It also seemed the author had multiple agendas beyond telling a good story - all noble but detracting from the suspense - such as the depiction of women's lives during the time period, the inclusion of heroic women of the time, the depiction of conditions of working class and immigrant life, theories about collectives and racial and class equality, etc. My biggest complaint is that the storytelling and narration were woefully inadequate and often boring, and the author seemed to make the mistake of 'telling' rather than 'showing' the events of the story.

I also initially liked what seemed to be suspenseful historical fiction, reminiscent of Fingersmith (Sarah Waters).īut as the book progressed, my criticisms were many. I really liked the beginning, especially what seemed to be the premise of exploring a character whose fate rests upon inaction rather than action (and who seems to be like a blank slate - upon whom others project their fears, anxieties, needs). Buffeted by the forces of fate, hate, luck, and passion, our hero struggles to build a life - and just to stay alive - in a country that at first held so much promise for him.' Epic in sweep, Metropolis follows our hero from his arrival in New York harbor through his experiences in Barnum's circus, the criminal underground, and the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, and on to a life in Brooklyn that is at once unique and poignantly emblematic of the American experience.

Determined to clear his name and realize the dreams that inspired his hazardous voyage across the Atlantic, he will change his identity many times, find himself mixed up with one of the city's toughest and most enterprising gangs, and fall in love with a smart, headstrong, and beautiful young woman. Barnum's stable, where he works and sleeps, and soon finds himself at the center of a citywide arson investigation. 'Elizabeth Gaffney's Metropolis captures the splendor and violence of America's greatest city in the years after the Civil War, as young immigrants climb out of urban chaos and into the American dream.' 'On a freezing night in the middle of winter, Gaffney's hero is suddenly awakened by a fire in P.

Metropolis by Elizabeth Gaffney