Series
Publication
Original publication date
Collections
Subjects
Description
In 1661, Lucas Turner, a barber surgeon, and his sister, Sally, an apothecary, stagger off a small wooden ship after eleven weeks at sea. Bound to each other by blood and necessity, they aim to make a fresh start in the rough and rowdy Dutch settlement of Nieuw Amsterdam; but soon lust, betrayal, and murder will make them mortal enemies. In their struggle to survive in the New World, Lucas and Sally make choices that will burden their descendants with a legacy of secrets and retribution, and create a heritage that sets cousin against cousin, physician against surgeon, and, ultimately, patriot against Tory. In what will be the greatest city in the New World, the fortunes of these two families are inextricably entwined by blood and fire in an unforgettable American saga of pride and ambition, love and hate, and the becoming of the dream that is New York City.… (more)
User reviews
As this family grows together, fights, splinters and turns against each other in vicious revenge, we also see the emergence of New York City as a major concern in the American colonies. The author covers some little known details about New York such as the original importance of the slave trade, to the constant fear of slave revolts. Story lines cover a variety of subjects from political ties to the running of whorehouses, trading guns to the Indians and the beginning stirrings of revolutionary fever, through the Revolutionary War and the years immediately after it. Of course, the main focus is on medicine, and the author goes into great depth to show how difficult this science was to advance against the superstitions and fears of the day. While this wasn’t a story that totally absorbed me or that I even liked for much of the time, I am in awe of the detailed research that the author must have done.
As we read of the evolving science of medicine, we can also see the growth of a small town into the beginnings of the mighty city that New York was destined to become. City of Dreams is the first book of a trilogy about New York, but at this time I am not sure if I will continue on.
Recommended.