I really enjoyed this immersive piece of historical fiction that brought late 19th century NYC to life. The pace was slow, but I enjoyed following the hapless Harris as he stumbled from Barnum, to street gang, to sewer, to the Brooklyn Bridge in search of the elusive American dream or at least just a safe place to land in the growing chaotic city. ( )

Enjoyable historical fiction about the people living in the underside of New York in the late 1800s.

A young man, recently arrived from Germany, quickly gets caught up in the chaos of a city as young and changeable as himself. Changing his name and identity frequently helps him survive until he settles into being Frank Harris, not a German but an Irishman complete with an authentic sounding accent. Unintentionally he becomes part of a highly unusual criminal gang, one that combines its criminal behavior with progressive ideas like profit-sharing and expanded options for women. Frank falls in love with Beatrice, a bright, attractive Irish woman from the gang, only to have her swept away. A stone mason by training, he works in the sewers underneath the city and on the Brooklyn Bridge which towers above it as he slowly makes a place for himself in New York.
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I'm a fan of historical fiction set in New York. I loved Paradise Alley and Dreamland, so this seemed to fall in place especially after reading some of the editorial reviews. However, it's not Paradise Alley or Dreamland.

I really had difficulty buying into the idea of a gang communicating through singing, humming, or whatever they called it. The scene in which the Whyos and WhyNots "began their work, each one trasmitting his or her message to a specific jury member via signals that were barely audible, barely even distinguishable from their breath" was just too much to believe. And then when the heroine Beatrice begins "transmitting so subtly that none of them even realized she was doing it" I began to wonder if I was reading science fiction.

The dirt, smells, and sounds of old NYC seem to have been deeply researched: Barnum's entertainment, the city sewers, the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, the early gangs. I don't understand why then the author created such unbelieveable characters and circumstances. Beatrice's escape from the gang, Harris' miraculous fall from the bridge, the inheritance from Mr. Noe are all just too contrived for really good historical fiction. ( )

I am generally a sucker for anything about New York City, especially if it is set, as this book is, in a historical New York City. However, while this book's take on the building of the Brooklyn bridge and the gang culture that made up the Five Points was interesting, I felt that it was too long and that the "coincidences" that continually made things go right for the characters were too on the nose. ( )

Ok...it's been a couple of weeks since I read this but I'll do my best. I think the writing in this book is really stellar. I'm not necessarily one for period pieces but to envision an altogether different world of 1870s NYC...a bustling city filled with all kind of immigrants trying to make lives for themselves and willing to take any possible job to survive when they realize that it may have actually been easier to do so in their home country anyways (hmmm...I guess not much has changed...except now there aren't farmers raising COWS in Brooklyn!)


This books is based on historical research but has a strong fictional element as well. In it, you see the Irish and Germans working together all for the sake of thievery. You also get a view of the creation of the Brooklyn Bridge and the NYC underground sewer system.. I mean, what other book will provide you with this, right? And just in case you were curious how horrible abortions were in the 1870s, voila! it has that too!


It feels very unconventional and unpredictable in form and I loved hearing about how the gang members communicate by music and the evils lengths some of the characters were willing to go to. It feels adventurous for most of it and exceptionally engaging to read. Recommended! ( )