I remember hearing about this fire, which occurred in 1911, in my Social Studies class, which was long enough ago that it obviously made an impression, since I can still remember it now. That was only a paragraph or two, and this is an entire book. Obviously, the story is even more memorable when you Read More
Tag: New York City
Plentiful Country, by Tyler Anbinder
This book works to disprove the long accepted idea that the Irish who came to America fleeing the Potato Famine arrived as unskilled labor, and remained at the lowest rungs of society for the rest of their lives. Anbinder, with help from a number of assistants, undertook a ten year study, and this book is Read More
Murder Between the Lines, by Radha Vatsal
This is the second, and so far last book, about Kitty Weeks. The first was “A Front Page Affair”, which I posted about in February of 2022. Kitty is still working as a reporter for the Ladies’ Page of a New York newspaper, and still living in a grand apartment with her wealthy father, still Read More
The Poisoner’s Handbook, by Deborah Blum
The subtitle is “Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York”. What I did not expect was for a book with that subtitle to begin with a discussion of the Periodic Table of Elements. But it all fits together as you go through the book. In the early Twentieth Century, scientists Read More
The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902, by Scott D Seligman
This book tells the story of Orthodox Jewish women finding their voices in New York in the early 1900’s. The subtitle is “Immigrant Housewives and the Riots that shook New York City”. In the spring of 1902, the price of kosher beef had risen 50% in a few short weeks. It had gone from 12 Read More
Encountering Ellis Island, by Ronald H Bayor
This slim book is part of the “How Things Worked” series, and is subtitled “How European Immigrants Entered America”. However, the author describes not only Ellis Island and its predecessor Castle Garden, but also compares Angel Island, the West Coast entry point for many Asian immigrants. When I first started working on my family tree, Read More
Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson
This fictional story of a teenage slave girl is set during the British occupation of New York in the American Revolution. When their mistress dies, Isabel and her younger sister Ruth are sold to a Loyalist couple, and end up in New York City, not long before the invasion of British troops. Isabel’s urge to Read More
A Front Page Affair, by Radha Vatsal
This is the first of two books, at least so far, about a wealthy young woman trying to become a reporter in New York City right as the US is deciding to enter WWI. I said “at least so far” because these are described as a “series”, and I think you need more than two Read More
The Alienist, by Caleb Carr
If you enjoy gritty police procedural mysteries, then you would appreciate this book. An “alienist” is what we would refer to today as a psychologist, in this case a police psychologist. Set in New York City in 1896, the description of the city is very detailed, and important to the plot. I’ve visited NYC, but Read More