December 20, 2004
Paris Review
advisory editor Gaffney crafts a richly atmospheric debut in which a bewildered immigrant loses his heart to a tough Irish lass in 1860s New York. Introduced first as "the stableman," the young hero finally identified as Frank Harris fled his native Germany to start a new life. But he's quickly framed by a master criminal and arsonist, then kidnapped by Beatrice O'Gamhna and told he must join the notorious Whyo gang—or else. Frank's luck veers from terrible to wonderful and back again in this suspenseful novel, and the jobs he acquires—laying cobblestones, working in sewers, building the Brooklyn Bridge—allow Gaffney to describe the burgeoning activity of a city absorbing its immigrants into projects that increase the power of the metropolis. Her portrait of the real but poorly documented Whyo gang gives them a handsome, despicable leader, his seemingly benign but powerful mother and a secret means of communicating described in Asbury's The Gangs of New York
. Two graduates of the Women's Medical College who offer abortions to poor women, a black Civil War veteran who befriends Frank, and a benevolent business man with Dickensian resonances add more period color. While it never attains the narrative urgency of Doctorow's evocations of 19th-century New York, the novel's well-researched historical background, enlivened by descriptions of the criminal underworld and the off-beat love story, should ensure wide interest. Agent, Leigh Feldman.
November 1, 2004
German boy meets Irish girl meets the American Dream in post-Civil War New York. Advisory editor for the Paris Review, Gaffney is doing a six-city tour.
Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from January 1, 2005
Rife with gangsters and greenhorns, New York is growing at a dizzying pace in the aftermath of the Civil War. Sexy Beatrice is a member of the Why Nots, the women's branch of the Whyos, a diabolical and musical Irish street gang. Into their world stumbles a German immigrant who manages to get himself fingered as an arsonist and murderer after P. T. Barnum's American Museum bursts into flames. Actually an educated stonecutter with dreams of building cathedrals, he is appalled to find himself forcibly recruited by the Whyos but nonetheless transforms himself into an Irishman named Frank Harris under Beatrice's tutelage. Hopelessly in love with his flinty instructor, Frank can't help but excel at everything he does, and Gaffney evokes a world of hidden marvels as she puts him through his paces working in the sewers and helping build the Brooklyn Bridge. In spite of the sense that Gaffney is working her way down a historical checklist, her fascination with technical advances, street life, social reform, and odd real-life events infuses this big, busy, imaginative, atmospheric, and compulsively readable historical novel (and remarkably capable debut) with a tantalizing energy. And given its array of irresistibly colorful characters, gritty romance, and labyrinthine plot, Gaffney's tale of old New York is pure bliss.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)
Starred review from January 15, 2005
Gaffney's sprawling first novel drops readers smack in the middle of New York City circa 1868. Incidents from history -a fire at P.T. Barnum's American Museum and an explosion aboard a ferry -mingle with events conjured by the author's imagination as German immigrant Johannes gets mired in troubles seemingly beyond his control. The unfolding story showcases two groups, Irish Catholics and German Lutherans, and Gaffney's well-drawn characters seamlessly introduce themes ranging from the lure of gangs to the dangers facing those constructing the Brooklyn Bridge. Race and gender relations also figure prominently, and an understated feminist slant is threaded throughout Johannes's romance with an Irish girl. Though one wishes that the author had occasionally injected dates to clarify the passage of time, this remains an engaging and suspenseful work -and required reading for anyone interested in urban affairs or simply in need of a good, stick-to-the-ribs escape from today's sociopolitical realities. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 11/1/04.] -Eleanor J. Bader, Brooklyn, NY
Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.