City of Dreams: A Novel of Early Manhattan

Beverly Swerling

May 2011 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

A sweeping epic of two families—one Dutch, one English—from the time when New Amsterdam was a raw and rowdy settlement, to the triumph of the Revolution, when New York became a new nation’s city of dreams.

In 1661, Lucas Turner, a barber surgeon, and his sister, Sally, an apothecary, stagger off a small wooden ship after eleven weeks at sea. Bound to each other by blood and necessity, they aim to make a fresh start in the rough and rowdy Dutch settlement of Nieuw Amsterdam; but soon lust, betrayal, and murder will make them mortal enemies. In their struggle to survive in the New World, Lucas and Sally make choices that will burden their descendants with a legacy of secrets and retribution, and create a heritage that sets cousin against cousin, physician against surgeon, and, ultimately, patriot against Tory.

In what will be the greatest city in the New World, the fortunes of these two families are inextricably entwined by blood and fire in an unforgettable American saga of pride and ambition, love and hate, and the becoming of the dream that is New York City.

Ratings and reviews

indeed the emphasis is on "fiction", it would have served the story better to at least stay within general historical facts, the somewhat drastic and gruesome descriptions in the later part of the book were also not to my liking so I never finished it, my interest was in the first part, and description of social life and customs in New Amsterdam. The story did not need fantastic claims to make 17th century New York come to life for the readers, some of these fictional accounts distort the impression of that time period. "In 1659 Stuyvesant build a hospital for those who had not long to live" there is a woman ill from unattended childbirth in this hospital, which is nonsense. In 1658 a hospital was build NOT for the general public but for wounded soldiers cerntainly not for women who gave birth at home (even the poor did not have children in any alleyway) Many of such statements are found in this book, inaccurate and misleading. Certainly in New Netherlands no woman was ever stoned because she was pregnant and not married. Indeed the Dutch had laws about such events, usually the father either married the girl or (in case he was married) had to pay for the support of the child. Well my objections are many, I found the book too shallow in all aspects of descriptions of town and people of New Amsterdam, and the medical aspect was also either vague,or too unrealistic (Pieter Stuyvesant would not engage a barber just arrived without references) Historical Fiction is good when it's based on facts

My all time favorite read. If you like early american history this book has everything.

About the author

Beverly Swerling is a writer, consultant, and amateur historian. She lives in New York City with her husband.