Status
Available
Publication
Scribner (2018), Edition: Reprint, 448 pages
Description
"The long-awaited, daring, and magnificent novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad. Manhattan Beach opens in Brooklyn during the Great Depression. Anna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her father to the house of Dexter Styles, a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. 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 had always belonged to men. She becomes the first female diver, the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations, repairing the ships that will help America win the war. She is the sole provider for her mother, a farm girl who had a brief and glamorous career with the Ziegfeld Follies, and her lovely, severely disabled sister. At a nightclub, she chances to meet Dexter Styles again, and she begins to understand the complexity of her father's life, the reasons he might have vanished. Mesmerizing, hauntingly beautiful, with the pace and atmosphere of a noir thriller, Egan's first historical novel is a masterpiece, a deft, startling, intimate exploration of a transformative moment in the lives of women and men, America and the world. Manhattan Beach is a spectacular novel by one of the greatest writers of our time"--… (more)
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Media reviews
Egan has wisely chosen not to compete with “Goon Squad” and its postmodern razzle-dazzle. Instead, her new book leaps into the past, offering us a story built on sturdy older forms polished to a high sheen.
“Manhattan Beach” — longlisted for a National Book Award even before it was
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released — is a historical novel set during World War II in New York....All the harbor details — from the dangerous mechanics of underwater work to the irritating chauvinism of Navy officers — feel dutifully researched. The whole novel, in fact, boasts its tweedy historical accuracy...All these strong currents — from noir thriller to family drama to wartime adventure — eventually return to the private moment that opens “Manhattan Beach.” If that ending is surprisingly hopeful, it’s never false, and it dares to satisfy us in a way that stories of an earlier age used to. Show Less
They may also understand, rightly, that this will turn out to be a more traditional novel than the raucous and inventive “Goon Squad,” although the two books offer many of the same pleasures, including fine turns of phrase, a richly imagined environs and a restless investigation into human
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nature....Thus, the mystery of “Manhattan Beach” resides not in whether these three will meet again, but when. And a central satisfaction of the novel resides in how far-flung Egan’s characters will become and what varied terrain they will explore, before being inevitably drawn back together..Turning their backs on the crowded constraints of their urban lives, all three look to the ocean as a realm that while inherently dangerous also promises the potential for personal discovery and an almost mystical liberty. This is a novel that deserves to join the canon of New York stories. Show Less
Unpredictably, Egan has written something that looks at first glance like a traditional historical novel.
A work of remarkable cinematic scope, Manhattan Beach portrays the lives of an Irish family in Brooklyn, set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and then the second world
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war...Egan’s decision to withhold crucial scenes until late on ends up feeling disappointing, even if one can appreciate the reasons for her doing so...This is a novel that will pull you in and under and carry you away on its rip tides. In particular, Anna’s plight as a woman whose will is larger than her circumstances is dramatised with tremendous power. Its resonances continue to wash over the reader long after the novel ends. Show Less
The subject matter of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jennifer Egan's latest novel, Manhattan Beach, is not particularly revelatory. The book's overarching themes are certainly well-worn, its characters the kind we're accustomed to. The book tackles precarious familial bonds, secrets and lies, love
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and lust, abandonment and individualism – all ideas we've encountered in literature many times before..What is revelatory, however, is how beautifully drawn, vivid and moving this familiar setup is when crafted by Egan's skilled hand. Although the basic structure and setting is perhaps standard, her talent renders it anew – making Manhattan Beach a sparkling, lush epic of a novel....But more than any other ingredient, it's the complex dynamics that propel this human tragedy where Manhattan Beach finds its deepest strength. Even when we can predict the unravelling that is to come, it is no less enthralling. The experiences of these characters ring true, as do their flaws, their desires and their downfalls. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member rosalita
Young Anna Kitteridge is used to tagging along with her dad, Eddie, on his business trips around New York City. It's the midst of the Great Depression, and Eddie works for the boss of the longshoreman's union on the Brooklyn docks. (The reality of his business trips is only slowly revealed to the
Fast-forward seven years and the United States has entered World War II, Eddie has vanished, and Anna is a 19-year-old working at the Brooklyn Naval Yard. Bored with her job inspecting machined parts for warships, she sets her sights on learning how to dive. Women have taken many jobs at the Naval Yard — even welding — since the war effort sent most working-age men overseas, but none has yet become a diver. In the midst of finding her way into this new role, Anna also has to deal with a fresh encounter with the mysterious Dexter Styles and the possibility of learning the truth about what happened to her father.
In addition to the time shift, Egan shifts the narrative's viewpoint back and forth among Anna, Eddie, and Dexter. Often in novels that employ this tactic, I find myself uninterested in one or more of the perspectives and impatient to return to the compelling storyline. I felt some of that same impatience here, but not because any of the stories were uninteresting — instead, they all were very interesting and I wasn't ready to let go of one to embrace another. Not all of the characters are good, and their stories don't always end well, but I found myself wanting the best even for the worst of them.
We don't get any story segments told from the point of view of the sea, but it is just as much a character as Anna, Eddie and the other people who populate her world. Consider Egan's description of the first time Anna's disabled sister, Lydia, visits the beach:
Anna leaned her head against her sister's and watched a long wave form, stretching until it achieved translucence, then somersaulting forward and collapsing into creamy suds that eked toward them over the sand, nearly touching the wheels of Lydia's chair. Then another wave gathered, reaching, stretching, a streak of silver dashing along its surface where the weak sunlight touched it. The strange, violent, beautiful sea: this was what she had wanted Lydia to see. It touched every part of the world, a glittering curtain drawn across a mystery.
And again, when Eddie looks out on the ocean from the deck of a merchant marine ship:
... an infinite hypnotic expanse that could look like scales, wax, hammered silver, wrinkled flesh. It had structure and layers you couldn't see from land.
I've always been drawn to the sea, perhaps because I spent the first eight years of my life living on Long Island, just a block from the ocean, and I thought these passages articulated my feelings about it beautifully. Another personal connection that won't be of interest to anyone but me is that both my grandfather and my father worked as longshoreman on the Brooklyn docks. The stories they used to tell, though sanitized for younger listeners, fit right in with what Egan depicts.
Beyond the compelling storyline and deft characterization, the historic bits felt very real — the landscape of Brooklyn, the mechanics of deep-sea diving, the life of a merchant mariner at sea were sharply drawn and exquisitely detailed. Some readers might find the details too much, in fact, but I found it kept me nicely grounded in the time period.
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reader, so I won't spoil it here.) One day he takes 12-year-old Anna on a visit to the Manhattan Beach home of Dexter Styles, and shortly after that he stops taking Anna with him at all.Fast-forward seven years and the United States has entered World War II, Eddie has vanished, and Anna is a 19-year-old working at the Brooklyn Naval Yard. Bored with her job inspecting machined parts for warships, she sets her sights on learning how to dive. Women have taken many jobs at the Naval Yard — even welding — since the war effort sent most working-age men overseas, but none has yet become a diver. In the midst of finding her way into this new role, Anna also has to deal with a fresh encounter with the mysterious Dexter Styles and the possibility of learning the truth about what happened to her father.
In addition to the time shift, Egan shifts the narrative's viewpoint back and forth among Anna, Eddie, and Dexter. Often in novels that employ this tactic, I find myself uninterested in one or more of the perspectives and impatient to return to the compelling storyline. I felt some of that same impatience here, but not because any of the stories were uninteresting — instead, they all were very interesting and I wasn't ready to let go of one to embrace another. Not all of the characters are good, and their stories don't always end well, but I found myself wanting the best even for the worst of them.
We don't get any story segments told from the point of view of the sea, but it is just as much a character as Anna, Eddie and the other people who populate her world. Consider Egan's description of the first time Anna's disabled sister, Lydia, visits the beach:
Anna leaned her head against her sister's and watched a long wave form, stretching until it achieved translucence, then somersaulting forward and collapsing into creamy suds that eked toward them over the sand, nearly touching the wheels of Lydia's chair. Then another wave gathered, reaching, stretching, a streak of silver dashing along its surface where the weak sunlight touched it. The strange, violent, beautiful sea: this was what she had wanted Lydia to see. It touched every part of the world, a glittering curtain drawn across a mystery.
And again, when Eddie looks out on the ocean from the deck of a merchant marine ship:
... an infinite hypnotic expanse that could look like scales, wax, hammered silver, wrinkled flesh. It had structure and layers you couldn't see from land.
I've always been drawn to the sea, perhaps because I spent the first eight years of my life living on Long Island, just a block from the ocean, and I thought these passages articulated my feelings about it beautifully. Another personal connection that won't be of interest to anyone but me is that both my grandfather and my father worked as longshoreman on the Brooklyn docks. The stories they used to tell, though sanitized for younger listeners, fit right in with what Egan depicts.
Beyond the compelling storyline and deft characterization, the historic bits felt very real — the landscape of Brooklyn, the mechanics of deep-sea diving, the life of a merchant mariner at sea were sharply drawn and exquisitely detailed. Some readers might find the details too much, in fact, but I found it kept me nicely grounded in the time period.
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LibraryThing member Doondeck
I really enjoyed this book. Such a diversity of experiences from mobsters to sailors to divers and great story of determined young woman.
LibraryThing member annetobe
Egan has a gift for creating characters we want to know more of. Her pacing is excellent propelling the story forward with the reader enmeshed in the details. The locations and experiences feel fully real even if perhaps they aren't.
LibraryThing member msf59
The story begins in Brooklyn, during the Great Depression. We are introduced to eleven year old, Anna Kerrigan.
She is particularly close with her father and joins him, on some of his “shady” outings, working for some NY gangsters. A few years later, her father mysteriously disappears, leaving a
This is an excellent historical drama, impeccably researched, following Anna through her young adulthood, as she fights a male dominated system and also tries to investigate the disappearance of her beloved father.
Egan's novel A Visit From the Goon Squad won the Pulitzer, but do not expect a similar book. She takes this one into fresh territory, but her craftsmanship remains steadfast.
She is particularly close with her father and joins him, on some of his “shady” outings, working for some NY gangsters. A few years later, her father mysteriously disappears, leaving a
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painful, hole in her life. We skip ahead a few years and WWII has started. Anna gets a job at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and here she discovers the diving trade, where divers in full gear, are sent underwater to repair ships. Women are not allowed to dive but Anna persists and becomes one of the first female divers.This is an excellent historical drama, impeccably researched, following Anna through her young adulthood, as she fights a male dominated system and also tries to investigate the disappearance of her beloved father.
Egan's novel A Visit From the Goon Squad won the Pulitzer, but do not expect a similar book. She takes this one into fresh territory, but her craftsmanship remains steadfast.
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LibraryThing member LisaSHarvey
Manhattan Beach
Janet Egan
MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️▫️
PUBLISHER Scribner
PUBLISHED October 3, 2017
An poignant and compelling novel which is deep in strength and courage and rich in historical detail.
SUMMARY
A spirited eleven year-old, Anna Kerrigan accompanies her beloved father, Eddie
In the jump to the next decade we find, Anna as a young woman working in the Brooklyn Naval Yard. She is battling the male-dominated hierarchy to wear a 200 pound diving suit, and become the first woman commercial repair and salvage diver. Eddie had devastatingly and mysteriously disappeared five years earlier. Anna has never gotten over his disappearance and is still awaiting his return. Dexter has become more established and entrenched in his nefarious world, of nightclubs and gambling rackets. And it is in one of his nightclubs that he see’s Anna again. He is somehow drawn to her, not realizing they had met ten years earlier. Anna believes that Dexter might know something about what happened to her father. Anna and Dexter’s relationship reaches its’ peak in a remote boathouse on Manhattan Beach, which ties the destinies of Anna, Eddie and Dexter forever.
REVIEW
MANHATTAN BEACH is an absorbing historical fiction novel that exhibits painstaking research and magnificently captures a feeling of the NYC waterfront during the depression and WWII. The emotions in the novel; whether fear, loneliness, pleasure or passion, evoked by Anna, Eddie and Dexter are rich and palpable. Anna shows tremendous strength, courage and perseverance, a woman ahead of her times.
Water plays an central symbol within the story. Whether it was walking on the beach, taking her sister to “see the sea”, watching battleships being built in the naval yard or diving into the silence of the the harbor floor, Anna finds much pleasure as well as solace in the ocean, as do Eddie and Dexter.
JENNIFER EGAN has expertly delivered a portrait of three people’s lives which are altered forever by a winter meeting on Manhattan Beach. She has woven a compelling tale about fortitude and the will to survive.
Jennifer Egan also authored the 2011 Pulitzer Prize winning novel A Visit From the Goon Squad. Manhattan Beach has been Awarded the National Book Award for Fiction (2017), and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction (2018)
Janet Egan
MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️▫️
PUBLISHER Scribner
PUBLISHED October 3, 2017
An poignant and compelling novel which is deep in strength and courage and rich in historical detail.
SUMMARY
A spirited eleven year-old, Anna Kerrigan accompanies her beloved father, Eddie
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to the grand Brooklyn beach home of handsome underworld figure, Dexter Styles. It’s a cold winter day in 1934 and Dexter is charmed by the indomitable Anna who delightedly removes her shoes on the beach and puts her tiny toes into the frigid surf. With his family desperately in need of money, Eddie soon begins working for Dexter, serving as his “eyes and ears”. MANHATTAN BEACH is about how the lives of Anna, Eddie and Dexter become intertwined over the course of time and how time continues to move us forward. In the jump to the next decade we find, Anna as a young woman working in the Brooklyn Naval Yard. She is battling the male-dominated hierarchy to wear a 200 pound diving suit, and become the first woman commercial repair and salvage diver. Eddie had devastatingly and mysteriously disappeared five years earlier. Anna has never gotten over his disappearance and is still awaiting his return. Dexter has become more established and entrenched in his nefarious world, of nightclubs and gambling rackets. And it is in one of his nightclubs that he see’s Anna again. He is somehow drawn to her, not realizing they had met ten years earlier. Anna believes that Dexter might know something about what happened to her father. Anna and Dexter’s relationship reaches its’ peak in a remote boathouse on Manhattan Beach, which ties the destinies of Anna, Eddie and Dexter forever.
REVIEW
MANHATTAN BEACH is an absorbing historical fiction novel that exhibits painstaking research and magnificently captures a feeling of the NYC waterfront during the depression and WWII. The emotions in the novel; whether fear, loneliness, pleasure or passion, evoked by Anna, Eddie and Dexter are rich and palpable. Anna shows tremendous strength, courage and perseverance, a woman ahead of her times.
Water plays an central symbol within the story. Whether it was walking on the beach, taking her sister to “see the sea”, watching battleships being built in the naval yard or diving into the silence of the the harbor floor, Anna finds much pleasure as well as solace in the ocean, as do Eddie and Dexter.
JENNIFER EGAN has expertly delivered a portrait of three people’s lives which are altered forever by a winter meeting on Manhattan Beach. She has woven a compelling tale about fortitude and the will to survive.
Jennifer Egan also authored the 2011 Pulitzer Prize winning novel A Visit From the Goon Squad. Manhattan Beach has been Awarded the National Book Award for Fiction (2017), and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction (2018)
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LibraryThing member nbmars
This historical fiction novel, both a family drama and a mystery, begins in Brooklyn in 1934 during the Great Depression. Anna Kerrigan, almost 12 years old, regularly accompanies her father Eddie on the job he has held ever since all their money was lost in the stock market. Now he serves as a
Eddie hated his job, and homelife offered no sanctuary for him. He had another daughter, Lydia, who was physically lovely, but brain-damaged. Lydia and her special needs, as well as the juxtaposition in her (as he saw it) of outward beauty with total disability, educed in Eddie both rage and self-loathing, leaving him numb and spent. “She was not as she should be, not remotely, and the ghost of what she should have been clung to her always, a reproachful twin.”
Only in Anna’s company could he relax and feel good about his life: “She was his secret treasure, his one pure, unspoiled source of joy.” He felt about her that she "pumped life into him as surely as Lydia drained it.” He loved her voice, the pattering quality of it, and the feel of her small hand inside his.
When Lydia's doctor recommended that she have an expensive special chair to help her sit upright, Eddie needed more money, and went to work for Dexter Styles, a powerful member of local organized crime who managed a number of clubs offering the opportunity for illegal pastimes. Even at the upper levels of crime, however, there was a hierarchy. While there were many people in Dexter’s own pocket, he himself was controlled by a Mr. Q., who basically owned him. As long as Dexter played by the rules, he was rewarded. But like Eddie, Dexter constantly has to be aware of his place and modulate his behavior accordingly. Eddie unexpectedly gave Dexter a taste of escape from the limitations put on him.
Eddie worked for Styles as his ombudsman, checking up on Dexter's employees and later on his rivals. In a clever description of Eddie's appeal to Dexter, Egan writes:
“Kerrigan’s cipherlike nature had been essential to the job. He could go anywhere, find out anything. Through him, Dexter had tasted an otherworldly freedom from the constraints of time and space.”
Unfortunately though, Eddie could not take Anna along on his forays to nightclubs and gambling dens, and they grew apart, to Eddie’s infinite regret.
The story shifts, and picks up again when Anna is 19. Her father had disappeared five years before. They never knew what happened to him. She felt sorrow at first, replaced by anger.
The country is now at war, and Anna works at the Brooklyn Naval Yard, where, because of the shortage of men, women are allowed to hold jobs that had always excluded them. Through perseverance and grit, she becomes the first female diver, “the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations,” helping to repair huge ships in the Manhattan harbor.
One night while out with a girlfriend, she ran into Dexter Styles at one of his clubs. He didn't recognize her, so she used a false name with him, “Anna Feeney" (taking a neighbor’s last name). But she realizes he may know what happened to her father, and she continues to seek him out to get the mystery solved once and for all.
Discussion: There is some beautifully-phrased and deftly-constructed prose in this book. For example, when diving, Anna thinks:
“The ship felt alert, alive. It exuded a hum that traveled through her fingers up her arm: the vibration of thousands of souls teeming within. Like a skyscraper turned on its side.”
Or Anna, walking alone on the streets of New York:
“After years of distance, Anna’s father returned to her. She couldn’t see him, but she felt the knotty pain of his hands in her armpits as he slung her off the ground to carry her. She heard the muffled jingle of coins in his trouser pockets. His hand was a socket she affixed hers to always, wherever they went, even when she didn’t care to. Anna stopped walking, stunned by the power of these impressions. Without thinking, she lifted her fingers to her face, half expecting the warm, bitter smell of his tobacco.”
And there is this insight by and about Dexter, who is musing about the difficulty of working with women:
“… this was the problem of men and women, what made the professional harmony he envisaged so difficult to achieve. Men ran the world, and they wanted to fuck the women. Men said “Girls are weak” when in fact girls made them weak.”
And perhaps my favorite image, when the author describes Dexter Style’s house near the ocean:
“…a rowdy flapping of green-and-yellow striped awnings.”
Evaluation: Egan, who is the author of five books of fiction, including A Visit from the Good Squad, which won the Pulitzer Prize and National Books Critics Circle Award, takes on four big motifs with this book, any one of which could have made up a separate book: the dynamics of a family stressed by economic hardship and the birth of a disabled child; the nature of organized crime; the clash of gender and ethnicity in the 1940s; and life in the Merchant Marines, which serves as an auxiliary to the Navy during times of war.
For the most part, I think the author gives adequate treatment to all of these themes except perhaps for the organized crime aspect of the book; some of what happened to the characters because of their associations with this element remained opaque (to me) at the end of the story.
Nevertheless, this is a stirring and poignant story filled with memorable characters drawn with perceptive contours. The author’s research was extensive, and I think she adroitly captures a slice of life in wartime America. In addition, the issues raised and complexity of the story make this book an excellent choice for book clubs.
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“Bagman”, or as Anna understood it: “Her father’s job was to pass greetings, or good wishes, between union men and other men who were their friends. These salutations included an envelope, sometimes a package, that he would deliver or receive casually - you wouldn’t notice unless you were paying attention.”Eddie hated his job, and homelife offered no sanctuary for him. He had another daughter, Lydia, who was physically lovely, but brain-damaged. Lydia and her special needs, as well as the juxtaposition in her (as he saw it) of outward beauty with total disability, educed in Eddie both rage and self-loathing, leaving him numb and spent. “She was not as she should be, not remotely, and the ghost of what she should have been clung to her always, a reproachful twin.”
Only in Anna’s company could he relax and feel good about his life: “She was his secret treasure, his one pure, unspoiled source of joy.” He felt about her that she "pumped life into him as surely as Lydia drained it.” He loved her voice, the pattering quality of it, and the feel of her small hand inside his.
When Lydia's doctor recommended that she have an expensive special chair to help her sit upright, Eddie needed more money, and went to work for Dexter Styles, a powerful member of local organized crime who managed a number of clubs offering the opportunity for illegal pastimes. Even at the upper levels of crime, however, there was a hierarchy. While there were many people in Dexter’s own pocket, he himself was controlled by a Mr. Q., who basically owned him. As long as Dexter played by the rules, he was rewarded. But like Eddie, Dexter constantly has to be aware of his place and modulate his behavior accordingly. Eddie unexpectedly gave Dexter a taste of escape from the limitations put on him.
Eddie worked for Styles as his ombudsman, checking up on Dexter's employees and later on his rivals. In a clever description of Eddie's appeal to Dexter, Egan writes:
“Kerrigan’s cipherlike nature had been essential to the job. He could go anywhere, find out anything. Through him, Dexter had tasted an otherworldly freedom from the constraints of time and space.”
Unfortunately though, Eddie could not take Anna along on his forays to nightclubs and gambling dens, and they grew apart, to Eddie’s infinite regret.
The story shifts, and picks up again when Anna is 19. Her father had disappeared five years before. They never knew what happened to him. She felt sorrow at first, replaced by anger.
The country is now at war, and Anna works at the Brooklyn Naval Yard, where, because of the shortage of men, women are allowed to hold jobs that had always excluded them. Through perseverance and grit, she becomes the first female diver, “the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations,” helping to repair huge ships in the Manhattan harbor.
One night while out with a girlfriend, she ran into Dexter Styles at one of his clubs. He didn't recognize her, so she used a false name with him, “Anna Feeney" (taking a neighbor’s last name). But she realizes he may know what happened to her father, and she continues to seek him out to get the mystery solved once and for all.
Discussion: There is some beautifully-phrased and deftly-constructed prose in this book. For example, when diving, Anna thinks:
“The ship felt alert, alive. It exuded a hum that traveled through her fingers up her arm: the vibration of thousands of souls teeming within. Like a skyscraper turned on its side.”
Or Anna, walking alone on the streets of New York:
“After years of distance, Anna’s father returned to her. She couldn’t see him, but she felt the knotty pain of his hands in her armpits as he slung her off the ground to carry her. She heard the muffled jingle of coins in his trouser pockets. His hand was a socket she affixed hers to always, wherever they went, even when she didn’t care to. Anna stopped walking, stunned by the power of these impressions. Without thinking, she lifted her fingers to her face, half expecting the warm, bitter smell of his tobacco.”
And there is this insight by and about Dexter, who is musing about the difficulty of working with women:
“… this was the problem of men and women, what made the professional harmony he envisaged so difficult to achieve. Men ran the world, and they wanted to fuck the women. Men said “Girls are weak” when in fact girls made them weak.”
And perhaps my favorite image, when the author describes Dexter Style’s house near the ocean:
“…a rowdy flapping of green-and-yellow striped awnings.”
Evaluation: Egan, who is the author of five books of fiction, including A Visit from the Good Squad, which won the Pulitzer Prize and National Books Critics Circle Award, takes on four big motifs with this book, any one of which could have made up a separate book: the dynamics of a family stressed by economic hardship and the birth of a disabled child; the nature of organized crime; the clash of gender and ethnicity in the 1940s; and life in the Merchant Marines, which serves as an auxiliary to the Navy during times of war.
For the most part, I think the author gives adequate treatment to all of these themes except perhaps for the organized crime aspect of the book; some of what happened to the characters because of their associations with this element remained opaque (to me) at the end of the story.
Nevertheless, this is a stirring and poignant story filled with memorable characters drawn with perceptive contours. The author’s research was extensive, and I think she adroitly captures a slice of life in wartime America. In addition, the issues raised and complexity of the story make this book an excellent choice for book clubs.
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LibraryThing member Chris.Wolak
DNF.
Made it to about 46% read and just couldn’t force myself to keep going. So much potential for an interesting story, but it all seemed bloodless to me.
Made it to about 46% read and just couldn’t force myself to keep going. So much potential for an interesting story, but it all seemed bloodless to me.
LibraryThing member charl08
I hadn't read much about this novel before I picked it up, so it was a lovely surprise to find that Egan has jumped from contemporary to prohibition and wartime US and does it so well. I was absorbed in her account of a young family struggling with the Depression, and trying to work out how to make
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their way through. Writing from the perspective of a father and daughter, the characters are charming as well as spiky. Much of the charm of the book for me was in the unexpected twists and turns, but one of the strengths of the book for me was how the family dealt with disability in very different ways. Egan's description reminded me of a family I visited many years ago, the way love just radiated between my school friend and her siste Show Less
LibraryThing member novelcommentary
Jennifer Egan's novel A Visit from the Goon Squad was an excellent read, experimental in form, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Her recent novel, Manhattan Beach, takes on a more conventional narrative, a period piece which revolves around three characters in the years before and just after WW II.
Though sections of the novel provide background and insight into both Eddie's disappearance and Dexter's fall from grace, it is Anna's story we are drawn to. She works at the navy yard and through her own determination becomes the first female diver for the US Navy. Now 19 and on her own, she runs into Dexter Styles when she visits a nightclub for the first time. She also tastes champagne for the first time: "The pale gold potion snapped and frothed in her glass. When she took a sip, it crackled down her throat—sweet but with a tinge of bitterness, like a barely perceptible pin inside a cushion." She brazenly goes up to him and begins a relationship which is as much about physical desire as it is about finding out about her father's five year disappearance.
In the afterward, Egan details the research and acknowledgements, thankful for the books and people that enabled her to provide the accuracy of her time frame. Her research provided great insight into the life and times of Brooklyn when most of the men were involved overseas.
Though the ending does seem to wrap up a bit too quickly and neatly, there are some interesting ironies that make it satisfying. I highly recommend this novel and look forward to exploring more of her writing, hoping that she continues to add to her already notable career.
Some good lines :
"There was a “Nurse” in the nursery, a freckled, raspy-voiced woman whose woolen dress strained like an overstacked bookshelf to repress her massive bust. Anna guessed from the broad lay of her face and the merry switch of her eyes that Nurse was Irish, and felt a danger of being seen through. She resolved to keep her distance"
"He was a big man with savage dock walloper’s hands, though he hadn’t worked the ships in over a decade. For all his natty attire, Dunellen gave a drooping, corroded impression, like a freighter gone to rust after being too long at anchor."
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The story begins around 1934 and centers around the Kerrigan family, father Eddie, his wife, Agnes and their two daughters, Anna and Lydia. Early in the novel, Eddie Kerrigan takes his daughter Anna with him on a trip out to a luxurious beach to go see a wealthy, infamous, nightclub owner named Dexter Styles. This meeting and the three people involved will be the focus of Egan's insights into the threads of the novel. Times are hard and the ’28 Duesenberg that they drive out, which used to be theirs, now is borrowed from the local union boss. Eddie needs to make more money both in general and specifically because his youngest daughter, Lydia, born crippled and non communicative, needs a wheel chair. Though he warns Anna to behave during this important visit, she takes off her shoes to feel the freezing ocean water and Dexter takes note that she is a daring young girl. It's a scene that will reverberate as the tale unfolds.Though sections of the novel provide background and insight into both Eddie's disappearance and Dexter's fall from grace, it is Anna's story we are drawn to. She works at the navy yard and through her own determination becomes the first female diver for the US Navy. Now 19 and on her own, she runs into Dexter Styles when she visits a nightclub for the first time. She also tastes champagne for the first time: "The pale gold potion snapped and frothed in her glass. When she took a sip, it crackled down her throat—sweet but with a tinge of bitterness, like a barely perceptible pin inside a cushion." She brazenly goes up to him and begins a relationship which is as much about physical desire as it is about finding out about her father's five year disappearance.
In the afterward, Egan details the research and acknowledgements, thankful for the books and people that enabled her to provide the accuracy of her time frame. Her research provided great insight into the life and times of Brooklyn when most of the men were involved overseas.
Though the ending does seem to wrap up a bit too quickly and neatly, there are some interesting ironies that make it satisfying. I highly recommend this novel and look forward to exploring more of her writing, hoping that she continues to add to her already notable career.
Some good lines :
"There was a “Nurse” in the nursery, a freckled, raspy-voiced woman whose woolen dress strained like an overstacked bookshelf to repress her massive bust. Anna guessed from the broad lay of her face and the merry switch of her eyes that Nurse was Irish, and felt a danger of being seen through. She resolved to keep her distance"
"He was a big man with savage dock walloper’s hands, though he hadn’t worked the ships in over a decade. For all his natty attire, Dunellen gave a drooping, corroded impression, like a freighter gone to rust after being too long at anchor."
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LibraryThing member rglossne
We first meet Anna Kerrigan when she is 11 years old, when she accompanies her father Eddie on a work visit to Dexter Styles at his wealthy home near Manhattan Beach. Anna understands that this man is possibly a gangster, and she is fascinated by his home, his children, and the mystery of how her
Years later, the country is at war, and her father has disappeared. Anna is working at the Brooklyn Navy yard, and eventually becomes the first woman diver, fixing ships below the water. She encounters Styles again at a nightclub he owns, and their lives become intertwined in unexpected ways.
This is an immensely satisfying historical novel.
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father is connected to Dexter. Years later, the country is at war, and her father has disappeared. Anna is working at the Brooklyn Navy yard, and eventually becomes the first woman diver, fixing ships below the water. She encounters Styles again at a nightclub he owns, and their lives become intertwined in unexpected ways.
This is an immensely satisfying historical novel.
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LibraryThing member techeditor
I am tempted to give MANHATTAN BEACH five stars. It deserves five stars for its historical accuracy and writing style. But only it’s second half is both plot- and character-driven.
The first half of MANHATTAN BEACH lays out its various characters, especially Eddie, Dexter, and Anna. But where’s
The second half of MANHATTAN BEACH made the wait worthwhile. Little by little the mystery surrounding Eddie is revealed. His relationship with Dexter causes the relationship between Dexter and Anna. And what a story! The plot is convoluted, and the book becomes unputdownable.
So I want to give MANHATTAN BEACH five stars. But in all honesty I give it four.
I won this book from offtheshelf.com
The first half of MANHATTAN BEACH lays out its various characters, especially Eddie, Dexter, and Anna. But where’s
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the story, I wondered. Many character-driven novels neglect plot, and it looked like this book was going that way. But I continued because the writing was so much better than I had read in a long time. The second half of MANHATTAN BEACH made the wait worthwhile. Little by little the mystery surrounding Eddie is revealed. His relationship with Dexter causes the relationship between Dexter and Anna. And what a story! The plot is convoluted, and the book becomes unputdownable.
So I want to give MANHATTAN BEACH five stars. But in all honesty I give it four.
I won this book from offtheshelf.com
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LibraryThing member DrApple
This is the story of Anna Kerrigan, growing up and becoming an adult during the 1920s through the 1940s. Egan’s atmospheric writing makes the reader feel part of the story. Anna challenges the stereotypes of the era, deals with tragedy, joy, friendship, loss, and the daily vagaries of life.
LibraryThing member GirlWellRead
A special thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Egan's latest offering takes place in America during the Depression. Twelve-year-old Anna Kerrigan accompanies her father to visit Dexter Styles, a man who she perceives to be important. Anna
Years later the country is at war, Anna's father has disappeared, and she has to support her mother and disabled sister with work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Because of the war, women are allowed to work and perform jobs that were traditionally jobs for men. She becomes the first female diver—an incredibly dangerous occupation—repairing naval ships. Anna meets Dexter Styles at a nightclub and realizes that he is the man she visited with her father before his disappearance. Styles has ties to the mob and Anna begins to understand the complexity of her father's life.
The first section is smart, sharp, and brilliantly executed. Egan's writing is solid, exactly what you would expect. Then the novel makes one of many jumps in time and the story becomes scattered. There is a complete lack of harmony and the reader is left with a rambling narrative that is a mash-up of three stories. Hinging on boring at times, I didn't connect with the characters, or the plot, and this is disappointing because Egan has obviously done her homework.
Egan's latest offering takes place in America during the Depression. Twelve-year-old Anna Kerrigan accompanies her father to visit Dexter Styles, a man who she perceives to be important. Anna
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can't help but notice the lavish house equipped with servants, toys for the children, and the pact between Styles and her father. Years later the country is at war, Anna's father has disappeared, and she has to support her mother and disabled sister with work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Because of the war, women are allowed to work and perform jobs that were traditionally jobs for men. She becomes the first female diver—an incredibly dangerous occupation—repairing naval ships. Anna meets Dexter Styles at a nightclub and realizes that he is the man she visited with her father before his disappearance. Styles has ties to the mob and Anna begins to understand the complexity of her father's life.
The first section is smart, sharp, and brilliantly executed. Egan's writing is solid, exactly what you would expect. Then the novel makes one of many jumps in time and the story becomes scattered. There is a complete lack of harmony and the reader is left with a rambling narrative that is a mash-up of three stories. Hinging on boring at times, I didn't connect with the characters, or the plot, and this is disappointing because Egan has obviously done her homework.
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LibraryThing member OscarWilde87
Set in Brooklyn in the 1930s and 1940s, Jennifer Egan's Manhattan Beach follows the life of Anna Kerrigan from when she is eleven until she is an adult. At the beginning we see Anna and her father Eddie visiting the notorious gangster Dexter Styles at his home. After his career was ruined during
I found the setting and the topic of the novel highly intriguing right from the beginning. Following Anna's life through ups and downs made for some captivating reading. I was not so much driven by the urge to know what happened to her father, but rather by seeing Anna create a viable space in society for herself and overcoming all the obstacles life constantly put in her way. Egan's writing is highly readable and contributes to the overall pleasure of reading Manhattan Beach. 4 stars.
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the Great Depression, Eddie Kerrigan started working for Styles. Kerrigan's other daughter, Lydia, is paralyzed and Eddie needs Styles' help to pay for a wheelchair. As the story continues, Eddie leaves his family from one moment to the next and Anna, her mother and her sister Lydia are on their own, barely able to get by. When Lydia dies and Anna's mother moves to live with relatives, Anna remains in New York alone. She works in the Navy Yard and wants to become the first female diver, which she eventually manages. The paths of Dexter Styles and Anna cross again when she sees him in one of his nightclubs. In her quest to find out more about her father's disappearance Anna tries to get closer to Styles and they soon become attracted to one another. Will Anna find out the truth about her father's disappearance? How will she cope living in Brooklyn on her own?I found the setting and the topic of the novel highly intriguing right from the beginning. Following Anna's life through ups and downs made for some captivating reading. I was not so much driven by the urge to know what happened to her father, but rather by seeing Anna create a viable space in society for herself and overcoming all the obstacles life constantly put in her way. Egan's writing is highly readable and contributes to the overall pleasure of reading Manhattan Beach. 4 stars.
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LibraryThing member maryreinert
Anna Kerrigan had a special relationship with her dad, Eddie, when she was a child, but now she is grown, Eddie has abandoned her mother and disabled sister, and Anna is working in the Naval Yard along with all the other women called into service since the men are at war. The book switches between
Anna is naive but brave and daring; Eddie is a charmer who is able to connect relationships, but after knowing too much "disappears." Other interesting characters include Dexter Styles, a middle level mobster with "respectable" connections through his wife's family. Brianna, is Anna's floozy aunt who eventually becomes a source of support of Anna.
The story really has several plot lines intertwining and all were interesting in their own. Sometimes there is a bit too much coincidence and sometimes the author's sentences and wording are confusing to me.
The mob connections are especially confusing at times, but overall enjoyed the book.
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Anna's story becoming the first woman diver repairing ships and Eddie's story of involvement with the mafia (although the word "mafia" is never used). Anna is naive but brave and daring; Eddie is a charmer who is able to connect relationships, but after knowing too much "disappears." Other interesting characters include Dexter Styles, a middle level mobster with "respectable" connections through his wife's family. Brianna, is Anna's floozy aunt who eventually becomes a source of support of Anna.
The story really has several plot lines intertwining and all were interesting in their own. Sometimes there is a bit too much coincidence and sometimes the author's sentences and wording are confusing to me.
The mob connections are especially confusing at times, but overall enjoyed the book.
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LibraryThing member brangwinn
Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres. And when it takes me to a place I’ve never been, its even better. Living in Seattle, I am familiar with how women built the Boeing planes during World War II, but I didn’t think of them as impacting ship building at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
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She’s managed to tell the stories of three people within the book, showing the courage of women as well and the mob rule and its impact during the war. The afterword about how the story idea was born, from real people of the era makes the story even more enjoyable. Show Less
LibraryThing member thewanderingjew
Manhattan Beach, Jennifer Egan, author; Norbert Leo Butz, Heather Lind, and Vincent Piazza, narrators.
The book takes place after Prohibition, but the effects of The Great Depression are everywhere. Edward Kerrigan needs work to support his wife and two daughters, one of whom is severely
The book then travels in time. Anna is now 19. When she was 14, her dad simply vanished from her life with no explanation. She is now working at the Brooklyn Navy Yard with other young women who are doing the jobs of the men who have been called up to serve in the military. World War II is raging. A free spirit, she wants to be a diver, an occupation open only to men since the diving suit is heavy and the work is dangerous. She sets out to accomplish that goal and is ultimately successful, against all odds. Right now, her lifestyle is very simple. She and her mom take care of her handicapped sister, Lydia. When she meets a woman named Nell, she begins to push the envelope a bit and live more recklessly. She meets Dexter Styles again, but he does not recognize her and she gives him a false name. He unwittingly changes the arc of both their lives as his, Edward’s and Anna’s intersect.
The book continues to travel back and forth in time, largely through the memories and lives of Dexter, Edward and Anna. It is how secrets are revealed to the reader but not to the characters from whom they were hidden. I found the story to alternately be credible and/or contrived for several reasons. Although, I was brought up in Brooklyn, some decades after Anna, Manhattan Beach was still a place we ordinary souls only dreamt about. When one of our friends moved there, we thought his family had made it to the top. I heard many stories about gangsters. One lived a block away from me and was supposedly thrown from a window. My friend’s dad worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. As a young girl of 16, I had a boyfriend in the Navy, and Tabitha Styles crush on her cousin Grady, and the description of the uniform, brought those memories back! Prospect Park was a favorite place to go rowing until it became too dangerous to go there. My family loved eating out at Lundi’s and gorging ourselves on the Shore Dinner mentioned, which was several courses of heaven followed by dessert. The Charlotte Russe was my dad’s favorite sweet treat. My aunt’s friend was a Texas Guinan dancer, and everyone wanted to be in Ziegfield’s Follies. Nightclubs were elegant and for special occasions, but off limits for most of us, unless for an organized pre-planned party of some sort. Sweet sixteens were often held at those venues. Coney Island and Steeplechase were places to simply have fun, and walking through the turning barrel at its entrance was a highlight of the experience. Ringolevio was a game played by all of us, happily, for hours, as well as stoop ball. All of these things are mentioned in the book, and for those reasons, I enjoyed it, but my experiences were out of the time zone in the book. Therefore, I thought the story was an odd mix of historic fiction and fairy tale. It was sometimes credible and sometimes hard to believe, especially since there was no woman diver in a diving suit until 1975, more than thirty years later. In addition, I remember that girls who got into trouble were shamed mercilessly, and they disappeared. If they were in school, they had to leave. I found Anna’s reaction to her predicament a bit cavalier and unrealistic, especially for that time period. She seemed to alternate between a naïve young woman and a sophisticated adult. It seemed a bit disingenuous or schizophrenic.
All in all, the book seemed to contain a lot of extraneous information and details in an attempt to illustrate the influence of gangsters at a terrible time of history. It clearly showed the inequality of women and their lack of power and rights. Because they had little influence and were barred from so many things, they often had to make desperate decisions. Only the strong willed could survive independently. It also touched on homosexuality and racism, issues still problematic today. I don’t think this book quite measured up to her last one, “A Visit From The Goon Squad”.
The book takes place after Prohibition, but the effects of The Great Depression are everywhere. Edward Kerrigan needs work to support his wife and two daughters, one of whom is severely
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disabled. Shipping has dried up, and there is no work for longshoremen. He takes his precocious, headstrong 11 year old daughter, Anna, to a business meeting with Dexter Styles, a well known and influential gangster. The meeting is in Dexter’s home in Manhattan Beach which is an affluent area of Brooklyn, Although Styles owns legitimate nightclubs, they have secret backroom gambling casinos. He is dangerous; those who defy him disappear, but Eddie is desperate. After being introduced to Dexter, Anna plays with his children on the beach. She is impressed by the size and beauty of the house and the many luxuries and toys the children possess. The book then travels in time. Anna is now 19. When she was 14, her dad simply vanished from her life with no explanation. She is now working at the Brooklyn Navy Yard with other young women who are doing the jobs of the men who have been called up to serve in the military. World War II is raging. A free spirit, she wants to be a diver, an occupation open only to men since the diving suit is heavy and the work is dangerous. She sets out to accomplish that goal and is ultimately successful, against all odds. Right now, her lifestyle is very simple. She and her mom take care of her handicapped sister, Lydia. When she meets a woman named Nell, she begins to push the envelope a bit and live more recklessly. She meets Dexter Styles again, but he does not recognize her and she gives him a false name. He unwittingly changes the arc of both their lives as his, Edward’s and Anna’s intersect.
The book continues to travel back and forth in time, largely through the memories and lives of Dexter, Edward and Anna. It is how secrets are revealed to the reader but not to the characters from whom they were hidden. I found the story to alternately be credible and/or contrived for several reasons. Although, I was brought up in Brooklyn, some decades after Anna, Manhattan Beach was still a place we ordinary souls only dreamt about. When one of our friends moved there, we thought his family had made it to the top. I heard many stories about gangsters. One lived a block away from me and was supposedly thrown from a window. My friend’s dad worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. As a young girl of 16, I had a boyfriend in the Navy, and Tabitha Styles crush on her cousin Grady, and the description of the uniform, brought those memories back! Prospect Park was a favorite place to go rowing until it became too dangerous to go there. My family loved eating out at Lundi’s and gorging ourselves on the Shore Dinner mentioned, which was several courses of heaven followed by dessert. The Charlotte Russe was my dad’s favorite sweet treat. My aunt’s friend was a Texas Guinan dancer, and everyone wanted to be in Ziegfield’s Follies. Nightclubs were elegant and for special occasions, but off limits for most of us, unless for an organized pre-planned party of some sort. Sweet sixteens were often held at those venues. Coney Island and Steeplechase were places to simply have fun, and walking through the turning barrel at its entrance was a highlight of the experience. Ringolevio was a game played by all of us, happily, for hours, as well as stoop ball. All of these things are mentioned in the book, and for those reasons, I enjoyed it, but my experiences were out of the time zone in the book. Therefore, I thought the story was an odd mix of historic fiction and fairy tale. It was sometimes credible and sometimes hard to believe, especially since there was no woman diver in a diving suit until 1975, more than thirty years later. In addition, I remember that girls who got into trouble were shamed mercilessly, and they disappeared. If they were in school, they had to leave. I found Anna’s reaction to her predicament a bit cavalier and unrealistic, especially for that time period. She seemed to alternate between a naïve young woman and a sophisticated adult. It seemed a bit disingenuous or schizophrenic.
All in all, the book seemed to contain a lot of extraneous information and details in an attempt to illustrate the influence of gangsters at a terrible time of history. It clearly showed the inequality of women and their lack of power and rights. Because they had little influence and were barred from so many things, they often had to make desperate decisions. Only the strong willed could survive independently. It also touched on homosexuality and racism, issues still problematic today. I don’t think this book quite measured up to her last one, “A Visit From The Goon Squad”.
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LibraryThing member nivramkoorb
I have read a couple of Egan books that I liked very much and started a 3rd that I had to quit. I picked this up because it got good reviews and I liked the subject matter. It looks at the 1934 and then 1942 timeframes. It mixes a story about a female diver in the Brooklyn Naval Yards with a
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gangster story back drop. There are 3 main characters through which we see the story. The writing is excellent and Egan does a good job and giving us a feel for the times that she is writing about. However, there were elements of the story that didn't totally add up and she seemed to try and tie the whole story up in a happy ever after that I found a bit too simple. It was an entertaining book for me but if you have not read Egan I would start with " A Visit to the Good Squad" which is a Pulitzer Prize winner. Show Less
LibraryThing member jbvm
Very very readable. Two crucial plot points are utterly implausible, but thoroughly enjoyed this anyway..
LibraryThing member shazjhb
Excellent book. Different from her other books so makes reading her interesting and fun
LibraryThing member dawnlovesbooks
I am ashamed to admit that this is the first book I have read by Jennifer Egan. Her other books have been on my bookshelf way too long. I have mixed feelings about "Manhattan Beach." I was a little bored at times, but I am not a historical fiction lover, so a little boredom is to be expected when I
When the book begins, we are introduced to the heroine of the book, Anna Kerrigan. She is just twelve years old and she is obviously daddy's little girl. Anna and her father have a very close relationship and a special bond. It's apparent that Anna's father is involved in some sort of mafia/gangster activity and he begins going away a lot. Because he is gone so much and Anna is no longer allowed to join him, their relationship begins to wither.
At 19, Anna's father has disappeared and she becomes the provider for her mother and handicapped sister. She tires of her factory job and pursues her desire to become a diver. It is unheard of for a woman to be a diver and Anna has to fight constantly to fulfill her dreams. Most people would have given up, but she let nothing get in her way.
Around this same time, Anna also becomes involved with a dangerous man who may be able to help her figure out what happened to her father. There are many lovely characters in the story that kept me interested through the boring parts. Another thing I loved about the book is that the sea wasn’t just the setting, but it was almost a character in the novel itself. Jennifer Egan is an amazing writer and I look forward to trying some of her other books, which I understand are much different from this one.
"Manhattan Beach is so rich in detail and atmosphere; such an exploration of underworlds of all kinds, filled with lessons on lifelines and buoyancy and how to bear life’s weight by diving deep into it. Jennifer Egan has masterfully conjured an era we are on the cusp of losing. Her novel is an absorbing story, beautifully written. Its strands of subtle intrigue and quiet heroism make you reluctant to leave each page while eager to get to the next."—M.L. Stedman
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read such a book. The author obviously did a lot of research to make this book an accurate portrayal of the World World II/depression era. I think it took her seven years to write it. When the book begins, we are introduced to the heroine of the book, Anna Kerrigan. She is just twelve years old and she is obviously daddy's little girl. Anna and her father have a very close relationship and a special bond. It's apparent that Anna's father is involved in some sort of mafia/gangster activity and he begins going away a lot. Because he is gone so much and Anna is no longer allowed to join him, their relationship begins to wither.
At 19, Anna's father has disappeared and she becomes the provider for her mother and handicapped sister. She tires of her factory job and pursues her desire to become a diver. It is unheard of for a woman to be a diver and Anna has to fight constantly to fulfill her dreams. Most people would have given up, but she let nothing get in her way.
Around this same time, Anna also becomes involved with a dangerous man who may be able to help her figure out what happened to her father. There are many lovely characters in the story that kept me interested through the boring parts. Another thing I loved about the book is that the sea wasn’t just the setting, but it was almost a character in the novel itself. Jennifer Egan is an amazing writer and I look forward to trying some of her other books, which I understand are much different from this one.
"Manhattan Beach is so rich in detail and atmosphere; such an exploration of underworlds of all kinds, filled with lessons on lifelines and buoyancy and how to bear life’s weight by diving deep into it. Jennifer Egan has masterfully conjured an era we are on the cusp of losing. Her novel is an absorbing story, beautifully written. Its strands of subtle intrigue and quiet heroism make you reluctant to leave each page while eager to get to the next."—M.L. Stedman
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LibraryThing member jmchshannon
Manhattan Beach is a tale of two stories. On one side, there is Anna’s work life and struggles to find her role in the wartime economy. On the other side, there is Anna’s private life with her missing father and handicapped sister. Even though the two stories barely coincide, except for one key
Manhattan Beach is by no means an action-filled story. In fact, the biggest complaint about the novel from others is that it moves slowly. To me, it is a character-driven story, and the slow pacing works as Ms. Egan affords readers the opportunity to intimately understand Anna, her motivations, her passions, and her schedule. At the same time, it allows readers to learn about wartime New York and what women experienced as they went to work in roles previously held by men. We see how the gangsters transitioned from the Prohibition era to the wartime, how things changed for everyone in any role, and watch as society evolves.
This historical aspect of the story is by far its strongest one. Particularly interesting was Anna’s struggles to become a deep-sea diver. History books and wartime anecdotes would have you believe that industries, particularly those involving manual labor, welcomed women with open arms to fill the voids left by the men going overseas to fight. Ms. Egan shows that this is not true. The hatred Anna faces as well as the scorn, doubt, and general prejudice she experiences just to be able to put on the diving suit is disturbing. Yet, on some levels, the misogyny surrounding her decision to dive is not surprising in the least. While it is nice to think that Rosie the Riveter, and the women who answered the call of that advertisement, faced no issues, we just have to look to today’s society to realize the likelihood of that having actually happened is nil. Anna’s story in that regard is just one more in a long line of gender bias and prejudice women continue to experience today.
The second part of Anna’s story, that of her personal life, also provides historical context that educates and intrigues. As with the idealized impression of women in blue-collar manual labor roles, I never thought that the idea of a single woman living alone in the 1940s was scandalous behavior. After all, there have been women-only boarding houses in existence for decades by this point in history. In my mind, the same would seem to hold true with going out without a chaperone. However, Anna’s experiences burst this idyllic bubble of mine just as it did with Rosie the Riveter. Yet, while society may still see women as fragile and in need of protection, Anna’s story shows how the war slowly changes this attitude. Ms. Egan, through Anna, provides a clearer picture of just what it meant to be an unmarried woman during World War II.
Even though the story revolves around Anna, Ms. Egan uses multiple viewpoints to round out her story. These character point-of-views fill in the gaps that Anna will never learn and help answer mysteries to which Anna will never obtain the answers. While Ms. Egan could have told the story strictly through Anna’s eyes, the multiple perspectives afford the reader the opportunity to garner the whole truth, particularly around Anna’s missing father, while allowing Anna to remain ignorant of the truth, something that feels essential to her character. In essence, they leave readers with no unanswered questions and better insight to what was occurring behind Anna’s back while remaining true to all of the characters and the story.
While I enjoyed reading Manhattan Beach, finding it intriguing and educational, I can see why others are struggling to finish it. It is not a complicated plot, and there is very little action. Without the historical context, it would indeed be boring; if the history doesn’t interest you, then it is boring. Nothing is much of a surprise, and while we get to know Anna very well, she does not develop much as a character. For me, the history and the mystery of the father’s disappearance, no matter how predictable, were enough to overshadow the predictability and to pique my interest. Whether it will be enough for you is up to your individual tastes in stories.
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scene towards the end that sets the finale into motion, both are interesting from the glimpses into wartime New York they provide.Manhattan Beach is by no means an action-filled story. In fact, the biggest complaint about the novel from others is that it moves slowly. To me, it is a character-driven story, and the slow pacing works as Ms. Egan affords readers the opportunity to intimately understand Anna, her motivations, her passions, and her schedule. At the same time, it allows readers to learn about wartime New York and what women experienced as they went to work in roles previously held by men. We see how the gangsters transitioned from the Prohibition era to the wartime, how things changed for everyone in any role, and watch as society evolves.
This historical aspect of the story is by far its strongest one. Particularly interesting was Anna’s struggles to become a deep-sea diver. History books and wartime anecdotes would have you believe that industries, particularly those involving manual labor, welcomed women with open arms to fill the voids left by the men going overseas to fight. Ms. Egan shows that this is not true. The hatred Anna faces as well as the scorn, doubt, and general prejudice she experiences just to be able to put on the diving suit is disturbing. Yet, on some levels, the misogyny surrounding her decision to dive is not surprising in the least. While it is nice to think that Rosie the Riveter, and the women who answered the call of that advertisement, faced no issues, we just have to look to today’s society to realize the likelihood of that having actually happened is nil. Anna’s story in that regard is just one more in a long line of gender bias and prejudice women continue to experience today.
The second part of Anna’s story, that of her personal life, also provides historical context that educates and intrigues. As with the idealized impression of women in blue-collar manual labor roles, I never thought that the idea of a single woman living alone in the 1940s was scandalous behavior. After all, there have been women-only boarding houses in existence for decades by this point in history. In my mind, the same would seem to hold true with going out without a chaperone. However, Anna’s experiences burst this idyllic bubble of mine just as it did with Rosie the Riveter. Yet, while society may still see women as fragile and in need of protection, Anna’s story shows how the war slowly changes this attitude. Ms. Egan, through Anna, provides a clearer picture of just what it meant to be an unmarried woman during World War II.
Even though the story revolves around Anna, Ms. Egan uses multiple viewpoints to round out her story. These character point-of-views fill in the gaps that Anna will never learn and help answer mysteries to which Anna will never obtain the answers. While Ms. Egan could have told the story strictly through Anna’s eyes, the multiple perspectives afford the reader the opportunity to garner the whole truth, particularly around Anna’s missing father, while allowing Anna to remain ignorant of the truth, something that feels essential to her character. In essence, they leave readers with no unanswered questions and better insight to what was occurring behind Anna’s back while remaining true to all of the characters and the story.
While I enjoyed reading Manhattan Beach, finding it intriguing and educational, I can see why others are struggling to finish it. It is not a complicated plot, and there is very little action. Without the historical context, it would indeed be boring; if the history doesn’t interest you, then it is boring. Nothing is much of a surprise, and while we get to know Anna very well, she does not develop much as a character. For me, the history and the mystery of the father’s disappearance, no matter how predictable, were enough to overshadow the predictability and to pique my interest. Whether it will be enough for you is up to your individual tastes in stories.
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LibraryThing member albertgoldfain
Well researched and detailed backdrop of the waterfront and nautical/diving life. Egan uses this technical raw material to frame the twilight of a multi-faceted mobster family story.
LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl
Centered on the Second World War, Manhattan Beach tells the story of three people; a merchant marine third mate as he works on ships sailing dangerous seas, a mob boss negotiating stormy seas of his own and a young woman who grows up in Brooklyn during the Depression and who finds her feet when she
This is a solid, well-researched historical novel. There is none of the innovation or surprise of Jennifer Egan's best known work, A Visit from the Goon Squad. Egan uses instead a traditional approach to this traditional tale. And while I thought the novel lost intensity towards the end and was irked by an uncharacteristic and stupid action by one of the central characters, readers who enjoy solid historical fiction about WWII will find Manhattan Beach to be an excellent read.
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gets a job working in the Naval Yard, eventually fighting for the chance to become a diver. Their lives intersect in important ways, but their relationships with each other are almost tangential to their own stories. This is a solid, well-researched historical novel. There is none of the innovation or surprise of Jennifer Egan's best known work, A Visit from the Goon Squad. Egan uses instead a traditional approach to this traditional tale. And while I thought the novel lost intensity towards the end and was irked by an uncharacteristic and stupid action by one of the central characters, readers who enjoy solid historical fiction about WWII will find Manhattan Beach to be an excellent read.
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LibraryThing member Narshkite
Jennifer Egan is one of my favorite authors. Most authors have a style, or an character "type", or recurring themes (think the bears and orphans and wrestling of John Irving, the men of Safran Foer whose intellect renders them unable to be happy, Hemingway's men's endless quest for distraction from
I was pretty darn shocked to seen that Egan had written historical fiction, a genre not known for experimentation. To be honest I was also a bit disappointed, historical fiction is not generally a favorite genre for me, especially WWII set historical fiction. I should have had more faith, I should have known that Egan would redefine the term historical fiction. I should have known that she would still play with time because it is still true that some things that happened 20 years ago are more current and relevant than things that happened yesterday, so that in storytelling events should not be ordered strictly temporally. I should have known that Egan would still use the events of the book to find what defines the humanity (or maybe the limitations of being human) in each character. I should have known that where most historical fiction is about the time, and people are placed in that time to illustrate certain things that Egan's book would be primarily about the main characters. That despite the meticulously researched and perfectly drawn time and place, this book is about Anna, in all her glory. It is about this badass feminist (before that was a word), a woman mourning her beloved father, without the closure of his documented death, a girl who wants to be what her mother wants but doesn't know what that is, a sister desperate to bring happiness to a sister locked in her own world, and a lover and friend unable to give enough of herself or ask enough from others to fully experience the joys of either role. The setting, WWII Brooklyn (my beloved-I lived in walking distance of the Navy Yards, before they were made fancy and the running suit clad made men were everywhere, and it is my spiritual home) with its war effort and its mob activity and its poverty it provides a frame for the main event that is Anna.
This is great storytelling.
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self-reflection) but every Egan book is entirely different from the one before. Sure, there are some recurring motifs - absent men, mourning, childhood bonds, the non-linearity of time and human experience, but the books all feel so very different from one another. So I guess I should not have been surprised by this departure: Egan could not have written a book more different than "Visit from the Good Squad" if doing so had been her sole goal. But one thing that remains constant is that like Goon Squad and Invisible Circus, and the others this book is simply extraordinary.I was pretty darn shocked to seen that Egan had written historical fiction, a genre not known for experimentation. To be honest I was also a bit disappointed, historical fiction is not generally a favorite genre for me, especially WWII set historical fiction. I should have had more faith, I should have known that Egan would redefine the term historical fiction. I should have known that she would still play with time because it is still true that some things that happened 20 years ago are more current and relevant than things that happened yesterday, so that in storytelling events should not be ordered strictly temporally. I should have known that Egan would still use the events of the book to find what defines the humanity (or maybe the limitations of being human) in each character. I should have known that where most historical fiction is about the time, and people are placed in that time to illustrate certain things that Egan's book would be primarily about the main characters. That despite the meticulously researched and perfectly drawn time and place, this book is about Anna, in all her glory. It is about this badass feminist (before that was a word), a woman mourning her beloved father, without the closure of his documented death, a girl who wants to be what her mother wants but doesn't know what that is, a sister desperate to bring happiness to a sister locked in her own world, and a lover and friend unable to give enough of herself or ask enough from others to fully experience the joys of either role. The setting, WWII Brooklyn (my beloved-I lived in walking distance of the Navy Yards, before they were made fancy and the running suit clad made men were everywhere, and it is my spiritual home) with its war effort and its mob activity and its poverty it provides a frame for the main event that is Anna.
This is great storytelling.
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Awards
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2017
Physical description
448 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
1476716749 / 9781476716749