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North River
By Pete Hamill
Famous, talented Pete Hamill - what a pleasure he is to read. His latest novel, North River , was just published in June 2007. This New Yorker writes about his town,invites you in, and makes you want to stay awhile.
Dr. James Delaney lives alone in a house in Greenwich Village close to the Hudson, which New Yorkers call the North River. It is 1934, the depression is in full stride, so his house doubles as his doctor's office where he treats his friends and neighbors whether or not they can pay. They are a motley crew of Tammany politicians, gangsters, ordinary housewives and laborers - savvy, gutsy, street wise, but loyal to their own rules and neighborhoods.
James Delaney has his own ghosts to haunt him as a veteran of WW I where he served as a doctor even though he could have been exempt.
His wife deserted him, his daughter left to pursue her revolutionary husband in Spain and he is a lonesome man, even though respected and loved by his neighbors and patients.
Then a miracle of sorts happens - his daughter leaves his three year old grandson at his home with only a note, on a cold New Years day. This calls for changes - the first being to take the boy , Carlito, to his friend Angela's Italian restaurant for dinner. She sizes up the situation and sends Rose, a practical, kind Sicilian woman the next morning to help with Carlito. She soon becomes part of the new family, and it seems possible that Dr. Delaney's frozen heart is thawing and there might even be light at the end of the tunnel.
Just when things are progressing nicely , a new emergency confronts them all - his loyalty to an old friend puts Delaney and his new family in great danger from the violence that still can erupt in these New York neighborhoods.
This is a wonderful story of love and courage told by a master. He is the author of several bestsellers, including the most recent , Forever. He lives in New York City where he is a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University.
Published: Little, Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group USA
237 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Copyright: © 2007 by Deidre Enterprises
Reviewed: 04/05/08 - 254
Copyright: © 2008 by Joan G. Smith
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