Manhattan Beach (by Jennifer Egan)

I really enjoyed this historical novel from Jennifer Egan! It's set in the 1930s and 40s, in New York, and deals with a girl (later young woman) named Anna, whose father is an Irish gangster and whose ambition is to be a diver in the Navy Yard where she works. Even before getting to the acknowledgements where Egan discusses the depth and breadth of her sources, you can tell that she did her homework. The world she creates has flavor and realism to spare.

She does partake in one of my least favorite tropes, which is a huge spoiler, so please skip the rest of this paragraph if you are on RSS and my white-on-white spoiler text doesn't work.  I hate when a woman has unprotected sex one time and inevitably gets pregnant. It's such a cliche. The way it played out was compelling but ugh, hate that plot point.

I found Anna's story more compelling than Eddie or Dexter's, but I enjoyed the points of convergence of all three stories. Oh, and the brief moments from Lydia's point of view are just wrenchingly good.  Overall, I enjoyed spending time in the world of Manhattan Beach. I expect to see this in the 2018 Tournament of Books, and gets a thumbs up from me.