MADreads

Continuing saga

March 17th, 2009 Lesley - Central

City of God: A Novel of Passion and Wonder in Old New York is author Beverly Swerling’s fourth installmentin the series that began with Shadowbrook and continued with City of Dreams and City of Glory.  Each story can stand alone although I enjoyed revisiting characters from the previous novels and their descendants.

The latest book takes place in the decades leading up to the Civil War and again follows the rivalries of the Devrey and Turners families as the city of Manhattan expands “uptown.”  Merchant Samuel Devrey spent many years in China eventually trading opium for the beautiful and young Mei-Hua whom he secretly marries.  Three years after the Chinese wedding ceremony, which wasn’t recognized in New York, Samuel makes an advantageous marriage to the heiress Carolina Randolf.  Devrey successfully keeps both of his families separate for years as he tries to retain control of Devrey Shipping (lost by his father) by building the world’s largest clipper ship while wrestling the China trade away from John Jacob Astor.

The other story line follows Dr. Nick Turner, Samuel’s cousin and a relative of physicians found in the earlier novels.  Nick’s ideas of painless surgery and staff washing their hands before caring for patients puts him at odds with the corrupt director of Bellevue hospital as he tries to raise money for medical research.

Nick is eventually drawn into his cousin’s dual life when he saves Mei-Hua in a medical emergency.  The Turners and Devrey’s lives intersect again when Nick and Carolina begin a relationship and move together uptown to the newly developed part of Manhattan.  Carolina takes over Devrey shipping along with her son and realizes Samuel’s dream of a speedy and profitable clipper ship.

In addition to the stories of these two prominent families, City of God also includes historical information on New York City from the 1830’s until the Civil War.  Sections on the various religious groups trying to gain a stronghold among the many new residents, the establishment of Manhattan’s grid systems as the city expanded northward as well as The Great Fire of 1835 make this novel another interesting read in an excellent series.

Entry Filed under: Historical Fiction, Recreational Fiction