The Given Day by Dennis Lehane

This book was received from LibraryThing under the Early Reviewers program. As Dennis Lehane went to college in my area, I was very interested in reading his book about the early 1900’s history in Boston, Massachusetts. This writer returns frequently to the St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading that takes place every October.

There are not enough words to description this historical saga of two families with a side story line of Babe Ruth. This country was built on the backbone of immigrants and it is very sad that the discrimination that is outlined in this book continues until this day.

Why are we always so afraid of new people and why do we think we are better than the ones coming after us. So clearly does the writer lay before us the lesson that we can get more accomplished by working together and not trying to screw our neighbor? When will we ever learn that everyone can contribute?

How quickly we judge our fellow man by his color, his heritage, and his political beliefs. It was eye opening to read Lehane’s narrative about an Irish policeman Danny Coughlin just trying to make a living but ending up getting involved in the beginnings of a union. The story line of Luther Laurence, a great baseball player who is not allowed to use his talent in a sport much loved by Americans.

I liked this book so much, I recommended it to my East Lake Community Library Book Club and it is the book to read for this October. This is a book that makes history alive for the reader. ( )

I didn't finish this book quickly. It was rather hard to get in to, especially because of the sense of doom you get when you read the first page. You know a lot of things are going to go wrong. And they do.
But what a good story this is! Lehane is extremely talented, he juggles with all those different characters and story lines like a true artist. I greatly admire him. ( )

Danny Coughlin is the oldest son of Irish immigrant Boston Police Captain Tommy Coughlin. Danny is also a Boston police officer. Luther Laurence is a black man from Ohio whose mother died young and whose father gave him nothing. Luther learned to love tools and learned to work from his uncle. For some reason I cannot fathom, Babe Ruth is also part of this book. The bits about Ruth do not add anything; fortunately, those bits do not really detract from the tale of Danny and Luther, how their lives converge and intertwine in post WWI Boston, and how they develop a firm friendship.

Danny's and Luther's story is set in an America undergoing upheaval as the war ends. Blacks who had been working were fired to give jobs to the returning white soldiers. Big Business reigned. Workers' unions were only beginning to develop, and were viewed as the tools of Anarchists and Communists. The NAACP was in its infancy and had not yet become a true force.

Lehane has done a masterful job of portraying social, political and family life of the time, and developing characters who grow and whose personalities and actions ring true. As the narrative culminates in the failed Boston Police strike of September, 1919, Danny's involvement in the union organizing and the strike has repercussions that ripple through his family and affects the lives of his friends. Yet, the work ends on a note of hope, and this reader hopes that Lehane will see fit to write a sequel to his engaging historical novel. ( )

People back then were so violent -- the police, especially. ( )

Lehane has written some chilling books in the noir detective genre. This book is equally as chilling although for different reasons.

The end of the 19th century saw the beginnings of organized labor in the US--certainly the beginnings of demands for reduced hours (the 80 hour week was pretty standard) and better pay. Labor unrest continued into the 20th century and gave rise to the labor movement and the beginnings of unions. The post-World War I era saw increased agitation, along with a new phenomenon--the rise of anarchism in the US, carried out by mostly southern and central Europeans immigrants, both legal and illegal.

Lehane sets his story in this era. There are two main protagonists: Luther Lawrence, a black man living in Cincinnati who has been laid off from his job at a munitions factory in order to make room for returning (white) veterans, and Danny Coughlin, a Boston policeman, whose immigrant father is a highly respected captain on the force. In addition, there is Babe Ruth--still with the Boston Red Sox, just before his meteoric rise to fame. The book is filled with beautifully-drawn portraits of the working class, poor, immigrants, and politicians of the time. Especially powerful are the African-Americans and their lives in various cities; at that time, there were some enclaves of prosperous, “respectable” black families. And there is the appearance of a lawyer for the Justice Department, a man by the name of John Hoover.

What was absolutely fascinating was the history of the anarchist movement in the US at that time. I had no idea it was that strong. Coming from a strong union family, I knew more about the repression of the labor movement, but Lehane goes into great detail about the use of the Boston police as strike breakers.

Until the day came--September 9, 1919--when the police themselves went on strike. The description of the days of rioting that followed is surpassed only in the account of the cynicism displayed by the then-governor of Massachusetts, Calvin Coolidge, who went on to become one of the worst Presidents the US has ever had, in a long line of bad Presidents. The consequences of that action reverberated far beyond Boston, and Lehane is brilliant in telling the story.

Many other threads are woven in, such as the expansion of the NAACP into Boston and the politically savvy of its leaders. The book is a wealth of tidbits of such historical information; clearly the time was one of tremendous ferment on the social and labor front, and the US responded typically--with repression.

Ruth as a protagonist and narration from his point of view is somewhat puzzling, except to give an alternative view of events and the time. But in my opinion, the ending of the book is weakened by his inclusion in the story line. Eliminating the last 5 pages would have strengthened the impact. But that’s a minor complaint. The book is well-written and Lehane is an outstanding story- teller. Highly recommended. ( )