Manhattan Beach: A Novel
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A New York Times Notable Book • Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad comes a sweeping historical novel set in the Depression-era and wartime New York, where a young woman’s courage transforms her life on the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
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 Booklyn gangster 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, America enters World War II and her father has disappeared. 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.
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad comes a sweeping historical novel set in the Depression-era and wartime New York, where a young woman’s courage transforms her life on the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
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 Booklyn gangster 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, America enters World War II and her father has disappeared. 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
This is the first book I've read/listened to by Jennifer Egan and overall enjoyed the book. I think after reading some of the reviews posted, I was provided a bit more enjoyment of the book due to having listened to the audiobook and having it read by actors who made the characters really enjoyable.
The book begins with Anna Kerrigan accompanying her father, Ed while he visits the mysterious Dexter Styles at his home on Manhattan Beach. Anna is accustomed to making visits with her father as he makes visits to do business for the Union, however this visit feels a bit different. Anna's relationship with her father starts to falter as she gets older and her father decides that it may not be appropriate for her to continue to join him on his business dealings. Soon Anna, her mother, and her sister Lydia are abandoned when her father fails to come home for several months. As Anna comes to grip with this, she decides that she will begin helping the war efforts by working at the Naval Yard where women have been getting jobs in place of men as they go off to war. As she becomes more curious of this new environment she starts kindling an interest in becoming a diver to help repair ships that are docked in the harbor. As Anna starts to forge her own path, she uncovers new relationships, rekindles others, and sets out to prove herself.
The story is definitely one of self discovery, overcoming obstacles, and showcasing the efforts made in the US during WWII. The characters were mostly likeable and easily relatable, however the story that pulled me into reading was the fact Anna was wanting to become the first female diver and I felt this is where the story fell flat. The book was cut into several parts that included some confusing dialogue and back stories that didn't seem to quite flow well enough to keep up with the story and understand everything in full. It felt as though the author might have had a hard time deciding which part of WWII time New York she wanted to write about, so there were stories included that jumbled the overall book. Overall, I did enjoy it, but really wished the story behind Anna being a diver was of more focus aside from the technical aspects and explanations of the job that seemed to be the case.
The book begins with Anna Kerrigan accompanying her father, Ed while he visits the mysterious Dexter Styles at his home on Manhattan Beach. Anna is accustomed to making visits with her father as he makes visits to do business for the Union, however this visit feels a bit different. Anna's relationship with her father starts to falter as she gets older and her father decides that it may not be appropriate for her to continue to join him on his business dealings. Soon Anna, her mother, and her sister Lydia are abandoned when her father fails to come home for several months. As Anna comes to grip with this, she decides that she will begin helping the war efforts by working at the Naval Yard where women have been getting jobs in place of men as they go off to war. As she becomes more curious of this new environment she starts kindling an interest in becoming a diver to help repair ships that are docked in the harbor. As Anna starts to forge her own path, she uncovers new relationships, rekindles others, and sets out to prove herself.
The story is definitely one of self discovery, overcoming obstacles, and showcasing the efforts made in the US during WWII. The characters were mostly likeable and easily relatable, however the story that pulled me into reading was the fact Anna was wanting to become the first female diver and I felt this is where the story fell flat. The book was cut into several parts that included some confusing dialogue and back stories that didn't seem to quite flow well enough to keep up with the story and understand everything in full. It felt as though the author might have had a hard time deciding which part of WWII time New York she wanted to write about, so there were stories included that jumbled the overall book. Overall, I did enjoy it, but really wished the story behind Anna being a diver was of more focus aside from the technical aspects and explanations of the job that seemed to be the case.
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.
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