Manhattan Beach: A Novel
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A New York Times Notable Book
Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
The daring and magnificent novel from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author.
Named One of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, Esquire, Vogue, The Washington Post, The Guardian, USA TODAY, and Time
Anna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her father to visit Dexter Styles, a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. She is mesmerized by the sea beyond the house and by some charged mystery between the two men.
Years later, her father has disappeared and the country is at war. Anna works at the Brooklyn Naval Yard, where women are allowed to hold jobs that once belonged to men, now soldiers abroad. She becomes the first female diver, the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations, repairing the ships that will help America win the war. One evening at a nightclub, she meets Dexter Styles again, and begins to understand the complexity of her father’s life, the reasons he might have vanished.
“A magnificent achievement, at once a suspenseful noir intrigue and a transporting work of lyrical beauty and emotional heft” (The Boston Globe), “Egan’s first foray into historical fiction makes you forget you’re reading historical fiction at all” (Elle). Manhattan Beach takes us into a world populated by gangsters, sailors, divers, bankers, and union men in a dazzling, propulsive exploration of a transformative moment in the lives and identities of women and men, of America and the world.
Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
The daring and magnificent novel from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author.
Named One of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, Esquire, Vogue, The Washington Post, The Guardian, USA TODAY, and Time
Anna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her father to visit Dexter Styles, a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. She is mesmerized by the sea beyond the house and by some charged mystery between the two men.
Years later, her father has disappeared and the country is at war. Anna works at the Brooklyn Naval Yard, where women are allowed to hold jobs that once belonged to men, now soldiers abroad. She becomes the first female diver, the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations, repairing the ships that will help America win the war. One evening at a nightclub, she meets Dexter Styles again, and begins to understand the complexity of her father’s life, the reasons he might have vanished.
“A magnificent achievement, at once a suspenseful noir intrigue and a transporting work of lyrical beauty and emotional heft” (The Boston Globe), “Egan’s first foray into historical fiction makes you forget you’re reading historical fiction at all” (Elle). Manhattan Beach takes us into a world populated by gangsters, sailors, divers, bankers, and union men in a dazzling, propulsive exploration of a transformative moment in the lives and identities of women and men, of America and the world.
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Community Reviews
thenextgoodbook.com
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
433 pages
What’s it about?
This novel takes place in the 1930’s and 40’s and revolves around Anna Kerrigan. As a young girl of 12-years-old Anna accompanies her father along on a visit to a man named Dexter Styles. Years later Anna’s father has gone missing and she runs into Dexter Styles again. World War II is raging- Anna is now grown and working as an underwater diver in the Brooklyn Naval Yard. What exactly does Dexter Styles know of her father’s disappearance and how can Anna find out?
What did I think?
I so enjoyed Jennifer Egan’s novel “A Visit From the Goon Squad” that I was chomping at the bit to read her newest book. This novel is such a vast departure from her previous book that I was somewhat surprised at first.
Should you read it?
This novel started off with incredible promise. The characters are great and the plot was interesting. The character of Dexter Styles was unexpectedly likable and interesting. Anna’s relationship with her disabled sister was really the heart of the book. I liked the book a lot but the second half of the book was just not as cohesive to me as the first half. For me there was a definite great beginning- and then just an ok and improbable ending. I would still recommend the book but I wish it had lived up to the first half.
Quote-
“Natalie was boy-crazy, and Tabby had grown prettier than Dexter would have liked. Not that he wished ugliness on his only daughter, but showy beauty was an invitation to dependence. He’d have liked her to have the hidden kind, visible only to those who looked closely.”
If you like this try-
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
Love & Treasure by Ayelet Waldman
Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
A Gentleman in Moscow By Amor Towles
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
433 pages
What’s it about?
This novel takes place in the 1930’s and 40’s and revolves around Anna Kerrigan. As a young girl of 12-years-old Anna accompanies her father along on a visit to a man named Dexter Styles. Years later Anna’s father has gone missing and she runs into Dexter Styles again. World War II is raging- Anna is now grown and working as an underwater diver in the Brooklyn Naval Yard. What exactly does Dexter Styles know of her father’s disappearance and how can Anna find out?
What did I think?
I so enjoyed Jennifer Egan’s novel “A Visit From the Goon Squad” that I was chomping at the bit to read her newest book. This novel is such a vast departure from her previous book that I was somewhat surprised at first.
Should you read it?
This novel started off with incredible promise. The characters are great and the plot was interesting. The character of Dexter Styles was unexpectedly likable and interesting. Anna’s relationship with her disabled sister was really the heart of the book. I liked the book a lot but the second half of the book was just not as cohesive to me as the first half. For me there was a definite great beginning- and then just an ok and improbable ending. I would still recommend the book but I wish it had lived up to the first half.
Quote-
“Natalie was boy-crazy, and Tabby had grown prettier than Dexter would have liked. Not that he wished ugliness on his only daughter, but showy beauty was an invitation to dependence. He’d have liked her to have the hidden kind, visible only to those who looked closely.”
If you like this try-
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
Love & Treasure by Ayelet Waldman
Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
A Gentleman in Moscow By Amor Towles
Starts off as a slow tale about a New York City family before and during the World War II era. Ultimately, I was very invested in the Kerrigan family, though not in Styles family. There were also some plot moments that didn’t seem realistic, but Egan’s impressive writing carries you along anyway.
This was a fascinating read. It was also hard work, however, as I knew almost nothing about life in 1939s New York and the book contains a lot of specialist vocabulary, words specific to the time and references to unfamiliar famous people.
I especially enjoyed the diving storyline and all the detailed descriptions of Anna’s training and equipment.
I learnt a lot about the impact of the War on America. It made me think a lot about how much life has changed for women since those days, and how the War was a catalyst for some of those changes.
I especially enjoyed the diving storyline and all the detailed descriptions of Anna’s training and equipment.
I learnt a lot about the impact of the War on America. It made me think a lot about how much life has changed for women since those days, and how the War was a catalyst for some of those changes.
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