Hope I’m forgiven for co-opting the words of the cherished hymn for the title of this blog. That is truly what it’s felt like for much of the past seven or eight months.
Last November I finished book four in the City series, now called City of God. I then took a deep dive into copy editing hell. That followed after working with my wonderful line editor, Syd Miner, at Simon & Schuster. Copy editors do different nuts and bolts kinds of things and I won’t bore you with what they are, except to say that copy editors these days are almost always freelancers hired by the publisher, and while some are wonderful, a good few are disasters. Unfortunately this time I got the latter sort. Then the absolutely terrific head of S&S’s copy editing department stepped in and it all got sorted and ended in triumph. The ms is really clean and beautifully presented. (Thank you Loretta and Tina!)
Think of it like labor. After it’s over you forget the pain and celebrate the baby. So, while no book has ever been written that’s in the same league as producing a real live boy or girl, this one is finally born. Online presales now at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and books will be in your bookstore by late November for an official December 7 pub date. We’re hoping you’ll think of it for some of the readers on your Christmas list.
Meanwhile, first reviews are in (Booklist and Kirkus - aimed at bookstores) and very gratifying. I’ll be sending out Advance Reader Copies in a few days to as many of you as I can (I only get a limited number of these uncorrected proof copies, which are mostly used for newspaper/magazine reviewers) and a greater number of ”toe-dippers” which I talked S&S into making up for me. They are the first seventy-five or so pages of the book (the complete version is 525 pages) and I hope it will make you want to read the whole thing. There will be a new video on the site shortly, and just to whet your appetite, here’s what in the trade we call the flap copy, the about-the-book material printed inside the dust jacket:
City of God, the latest installment in Beverly Swerling’s gripping saga of old New York, takes readers to Manhattan’s clamorous streets as the nation struggles to find a compromise between slave and free, but hears the drums of war. This is New York when one synagogue is no longer adequate for thousands of Jewish immigrants, when New Evangelicals rouse complacent Protestants with the promise of born again salvation, and when the city first sees Catholic nuns and calls them whores of Satan. It is New York when ships bring the fabulous wealth of nations to its wharfs and auction houses, while a short distance away rival gangs fight to the death with broken bottles and teeth filed to points.< ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Into this churning cauldron comes young Dr. Nicholas Turner. Nick knows the discoveries of antisepsis and anesthesia promise medical miracles beyond the dreams of ages. He learns that to make such progress reality he must battle the city’s corrupt politics and survive the snake pit that is Bellevue Hospital, all while resisting his love for the beautiful Carolina Devrey, his cousin’s wife. Sam Devrey, head of the shipping company that bears his name and a visionary who believes the future will be ushered in by mighty clipper ships spreading acres of sail, battles demons of his own. The life he lives with Carolina in the elegant brownstone on newly fashionable Fifth Avenue is a charade meant to disguise his heart’s true home, the secret downtown apartment of the exquisite Mei-hua, his Chinese child-bride. The worlds of all four are imperiled when Sam must rely on Nick’s skills to save the woman he loves, and only Nick’s honor guards Sam’s secret. On a night when promises of hellfire seem to become reality and the city nearly burns to the ground, Carolina and Mei-hua confront the truth of their duplicitous marriages. Rage and revenge join love and passion as driving forces in a story played out against the background of the glittering New York that rises from the ashes, where Delmonico’s and the Astor House host bejeweled women and top-hatted men, both with the din of commerce in their ears and the glint of gold in their eyes.
As always, Swerling has conjured a dazzling cast of characters to people her city. Among those seeking born again salvation are Addie Bellingham, befriended by the widow Manon Turner but willing to betray her, and Lilac Langdon, who confesses her sins but avoids mentioning that she’s a skilled abortionist in a city that has recently made abortion a crime. Ben Klein, a brilliant young physician, must balance devotion to his mentor and dedication to research with duty to the Jewish community. Wilbur Randolf, Carolina’s father, indulges her in everything but fails her when she needs him most. Jenny Worthington, Wilbur’s long time mistress, is driven by avarice to make common cause with Fearless Flannagan, a member of a New York police force as corrupt as the city it serves. Ah Chee, Mei-hua’s devoted servant, struggles through Manhattan’s streets on bound feet, and burns incense to the kitchen god in this place of foreign devils. They are all here, heroines and saints, villains and victims, and a vanished New York made to live again in an intricate tale of old debts and new rivalries.