THE GODS OF GOTHAM
Lyndsay Faye
Amy Einhorn/Putnam
March 2012
It's August 1845 in New York City and everything seems to be looking up for Timothy Wilde. Orphaned at an early age, Timothy has a steady job, $400 in his mattress, dreams of starting his own business and is finally ready to approach the girl he has known and loved for years. He has accomplished all this by keeping his nose clean, working hard and staying out of the orbit of his venal, vice-ridden Tammany Hall operative brother, Valentine. All of this disappears in just a few hours when fire destroys his neighborhood, workplace and partially disfigures his face. All his dreams are gone and he is homeless as well as penniless. The effects of the Economic Panic of 1837 are still being felt so recovery from the disaster will not be easy.
Brother Valentine gives him an offer he really can't refuse, a job as a "copper star" in the newly formed NYPD. Valentine himself is a volunteer fire-fighter as well as Captain on the new police force. New Yorkers are not at all sure that they want a police force and Timothy has no desire to be a part of it. His choices are limited but he does not want to be beholden to Valentine for his living or home. He accepts the job which entails a workday from four in the morning until eight at night in the poverty-stricken Sixth Ward, bordering Five Points, the most notorious slum of the time. Returning home one night footsore and heartsick from the day, a small girl barrels into him; a small, barefoot girl clad in a nightgown and covered in blood. Tim's job demands that he take her to the "House of Refuge" for indigent children but Tim would never take a child there. He takes her home and cleans her up with the help of his landlady, Mrs. Boehm. It becomes clear that the girl, Bird Daly, is a "kinchin-mab", a child prostitute from the house of Madame Silkie Marsh. Silkie is a former intimate of Valentine and large Tammany Hall contributor, further complicating matters.
Bird refuses to say what caused her to run but is clearly terrified. She does tell him that she knows where dozens of graves are located. Tim and the Police Commissioner investigate and find 19 small corpses buried in a meadow in shallow graves. In all probability they are Irish children.The fledgling NYPD does not want the story getting out and assigns Tim to investigate. Of course the story does get out and the tensions between "native" and Irish residents become a powder keg waiting for a match. The NYPD and Tammany Hall try to put a lid on the investigation but there is no way Tim will let the the deaths of 19 children be ignored. When he finds the answers everything he knows and believes about the people he either loves or respects is upended.
Lyndsay Faye throws us into a Manhattan landscape both alien and familiar at once. It is alien in it's total squalor. Her descriptions of a Manhattan before refrigeration and basic hygiene are so vivid that one can feel the heat and smell the smells of the time. It is familiar in the underlying tensions simmering in the city. Americans have always had a tendency to blame immigrants and those who are "other" for economic downturns and unwanted social change. The Irish just happen to be the targets this time and the hatred is particularly virulent due to their Catholic faith. I was completely enthralled by the historical detail and powerful descriptions in Gods of Gotham. The use of "flash", the street slang of the day adds to the "being there" feeling. Usually I love a book that I can't put down. I was able to put down the book this time but only to savor the writing and story.
I am delighted that Ms. Faye is working hard on a sequel. A story as rich as this with characters so indelibly written deserves a sequel. Highly recommended!!!
Rating- 5 Copper Stars
Brother Valentine gives him an offer he really can't refuse, a job as a "copper star" in the newly formed NYPD. Valentine himself is a volunteer fire-fighter as well as Captain on the new police force. New Yorkers are not at all sure that they want a police force and Timothy has no desire to be a part of it. His choices are limited but he does not want to be beholden to Valentine for his living or home. He accepts the job which entails a workday from four in the morning until eight at night in the poverty-stricken Sixth Ward, bordering Five Points, the most notorious slum of the time. Returning home one night footsore and heartsick from the day, a small girl barrels into him; a small, barefoot girl clad in a nightgown and covered in blood. Tim's job demands that he take her to the "House of Refuge" for indigent children but Tim would never take a child there. He takes her home and cleans her up with the help of his landlady, Mrs. Boehm. It becomes clear that the girl, Bird Daly, is a "kinchin-mab", a child prostitute from the house of Madame Silkie Marsh. Silkie is a former intimate of Valentine and large Tammany Hall contributor, further complicating matters.
Bird refuses to say what caused her to run but is clearly terrified. She does tell him that she knows where dozens of graves are located. Tim and the Police Commissioner investigate and find 19 small corpses buried in a meadow in shallow graves. In all probability they are Irish children.The fledgling NYPD does not want the story getting out and assigns Tim to investigate. Of course the story does get out and the tensions between "native" and Irish residents become a powder keg waiting for a match. The NYPD and Tammany Hall try to put a lid on the investigation but there is no way Tim will let the the deaths of 19 children be ignored. When he finds the answers everything he knows and believes about the people he either loves or respects is upended.
Lyndsay Faye throws us into a Manhattan landscape both alien and familiar at once. It is alien in it's total squalor. Her descriptions of a Manhattan before refrigeration and basic hygiene are so vivid that one can feel the heat and smell the smells of the time. It is familiar in the underlying tensions simmering in the city. Americans have always had a tendency to blame immigrants and those who are "other" for economic downturns and unwanted social change. The Irish just happen to be the targets this time and the hatred is particularly virulent due to their Catholic faith. I was completely enthralled by the historical detail and powerful descriptions in Gods of Gotham. The use of "flash", the street slang of the day adds to the "being there" feeling. Usually I love a book that I can't put down. I was able to put down the book this time but only to savor the writing and story.
I am delighted that Ms. Faye is working hard on a sequel. A story as rich as this with characters so indelibly written deserves a sequel. Highly recommended!!!
Rating- 5 Copper Stars
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