Most stories about New York focus on the skyscrapers for the setting. Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan turns attention away from the city to the sea, reminding us that NYC is one of the biggest ports in the world.
Our three main characters meet on the beach. Eddie, the dad, brings his daughter Anna to meet Dexter, soon to be his new boss. It is the Depression, and Eddie, with a quasi-union/underworld job on the docks, needs more money. Dexter, with his mob connections, think he can put him to use. Anna has been brought along as the family Dexter wants to look over. Years later, after Eddie has disappeared, Anna will meet Dexter who probably knows, or was responsible for, what happened to her dad.
As World War II begins, Anna is working at the Brooklyn Navy Yard as an inspector, substituting for the men at war. She watches the deep-sea divers in their heavy equipment who do underwater repairs. Fascinated by them, she applies for the job, but it is the 1940s, and such dangerous work is not for a woman. She perseveres and because of the dire need is eventually accepted.
Egan loves to intertwine her characters, jumping back and forth in time and space, showing us the growth, or at least change, in each one. Anna was the most fully developed and tied the two men together. Their stories weren’t so clear to me as I never understood exactly what motivated them or what they did wrong. Hers was more typical, a sexual awakening, a woman wanting to work in a traditionally male job.
This is a historically accurate, well researched depiction of life at the time, the end of the depression, the beginning of the war at the Navy yard, nightclubs, prejudices.
Long ago, mankind lived in a liminal time. The world was filled with gods and goddesses, nymphs, monsters, and witches as well as mortals, often interacting.
It was not unusual for a god to want a beautiful woman or to stir up the sea to sink a ship. Humans met nymphs in the woods; princes spoke with goddesses. Prometheus gave the gift of fire.
Giving us entrance to this time is Circe by Marilyn Miller. Circe was the daughter of sun king Helios and a nymph who was the descendent of a Titan. When she discovers her magical powers, and confesses them, Helios, and still more powerful Zeus, confer. They are afraid of this womanly magic and exile her to a deserted island. With nothing else to do, Circe patrols the island, learning the secrets of its herbs and developing ever more powerful potions.
Although she may not leave, others may come to her, and they do. Daedalus, famous crafter of wings, brings her a loom. Odysseus, exhausted on his way home from Troy, stops for supplies and stays through the winter. A son, Telegonous, is born.
Circe used her solitude to discover who she was. She observes the mortals – how hard they must work to perfect a craft, and compares this to the gods who flick a finger to get what they want. Her portrayal of unlimited wealth and power is a timely warning. These ancient gods are cruel and care for nothing but themselves; even they are corrupted by too much power.
In her mystery Primitive Secrets, Deborah Turrell Atkinson combines modern Hawaii with ancient lore. The main character, Storm, has just passed the bar exam. She is hired to work in the law office of her mentor and adoptive father. All is going well until she walks into the office one morning and finds him dead in his chair.
At first there is no reason to suspect anything other than natural causes. But odd things start to happen. She is mugged; she is run off the road while visiting her aunt on the Big Island; her boss’s briefcase is missing.
Her visit to her aunt who is a traditional healer doesn’t give her the respite she wanted. As she follows her to the mountains to look for medicinal plants, she hears noises in the bushes and sees a large pua’a, a pig-like shape. Soon there is a strong floral smell, a Hawaiian warning.
As danger surrounds her, Storm makes use of her Hawaiian spiritual beliefs to ferret out fraud and murder in the law office.
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