Manhattan Beach - Jennifer Egan

Manhattan Beach

By Jennifer Egan

  • Release Date: 2017-10-03
  • Genre: Literary Fiction
Score: 4
4
From 1,197 Ratings

Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A New York Times Notable Book

Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction

The daring and magnificent novel from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author.

Named One of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, Esquire, Vogue, The Washington Post, The Guardian, USA TODAY, and Time

Anna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her father to visit Dexter Styles, a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. She is mesmerized by the sea beyond the house and by some charged mystery between the two men.

‎Years later, her father has disappeared and the country is at war. Anna works at the Brooklyn Naval Yard, where women are allowed to hold jobs that once belonged to men, now soldiers abroad. She becomes the first female diver, the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations, repairing the ships that will help America win the war. One evening at a nightclub, she meets Dexter Styles again, and begins to understand the complexity of her father’s life, the reasons he might have vanished.

“A magnificent achievement, at once a suspenseful noir intrigue and a transporting work of lyrical beauty and emotional heft” (The Boston Globe), “Egan’s first foray into historical fiction makes you forget you’re reading historical fiction at all” (Elle). Manhattan Beach takes us into a world populated by gangsters, sailors, divers, bankers, and union men in a dazzling, propulsive exploration of a transformative moment in the lives and identities of women and men, of America and the world.

Reviews

  • Anna’s Story

    5
    By Scott's take on things
    This is a wonderful about New York in the 1930s and 40s, about gangsters, the war, the sea. It’s full of interesting characters and is told in a page turning way. The star of the novel is Anna. We get to watch her grow from a street smart young girl into a fearless, complex woman. Her relationship with her Dad and Dexter are fascinating but I loved best her relationship with her sister, Lydia.
  • One of the best

    5
    By MEDohrmann
    One of the best authors of our time. Compelling, engrossing, it transports you back to the 40s with incredible characters and an amazing story.
  • Beautiful

    5
    By Rika1974
    So well written and so beautiful
  • Many aspects boring

    1
    By FarmgirlIll
    I had high hopes for this novel, having read multiple positive reviews. I didn’t care about the characters, or the underwater work which was such a major element of this book. Sorely disappointed.
  • Fantastic read, yet not fully satisfying

    4
    By mwalkup88
    Manhattan Beach leaves you wanting more and makes you not want to put it down. But I was somewhat irritated at how often it switched POV and at the most intense times. I understand that this technique makes the reader want to continue reading but I wish it had disclosed exactly what happened to Dexter Styles at the time of his death. Not knowing exactly what happened to him, as we know with the other characters, left me annoyed. Other than that, overall it is a fantastic read with many surprises and revelations. Bravo.
  • Well written

    5
    By claudiator2
    Interesting characters and prose.
  • Manhattan Beach

    2
    By Eberleigh
    So-So ———if I’m felling generous, barely that if I’m not. I couldn’t get into it because I thought it was tedious.
  • Manhattan Beach

    4
    By Tracyroots
    I loved the main character’s tenacity and willingness to take massive risks
  • Just okay

    3
    By Calalak
    I got through the book though never gripped by the story after the initial few chapters. It seemed like a long walk through the woods to get to the end and even there, nothing to be excited about. It did not hold my interest like A Visit from the Goon Squad, I hope Egan’s next book packs more punch into the story than this one.
  • Manhattan beach

    5
    By seconset islandoo
    From start to finish fabulous. Even if I did not get back to reading it for 2 or 3 days. I always remembered what had happened previously. Characters stayed with me.. so happy Anna saved her child. All babies are a gift from God. Joan francis

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