Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
Anna Kerrigan is a young woman who is doing her part in the war effort by working at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. But she longs for more. Her father disappeared several years ago without a trace. Her mother struggles to care for Lydia, Anna's sickly and disabled sister while Anna is the glue trying to hold their lives together.
And Anna wants more from life. She applies to be a diver at the Navy Yard and the men want nothing better to see her fail. But she turns out to be the strongest diver on the team. Anna is strong and tough when it comes to her personal life as well. She takes us deep into the world of nightclubs run by gangsters.
I haven't read Ms. Egan's other novel that was a Pulitzer Prize winner, but I wouldn't call Manhattan Beach a prize winning novel. It is meticulously researched. The diving scenes make the reader feel as if they are also underwater in a clumsy suit weighing 200 pounds. As the gangster Dexter Styles faces his almost certain execution, I could see the beads of sweat forming on his brow. And when Eddie's merchant marine ship sank in the middle of a fierce storm, my heartbeat rose along with their desperation to survive. The pages in-between the griping scenes were not nearly as exciting.
Manhattan Beach is a well written novel, with sharp and engaging characters and an interesting plot. The lives of the characters are expertly interwoven together. For me the historical backdrop of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and World War II added to my reading pleasure. This was an enjoyable read but not the page turner I was hoping to find.
Anna Kerrigan is a young woman who is doing her part in the war effort by working at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. But she longs for more. Her father disappeared several years ago without a trace. Her mother struggles to care for Lydia, Anna's sickly and disabled sister while Anna is the glue trying to hold their lives together.
And Anna wants more from life. She applies to be a diver at the Navy Yard and the men want nothing better to see her fail. But she turns out to be the strongest diver on the team. Anna is strong and tough when it comes to her personal life as well. She takes us deep into the world of nightclubs run by gangsters.
I haven't read Ms. Egan's other novel that was a Pulitzer Prize winner, but I wouldn't call Manhattan Beach a prize winning novel. It is meticulously researched. The diving scenes make the reader feel as if they are also underwater in a clumsy suit weighing 200 pounds. As the gangster Dexter Styles faces his almost certain execution, I could see the beads of sweat forming on his brow. And when Eddie's merchant marine ship sank in the middle of a fierce storm, my heartbeat rose along with their desperation to survive. The pages in-between the griping scenes were not nearly as exciting.
Manhattan Beach is a well written novel, with sharp and engaging characters and an interesting plot. The lives of the characters are expertly interwoven together. For me the historical backdrop of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and World War II added to my reading pleasure. This was an enjoyable read but not the page turner I was hoping to find.
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