Manhattan Beach

A Novel

By: Jennifer Egan

Narrated by: Norbert Leo Butz, Heather Lind, Vincent Piazza

The long-awaited 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 12 years old, accompanies her father to the house of a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. Anna observes the uniformed servants, the lavishing of toys on the children, and some secret pact between her father and Dexter Styles.

Years later her father has disappeared, and the country is at war. Anna works at the Brooklyn Navy 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 as a Ziegfield folly, and her lovely, severely disabled sister. At a nightclub she chances to meet Styles, the man she visited with her father before he vanished, and she begins to understand the complexity of her father's life, the reasons he might have been murdered.

Mesmerizing, hauntingly beautiful, with the pace and atmosphere of a noir thriller and a wealth of detail about organized crime, the merchant marine, and the clash of classes in New York, 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 magnificent novel by one of the greatest writers of our time.

©2017 Jennifer Egan (P)2017 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

I usually love Jennifer Egan, however...

I have no idea how it happened, maybe it was after I restarted the book for the third time. After the first two times I thought I was in the groove of the book. But after round three I was still completely lost.

I was put off by the back and forth narration. That might have been one cause of my overall confusion. Heather Lind has a beautiful voice. Almost hypnotic. I had to pinch myself a couple of times so I would sit up straight and be an active listener.

It could have been I didn't listen to this book from beginning to end in one sitting. Maybe, but I usually follow most other books.

I think it was the story. A long, slow moving story.

Still love Jennifer Egan. Just not this one.

Meh.

I didn’t care too much for the store. There were some parts I loved. I liked the historical references that were made I the book. I used to live in Brooklyn so listening to the landmarks being mentioned was nostalgic. There were many aspects of the story that I found hard to believe.

Engaging historical novel

Interesting story and people. The history and attitudes captured me completely. Narrators especially good. Produced with thoughtfulness.

A long underwater ramble

It just ended up seeming insignificant. So many directions begun and petering out. And a lack of resolution. By scene it is well written with complete and rounded characters. But the play overall has no direction or drive.

Kind of a let down. 😕

I just kept expecting this story to lead up to something exciting. it never did.

Engrossing book

This novel which takes place during the Depression and World War II in Brooklyn. My understanding of those times was deepened greatly by following the lives of Anna, her family, the syndicate bosses, the Naval
Yard and much more. A disabled child, the divers repairing war ships, and a horrible existence on the ocean after a ship is torpedoed all contribute to this engrossing story.

Fabulous Jennifer Egan

I cent get enough of her work! Bravo for a gréât story with absorbing characters.

LIsten to his book!

You will not be disappointed with this book. It has great characters and is well written. The narrations were also very nice.

excellent

well told, plotted and researched. characters real, resonate. history of the shipyard iin keeping with my fathers stories, wo woked there at same time.

Narration can ruin a good book

The narrators of this book seem not to have read or understood much of it. Their phrasing is often awkward and makes the story hard to follow, makes it hard to get or stay involved. What a shame!