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North
River,
like Pete Hamill's previous novel book Forever, is a glorious
love letter to New York City.
Most
Pete Hamill books offer a New York City history lesson, and
North River is no different. North River concentrates
on the Manhattan of the Great Depression, where gangsters
ruled, and the city was just shaking itself of the grip held
by the scandals of the Tammany Hall era.
Physician
James Delaney is frozen, both from the bitter cold in his
fireplace-heated house and from being left by both his wife,
Molly, and his grown daughter, Grace. Grace has also mysteriously
abandoned her son Carlito on the doctor's doorstep on a cold
night shortly after New Year's Day while she chases her husband,
a communist and suspected bomber, through Europe. As if Delaney's
life wasn't complicated enough, when he saves the life of
gangster Eddie Corso, he gets involved in a dispute between
Corso and another criminal, Frankie Botts. The FBI is looking
for his daughter and her husband. Every time Delaney tries
to get his life in order, something else happens to upset
it.
Through
Dr. Delaney's practice, the reader meets all the archetypes
of 1930's Manhattan—the poor Irish and Italian immigrants,
the war veterans, hoodlums, cops, and old vaudevillians. Readers
also get a crash course in the diseases of the Depression,
like "the con" (tuberculosis, or consumption), and the influenza
epidemic.
Besides
the fast-moving plot, Hamill offers readers well-rounded characters
that are complex and inviting. Carlito's nanny, Rose, is an
Italian immigrant of about 30 with a faint moustache who is
learning English by reading The Daily News. The doctor's
receptionist, Monique, is as tough as a bouncer but delicate
and understanding with patients. Even the gangsters have distinct
and interesting personalities. It's easy to care about these
characters and to cheer them on when they experience small
triumphs, such as when Spanish-speaking Carlito learns English
from Rose.
Hamill
is also an ace at dialog. While some of the characters speak
with specific accents and slang, it's always understandable.
But the descriptions of old New York are what make this book
such a delight: the description of the window of the meat
shop in Little Italy, Carlito's excitement over taking the
elevated trains for the first time, Rose's wonder at seeing
the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Hamill
is a die-hard liberal, and that comes through in this book.
Delaney never charges the poor or war veterans for services,
and Rose volunteers at a soup kitchen. The FBI agent is the
only obvious "bad guy" in the book—even the gangsters
are portrayed more sympathetically. Pretty much everyone in
the book is, at each one's core, good, and has the capacity
to be touched by love. But the Depression has wounded everyone
in middle- and lower-class Manhattan, and characters lash
out at each other in very real ways. Neighbors hate the doctor
because he couldn't save their loved ones, and there's a lot
of tension between middle-class Monique and immigrant Rose.
North
River depicts an in-between time, when America was poised
to shake off the Depression, go forward into a second world
war, and become a more modern place. Delaney's life echoes
that as he tries to leave his past behind and go into the
future with his grandson and a possible relationship with
Rose. Hamill's depiction of this time and place, and his characters,
will stay with readers long after they finish the book.
(June,
2007)
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