x dismiss this message
Did you know you can edit this page?
-
Sign Into Shelfari
-
Choose something to edit
-
Save your contributions
see page history
Description edit
Set against the dramatic backdrop of America's second war for independence, Beverly Swerling's gripping and intricately plotted sequel to the much-loved City of Dreams plunges deep into the crowded streets of old New York. Poised between the Manhattan woods and the sea that is her gateway... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Characters/People edit
- Dr. Turner: Joyful Turner, hero of this story; naval surgeon in the past; lost an arm; tall and lean
- Jesse Edwards: An 11-year-old boy; once a powder monkey on the Lawrence
- Barnaby Carter: A member of the craftsman-small-business-owner class known as mechanics, he owns a workshop that produces state coach bodies.
- Tammy Tompkins: A tar who served on the Lawrence; helped Joyful; a carver of whalebone
- Finbar O'toole: Merchant sea captain who often travels to Canton; an Irishman, came to America at age 10, was in the army
- Andrew Turner: Joyful's cousin and patron when newly arrived in New York, also a doctor and a surgeon, a Revolutionary hero. At 75, he is a member of the Common (city) Council and a respected voice in New York's affairs.
- Jonathan Devrey: One of the opium dealers; twin to Molly, who'd vanished 16 years previously. He was now the sole owner of an apothecary shop in Hanover Square that sold perfumes, etc. He inherited a secret recipe for an elixir many could not do without; it was nearly pure laudanum.
- Gornt Blakeman: A trader to Canton, 49, owned an important stagecoach company; had a counting house on Hanover Street. High hopes for himself.
- Eugenie Fisher: Widow, 24, beautiful and clover, struggling to keep up appearances, hoping to find a usband who will support her in style.
- Bastard Devrey: Lansing Devrey, but called Bastard; illegitimate son of a deceased man, Sam. Cousin to Joyful Turner, 37, head of Devrey Shipping. Squandered most of a fortune; married to Celinda.
- Jacob Astor: Actually, John Jacob Astor, born in Germany and came to America at age 20; became a successful trader and a rich man. Lived sumptuously in New York City.
- Vinegar Clifford: A bouncer, formerly the public whipper before the practice was abolished.
- Thumbless Wu: A Cantonese; among the first Chinese to come to New York City.
- Manon Vionne: Lovely, but smarter than most men and unable to hide it; still unmarried at 11, lived on Maiden Lane
- Maurice Vionne: Father of Manon - whom he fears to be condemned by her intelligence to spinsterhood - and the most respected of the cluster of mostly Huguenot gold- and silversmiths and jewel traders to be found in the vicinity of Maiden Lane.
- Holy Hannah: An ageless creature living in a shack outside of the city. Never married but cares for a brood of children. Often quotes Old Testament scriptures.
- Will Farrel: A 12-year-old boy employed as a lookout for Devrey Shipping dockworkers
- Rev. Zachary Fish: The minister at Mother Zion Church in the Five Points section of New York
- Tintin: A shadowy figure, rumored to be one of Jean Lafitte's pirate captains.
- Delight Higgins: Stunning, of mixed race, a mulatto, which subjects her to laws governing blacks. She claims to be free-born in Nova Scotia, admits to age 29 but could be older. She runs the Dancing Knave.
- F. X. Gallagher: Francis Xavier; another butcher but is also the organizer (and exploiter) of newly arrived Irishmen
- Mordecai Frank: One of the jewel merchants; a goldsmith, member of the Jewish community; an elder of the only (at present) New York synagogue.
- Ah Wong: Jacob Astor's butler, head of the Chinese family Astor brought from Canton to be his servants.
- Samson simson: The first Jewish member of the bar, he studied law at Columbia under Aaron Burr. An elder of the Mill Street Synagogue, Shearith Israel.
- Patrick Aloysius Burney: An Irish laborer who lives in Five Points
- Adele Tremong: A widow with her eye on Maruice Vionne
- Peggety Jack: A one-legged former tar in charge of Devrey Shipping's dockworkers
- Slyly Silas Danforth: A scrivener and probably the most clever forger in New York City.
- roisin Campbell Turner: Joyful's mother, a member of an Irish healing society.
- Henry Astor: Heinrich ashdor, John Jacob Astor's bother; owned many properties in New York
- Lucretia Carter: Married to Barnaby; she was one of the town's numerous abortionists
- John Randal: A surveyor who was involved in laying out the streets of New York
- Geoffrey Colden: A trader, one of the original Buttonwood signers; also served on the Common Council.
Setting & Locations edit
New York at the time of the War of 1812
- New York City: Where this story takes place; still much of it wilderness, but a center for trade, an important seaport. Many of the streets mentioned in this book have been changed and those are mentioned by the author at the beginning. There is also a brief hisstory from 1792 to 1814, just before the story opens.
- Canton: A trading port in China
- Washington: The (fairly new) capital of America. This was an area man-made from a swamp; there was a recently-built mansion for the elected president, painted white.
- City Hall: Marble on three sides, and plain brownstone at the back. Planned by small-minded men, it was already not large enough.
- The Canton Star: The ship sailed by Captain O'Toole past the blockade set up by the British. Designed to be a seagoing warehouse, it was 100 ft. long and pierced for 20 cannon. The captain's cabin was in the stern, wood and brass, and spacious as shipboard cabins go. Part of the wall hid a small hiding place that opened when pressed. Also, the secure region where the rum was kept was below the orlop deck, reached only by steps under a hatch. This is where a stowaway was secreted.
- Bastard Devrey's house: Built in 1706, it was a graceful 3-story red brick house with a cobbled path leading to it. Pineapple finials were set atop posts on either side of the gate in front. The house was across the street from city Hall which was later the seat of America's government and where George Washington was inaugurated.
- The Dancing Knave: A discreet pleasure palace (gambling rooms and a bordello, really) on Rivington Street. It was owned by Delight Higgins.
- John Jacob Astor's house: A splendid home with a vast entryway with gilt columns and walls lined with mirrors and a study that was large enough to be a ballroom, two stories high, with exotic furniture.
- Five Points: A depressed neighborhood edged by Canal Street, which was a stinking waterway. In the area lived Irish immigrants and blacks (many of them free). The landlords were the mayor and most of the city fathers.
Authors & Contributors edit
- Beverly Swerling (Author)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 813.6
Popular Tags
See all 50 tags
We’re hiding the errata, movie connections, books that influenced this book, books influenced by this book, books that cite this book and books cited by this book sections. If you would like to add content to them, you must first make them visible.
