Review: New York by Edward Rutherfurd

I have a confession to make... I am a closet history junkie.

I remember as a kid touring Pebble Hill Plantation in Georgia and the Biltmore Estate up in North Carolina and how fascinated I was with these places that seemed frozen in time, a window into another era. I love learning how things used to be, how cultures and places have evolved over the centuries, where customs come from.

So that is one reason I picked up New York by Edward Rutherfurd (the other being that I am obsessed with New York City right now given that that is where “the novel” is set). Rutherfurd has made a career out of taking a place (London, Ireland, Russia, to name a few) and telling its history in novel form. As someone who loves history, but hates boring history books that just regurgitate names and dates and events, I thought I’d give it a shot.

New York was wonderful.

Rutherfurd begins in the 1600s with the Van Dyck/Master family and follows them through the generations to the present day, introducing other families along the way. The most interesting thing to me, was how the city itself becomes a character in the book as you watch it grow from a sleepy Dutch settlement through wars, blizzards, riots, booms and busts into the center of commerce and culture it is today.

Another thing Rutherfurd has captured perfectly is the indomitable American spirit, the dream of millions who have come to this country from oppression and poverty in hopes of a better life. The story of the Caruso family was particularly touching and true to life. These people seemed so real to me, emigrating from Italy to the U.S., suffering through tragedies and ultimately achieving the American dream.

The last few chapters deal with the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. I have felt other works that portrayed the events of 9/11 as being exploitative. That day is still so fresh in our minds that I feel it’s often used as a cheap way to evoke emotion. But Rutherfurd handles the material respectfully and weaves it so seamlessly into the storylines that I had no qualms about his including the attacks in the novel. And honestly, any history of New York City would be incomplete without touching on that day.

Edward Rutherfurd literally brought the history of New York City to life for me, and I highly recommend this book to any other closet history junkies out there.