Rutherfurd, Edward "New York"

Rutherfurd, Edward "New York" - 2009

I am sad. Because this is the last book I got to read by Edward Rutherfurd. At least for the time being. I hope he will write more. And hope there is. On his official website (here) he has a category with interesting facts about the towns and countries he has written about so far and there are a few facts about Egypt. So maybe he is working on a new one about Egypt. Would be a nice theme. If you don't have any other ideas, Mr. Rutherfurd, there are a few subjects that would certainly go down well: Vikings, Romans, Ottomans, Germany/Prussia/Goths, South America, Japan, Arabia, Palestine/Israel … I could read books by you on any of the subjects. Or any subject of your choosing. Just write another book. Thank you!

New York is the melting pot of the world. People come from everywhere but at the beginning mainly from the Netherlands and England, then other nations follow, Italians, Germans, slaves from Africa, refugees from all areas, so that in the end you can't even guess that a completely different people lived here before the Europeans made it their second home. But also the Native Americans appear.

In 1664, the city is still called New Amsterdam and we get to know some of the first European inhabitants, the van Dyck family from the Netherlands, quickly joined by the Masters from England. And it is these two families that the book takes as examples for the New Yorkers. Other characters follow slowly, the slave Quash, the O'Donnells and the Kellers, the Whites and the Carusos, the Adlers and the Cohens and all their descendants. There is a family for every ethnic background of the Big Apple. We follow history through these characters but also get to meet the famous people of the centuries, starting with George Washington. From the beginnings of the city, when it was still a small settlement that belonged to the colonial province New Netherland, and hence to the Dutch Republic, through the years of an English colony, the War of Independence and all the other subsequent wars that had an impact on the city, their raise to an important trade center as well as their various crashes. And we see the devastation on September 11th as well as the aftermath.

Nobody can put history better into very readable novels as Edward Rutherfurd. But should you know of other great books like this, please let me know.

And here's a great quote that could be in any book:
"He who destroys a good book, kills reason itself."

From the back cover:

"New York: a city where dreams are born.

And now, the story of the world's most vibrant and exciting city is chronicled in a novel as unforgettable as the city itself, as international bestseller Edward Rutherfurd tells the epic story of the Master family.From the city's birth over three hundred years ago to the tragedy and the heroism of 9/11, Rutherfurd's gripping story takes us on a journey encompassing the War of Independence and the Civil War, the gangs of New York and the Ellis Island immigrants. From the glittering wealth of Fifth Avenue society, to the devastation of the Wall Street Crash and the ghettos of the Lower East Side, it is a story as ambitious and dramatic as the city which inspired it.

But NEW YORK is not just the story of a city. It's also the very human story of a family - their lives and loves, their triumphs and their failures - and so a spellbinding and moving story of the modern world."

And another one:

"New York is a sweeping, four-century tale set in the most exciting city on earth. Magnificently researched with the help of leading New York historians, this novel follows the fortunes of the Van Dyck and Master families, and the descendants of Quash the African slave, from the early days of Manhattan's Indian settlements and Dutch New Amsterdam, through the English takeover, the War of Independence, when New York was the British headquarters, and the nineteenth century, when New Yorkers created the canals and railroads that opened up the American West.

Along the way we meet the Kellers, German shopkeepers who produce a famous photographer, and the O'Donnell family, who emerge from the gangs of New York, rise through Tammany Hall and marry into the English aristocracy. We discover how the city almost left the Union at the start of the Civil War, and experienced the terrible Draft Riots 1863 and the Great Blizzard of 1888. At the start of the twentieth century, the Carusos immigrate through Ellis Island, witness the great Crash of 1929, and help construct the Empire State Building. The Adlers of Brooklyn experience anti-semitism between the two World Wars, and the Masters, as bankers and lawyers, seek their fortunes through the greed of the eighties and nineties, and come through a life-changing crisis in the tragedy of 9/11.

Larger-than-life historical characters fill the background: Stuyvesant, the Dutchman, Lord Cornbury the transvestite English Governor, George Washington, Ben Franklin who tried to keep America British, Lincoln who made one of his greatest speeches in the city, the titanic JP Morgan, Tammany Hall's Fernando Wood and Boss Tweed, legendary socialites like Mrs. Astor, and memorable modern city figures like La Guardia, Robert Moses, and Mayor Koch."

Find a link to all my reviews on his other novels here.

#ThrowbackThursday. London

 

Rutherfurd, Edward "London - The Novel" - 1997

I'm a huge fan of England and London is one of my favourite cities ever. As usual, the author describes the history of this fantastic town through the lives of about half a dozen different families.

The fictional families also stem from all sorts of backgrounds, you have fishers and priests, merchantes and dock workers, maids and mistresses.

Read my original review here.

Find a link to all my reviews on his other novels here.

Rutherfurd, Edward "China"

Rutherfurd, Edward "China" - 2021

I was really looking forward to this book that I received for Christmas (thanks, Zach) because I love anything written by Edward Rutherfurd. And I was not disappointed. He delivered what he promised with his other books.

There is only a slight change. In most of his books, he tells stories of families over throughout the centuries, often starting way before our calendar. This one starts in 1839 and ends in the early 1900s, long enough to see the lifetime of all the protagonists. And that is the only criticism I have about this book. I would have liked a list at the end or the beginning about all the different characters, as he has done in all his former historic novels. That way you know where you are in history. Granted, this spans not even a century but the Chinese names make it a little more difficult to remember who is who, especially since sometimes there are several others who tell their story before we return to a certain one. It was still alright to remember who was who but it would have been easier otherwise.

As in all his other books, we learn a lot about China's history. I have read many books about it but this one is very detailed and gives us so much information about the opium wars and the rebellions that more or less formed the new China, and when we complain about something the Chinese are doing today, our countries were responsible for a lot of it. Not mine in this case but we have enough other skeletons in our closet, so I won't even go further into who was there and who wasn't.

I can understand that Edward Rutherfurd didn't want to go through all of China's history, it is so vast and the country is so huge, the book would have been a lot longer than the 784 pages of my edition. I think concentrating on this part was an excellent idea because many of us know our history from that time and can compare.

I wouldn't say I prefer this way of writing the story of a country to the other one, I probably still like the whole story better, but there is so much to learn from this book, I can only highly recommend it. Reading his books is better than any history lesson I remember from school.

I do hope, he'll write many, many more.

From the back cover:

"China in the Nineteenth Century is a proud and ancient empire forbidden to foreigners. Western merchants desires Chinese tea above all other things and resort to smuggling opium in exchange.
The Qing Emperor will not allow this trade to continue. The Opium Wars begin - heralding a period of bloody military defeats, reparations, and one-sided treaties which will become known as the Century of Humiliation.

From Hong Kong to Beijing to the Great Wall, from the exotic wonders of the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City, to squalid village huts, the great clash between East and West rages across the Celestial Kingdom. We meet a young village wife struggling with the rigid traditions of her people, Manchu empresses and warriors, powerful eunuchs, fanatical Taiping and Boxer Rebels, savvy Chinese pirates, artists, concubines, scoundrels and heroes, well-intentioned missionaries and the rapacious merchants, diplomats and soldiers of the West. Fortunes will rise and fall, loves will be gained and lost.

China is a feat of the imagination that will enthrall, instruct and excite, and show us how the turmoil of the nineteenth century led to modern China’s revolution and rebirth."

Find a link to all my reviews on his other novels here.

I have been told by a lot of people that Edward Rutherfurd writes like James Michener. If anyone here has read books by both of them, would you agree? And which book by Michener should I start with?

Rutherfurd, Edward "Sarum"

Rutherfurd, Edward "Sarum: the Novel of England" - 1987

As I already wrote in my review about "London", I’m a huge fan of England and this is not just the story of Salisbury, it is first and foremost the story of England, how it first was settled, what happened next and how did the ordinary people live throughout the centuries.

Edward Rutherfurd kept his style of describing the history of a country or town by their inhabitants, not by the kings who ruled, the dictators or the rich aristocracy but by the "little man". We meet the first settlers, we have an idea how Stonehenge might have been built, we learn how Salisbury cathedral (and many other cathedrals like that) was built and what an impact it had on the people. People start raising different kind of sheep who can live better in the climate, they grow different kind of crops and find out how it gives them a better harvest, where they survive best etc. I know it was probably similar in many European countries of the same climate, certainly in mine.

I love how we always meet a couple of people and then see what their descendants are up to, how a family feud can go on for generations but also how times can change and the tides can turn for some, not always positively.

This is a large book, 1,300+ pages and if you want to really enjoy it, don't read it all in one go, you might get overwhelmed. But it's totally worth it and fits in my love for chunky books and my slogan "a book only starts after 500 pages". 😉

This is my seventh novel by Edward Rutherfurd and it won't be the last; "New York" is already on my TBR pile and "China" on my wishlist. I would love for him to write a novel about Germany.

And there's a great quote on page 1112:
"With great minds for company, a man is never lonely." Could we agree more? I think not.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"In a towering story of breathtaking scope, the entire sweep of English civilisation unfolds through the story of one place, Salisbury, and the epic saga of five families.

The Wilsons and the Shockleys, locked in a cycle of revenge and rivalry for more than 400 years; the Masons, who pour their inspired love of stone into the creation of Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral; the Porters, descended from a young Roman soldier in exile; and the aristocratic Godefroys, who will fall to the very bottom of the social ladder before their fortunes revive.

As their fates and fortunes intertwine over the course of the centuries, through struggle and adventure, their greater destinies offer a fascinating glimpse into the future."

Find a link to all my reviews on his other novels here.

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases for the Second Half of 2020

"Top Ten Tuesday" is an original feature/weekly meme created on the blog "The Broke and the Bookish". This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at "The Broke and the Bookish".

It is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Since I am just as fond of them as they are, I jump at the chance to share my lists with them! Have a look at their page, there are lots of other bloggers who share their lists here.

Most Anticipated Releases for the Second Half of 2020

I'm not necessarily waiting for a certain next book unless it's a sequel. That's especially difficult with German ones since here books first get published in hardback and only years later (at least it seems like it) in paperback.

Anyway, I have checked out recommendations on Goodreads and also looked out for new books by some of my favourite living authors and come up with the following list. Some of the books might not appear this next half of the year but they are about to be published.

Abulhawa, Susan "Against the Loveless World"

Follett, Ken "The Evening and the Morning" (prequel to "The Pillars of the Earth")

Hansen, Dörte "Mittagsstunde" [Lunchtime]

Lawson, Mary "Before the Snow". I think this was published as "A Town Called Solace"

Oates, Joyce Carol "Night. Sleep. Death. The Stars."

Osman, Richard "The Thursday Murder Club"

Pamuk, Orhan "The Naive and the Sentimental Novelist"

Rutherfurd, Edward "China"

 Weir, Alison "Katheryn Howard: The Tainted Queen"

These are some of the books that will appear soon. There are lots of authors where I would love to read a new book … if only they would write one.

Rutherfurd, Edward "Russka. The Novel of Russia"

Rutherfurd, Edward "Russka. The Novel of Russia" - 1991

I have read Edward Rutherfurd's various epic historical stories about Britain, Ireland, Paris, I'm looking forward to all his other books and now it was Russia's turn.

What a book. Like in his other novels, the author did a lot of research which resulted in a superb telling of one country's life and history.

As usual, he describes the lives of four different families and their descendants, beginning in the year 180 and ending almost 2 millennia later in 1992 and thereby telling us the story of this great and vast land that has influenced world history for so long but also was influenced by it. The families include various ethnic, they belong to the serfs and the nobility, so you can have a good look into all kinds of lives. As we get to know the characters, we can get a better understanding about Russian history and politics, going from Genghis Khan over Ivan the Terrible to Peter and Catherine, both the Great, until Lenin and Stalin during the revolution in the 20th century. But we also hear about Russian art, literature, music, everything this country has to offer. I have recently learned that you call these kind of stories "multi-generational sagas". In any case, such an easy way to learn about history. And that is getting more and more important.

It is, of course, also a very chunky book, like all his other novels, 945 pages, wonderfully written, brilliantly composed. There is so much information on those pages, I can't believe he actually finished before reaching 1,000.

Now I need to read "Sarum" and "New York" (and then "China" at the end of the year) after having read all his other novels (see here).

From the back cover:

"The author of the phenomenally successful Sarum: The Novel of England now turns his remarkably vast talents to an even larger canvas.

Spanning 1800 years of Russia's history, people, politics, and culture, this grand saga is as multifaceted as the country itself: harsh yet exotic, proud yet fearful of enemies, steeped in ancient superstitions but always seeking to make its mark on the emerging world.

In Russka, Edward Rutherfurd transforms the epic history of a great civilization into a human story of flesh and blood, boldness and action, chronicling the lives of four families who are divided by ethnicity but united in shaping the destiny of their land."

Find a link to all my reviews on his other novels here.

Rutherfurd, Edward "Paris"

Rutherfurd, Edward "Paris" - 2013

Paris, one of my favourite cities in the world. And Edward Rutherfurd is a wonderful writer of history related to places.

A story which unfolds around the construction of the Eiffel Tower and the changes it brings to the city. The book builds the history of Paris while its most famous icon rises.

Contrary to most of his other books, this one is not written in chronological order. Therefore, I found it a little more difficult to follow the historyof the various families and also some surprises taken away from us.

But it was still a great book, really deserves to be named alongside Edward Rutherfurd's other books.

As in his other stories, we meet all sorts of families through the ages from all sorts of backgrounds, nobility as well as the common man, rich and poor, Christians and Jews who intermingle in the various generations. Through these families we can see how people lived in this famous city and how the history of this town and its country unfolds. There is a lot to learn about the French and Edward Rutherfurd makes it easy for us.

A big book, 1,360 pages where we can delve into the City of Love.

I am looking forward to reading more of his books, I still have "Sarum", "Russka" and "New York" on my list.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.

From the back cover:

"City of love. City of splendour. City of terror. City of dreams.

Inspired by the haunting, passionate story of the city of lights, this epic novel weaves a gripping tale of four families across the centuries: from the lies that spawn the noble line of de Cygne to the revolutionary Le Sourds who seek their destruction; from the Blanchards whose bourgeois respectability offers scant protection against scandal to the hard-working Gascons and their soaring ambitions.

Over hundreds of years, these four families are bound by forbidden loves and marriages of convenience; dogged by vengeance and murderous secrets; torn apart by the irreconcilable differences of birth and faith, and brought together by the tumultuous history of their city.

Paris bursts to life in the intrigue, corruption and glory of its people. Beloved author of Sarum, London and New York, Edward Rutherfurd illuminates Paris as only he can: capturing the romance and everyday drama of the men and women who, in two thousand years, transformed a humble trading post on the muddy banks of the Seine into the most celebrated city in the world."

Find a link to all my reviews on his other novels here.

Rutherfurd, Edward "Awakening"

Rutherfurd, Edward "Awakening: The Rebels of Ireland" - 2006

I rarely read the sequel to a book right away, I usually take a little break from the story. But this time, I could not resist. After reading "Dublin", I just had to carry on reading about all those Irish families that witnessed the history of this interesting country first hand.

This novel picks up in 1597, right after the first one finishes, we follow the descendants of the brave characters from book one carrying on the struggle of their ancestors, we follow them through the occupation through the English with the various trials of erasing all Catholicism from the island through the famine to the Easter rising until the declaration of the Republic. What a vivid history.

One thing this book teaches us more than ever, any religious war or dispute is not really about religion but about power and money.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.

From the back cover:

"Edward Rutherfurd’s stirring account of Irish history, the Dublin Saga, concludes in this magisterial work of historical fiction. Beginning where the first volume, The Princes of Ireland, left off, The Rebels of Ireland takes us into a world transformed by the English practice of 'plantation,' which represented the final step in the centuries-long British conquest of Ireland. Once again Rutherfurd takes us inside the process of history by tracing the lives of several Dublin families from all strata of society ' Protestant and Catholic, rich and poor, conniving and heroic.

From the time of the plantations and Elizabeth’s ascendancy Rutherfurd moves into the grand moments of Irish history: the early-17th-century 'Flight of the Earls,' when the last of the Irish aristocracy fled the island; Oliver Cromwell’s brutal oppression and confiscation of lands a half-century later; the romantic, doomed effort of 'The Wild Geese' to throw off Protestant oppression at the Battle of the Boyne. The reader sees through the eyes of the victims and the perpetrators alike the painful realities of the anti-Catholic penal laws, the catastrophic famine and the massive migration to North America, the rise of the great nationalists O’Connell and the tragic Parnell, the glorious Irish cultural renaissance of Joyce and Yeats, and finally, the triumphant founding of the Irish Republic in 1922.

Written with all the drama and sweep that has made Rutherfurd the bestselling historical novelist of his generation, The Rebels of Ireland is both a necessary companion to The Princes of Ireland and a magnificent achievement in its own right."

I also highly recommend  "London" and "The Forest" by the same author.

Find a link to all my reviews on his other novels here.

Rutherfurd, Edward "Dublin"

Rutherfurd, Edward "Dublin: Foundation (The Princes of Ireland: The Dublin Saga)" - 2004

Amazon writes that "few authors are as ambitious as Edward Rutherfurd". I couldn't agree more. The amount of research that must go into his novels can only be described as vast, enormous, gigantic. After reading "London" and "The Forest", I was determined to read all of his books. This came up next. I love Ireland as much as England which I still very much call my home, even though I have moved away a long time ago.

Reaching from the fifth into the 16th century, this novel introduces us to the Ireland of the druids and the ancient Celts until the beginning of the Tudor reign. Rutherfurd draws a picture of a fierce and proud people, he carries on his tales through the centuries by introducing families the reader can follow through time. Unbelievably interesting, a fascinating read that teaches you history on the side.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.

From the back cover:

"Edward Rutherfurd's great Irish epic reveals the story of the people of Ireland through the focal point of the island's capital city. The epic begins in pre-Christian Ireland during the reign of the fierce and powerful High Kings at Tara, with the tale of two lovers, the princely Conall and the ravishing Deirdre, whose travails echo the ancient Celtic legend of Cuchulainn. From this stirring beginning, Rutherfurd takes the reader on a graphically realised journey through the centuries. Through the interlocking stories of a powerfully-imagined cast of characters - druids and chieftains, monks and smugglers, merchants and mercenaries, noblewomen, rebels and cowards - we see Ireland through the lens of its greatest city."

Looking forward to reading part 2 of this saga, "Awakening" that takes us from the end of this book into our present time.

Find a link to all my reviews on his other novels here.

Rutherfurd, Edward "The Forest"

Rutherfurd, Edward "The Forest" - 2000

After having read and enjoyed "London", I was really looking forward to another one of Edward Rutherfurd's historical novels. Sometimes, you read one book by an author and then put so much hope into his next one that it can only be a disappointment. Not in this case. "The Forest" is just as exciting and detailed as "London".

Edward Rutherford describes the history of the New Forest, from William the Conqueror until today through the people living there. This book has it all, from the Normans to the Spanish Armada, the days of witchcraft, smuggling and Jane Austen, the people stay faithful to the forest that is giving them their livelihood.

If you love England, this is the book for you. If you love Ireland and/or Edward Rutherfurd, I also recommend "Dublin" and "Awakening"

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"Few places lie closer to the heart of the nation's heritage than the New Forest. Now, Edward Rutherfurd, weaves its history and legends into compelling fiction. From the mysterious killing of King William Rufus, treachery and witchcraft, smuggling and poaching run through this epic tale of well-born ladies, lowly woodsmen, sailors, merchants and Cistercian monks. The feuds, wars, loyalties and passions of generations reach their climax in a crime that shatters the decorous society of Jane Austen's Bath, and whose ramifications continue through the age of the Victorian railway builders to the ecologists of the present day."

Find a link to all my reviews on his other novels here.

Rutherfurd, Edward "London - The Novel"

Rutherfurd, Edward "London - The Novel" - 1997

I absolutely loved this book. I'm a huge fan of England and London is one of my favourite cities ever. The author describes the history of this fantastic town through the lives of about half a dozen different families. He manages to let you live their lives and learn about the development, the achievements, the shortcomings of life between BC and now. But you don't just get to know the families but also their famous contemporaries. You get to meet Chaucer and Shakespeare, all the different kings and queens of England and Scotland, Sir Christopher Wren, a lot of bishops and other important clergymen. And by following their lives, you follow the life of this interesting city and the river that created it.

The fictional families also stem from all sorts of backgrounds, you have fishers and priests, merchantes and dock workers, maids and mistresses. Read it, it's totally worth it. 1,299 pages of life in London. Great!

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2023.

From the back cover:

"[sic] Edward Rutherfurd's classic novel of London, a glorious pageant spanning two thousand years. He brings this vibrant city's long and noble history alive through the ever-shifting fortunes, fates, and intrigues of half-a-dozen families, from the age of Julius Caesar to the twentieth century.

Generation after generation, these families embody the passion, struggle, wealth, and verve of the greatest city in the world."

Other great books by Edward Rutherfurd: "The Forest", "Dublin" and "Awakening"

Find a link to all my reviews on his other novels here.