that Gregory will set a fire at the World's Fair. Alter almost dies confronting Gregory, experiencing purgatory where he watches his father buried at sea again and again. However, Yakov pushes him to live. Alter and Raizel follow Gregory to an unfinished synagogue, which he plans to burn to destroy a Jewish neighbourhood. While ranting about his hatred of Jews, Gregory gets tangled up in ropes and is strangled to death. With Yakov avenged, Alter undergoes the
ritual purification of a corpse, and Yakov finally leaves his body.
Frankie and Alter recover, and Frankie suggests that Alter come to work with him again: he’ll stop being a thief, and instead support Jewish immigrants adjusting to life in America. The two begin a relationship.
A year later, Alter's mother and sisters arrive in Chicago, greeted by Alter and Frankie. His sisters admire the buildings of the World's Fair, which is now over. Alter reflects on how the beautiful but empty World's Fair is like America as a whole.
Themes
The novel deals with themes of
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
,
labour exploitation
Exploitation of labour (also known as labor) is a concept defined as, in its broadest sense, one agent taking unfair advantage of another agent. It denotes an unjust social relationship based on an asymmetry of power or unequal exchange of value be ...
, and immigration.
It incorporates
Jewish folklore: for example, Polydoros suggested in an interview that the dybbuk and the way it overtakes Alter is an embodiment of Alter's grief and trauma.
It also incorporates elements of the
gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
, and has been described as a 'gothic thriller'.
Reception
The
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...
included ''The City Beautiful'' on its Best Books for Teens 2021 list. ''
Kirkus Reviews
''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...
'' described the book as "slow-moving but compelling", and praised the combination of a detailed historical setting with fantasy elements. In a review for the
Jewish Book Council, Sascha Lamb praises the depiction of different levels of Jewish religious observance among the characters, and how the novel affirms both Alter's religious observance and his self-acceptance as queer. Lamb considers it a standout in the small but growing field of Jewish fantasy.
In ''
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books'', April Spisak describes Alter as a "sympathetic and compelling protagonist".
An
NPR review by Caitlin Paxson highlights how the darkness of the story (such as the emotional scars of the characters) "makes it all the more moving".
Awards and nominations
''The City Beautiful'' won the young adult category of the
Sydney Taylor Book Award.
It was a finalist in the
World Fantasy Award for best novel
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
, and in the young adult categories for the
National Jewish Book Award and the
Lambda Literary Award.
''The City Beautiful'' was also a finalist for th
Cybils Awardand nominated for th
South Carolina YA Book Award.
Sequel
In , Polydoros announced that a sequel to ''The City Beautiful—''told from Frankie's point of view and set in 1894—is set to be published in the autumn of 2024.
References
External links
Aden Polydoros's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:City Beautiful (novel), The
Young adult fantasy novels
2021 LGBT-related literary works
LGBT-related young adult novels
Novels set in Chicago
Historical fantasy novels
American thriller novels
LGBT speculative fiction novels
2020s LGBT novels
Fiction set in 1893
Historical mystery novels
American historical novels