The Given Day by Dennis Lehane
The Given Day by Dennis Lehane, HarperCollins, 2008 (ISBN 978-0-688-16318-1)
I love to read history as non-fiction or fiction. Reading Lehane’sThe Given Day, a masterful blend of fact and fiction, was a great pleasure. It’s rich with characters, suspense, and a plot that just grabs you from the very beginning. Lehane’s detailed descriptions placed me in the action – ready to organize a union or defend my rights by any means necessary. The passion in this novel brings to life the United States of the early 20th century with much of the action in Boston, Massachusetts highlighting the beginnings of tremendous change in the status quo. Workers agitate for better conditions, pay and respect; black veterans of World War I come home expecting or hoping for more from a country where many thought them not American; suffragettes demonstrate for the vote; and politicians take advantage of everything and everyone.
Lehane chose to tell the story of this challenging period through the eyes of two families – one black, one white. The dialogue and social interactions read authentic to me based on my research and stories told by my elders. Lehane has included a mix of influential figures of the era – Babe Ruth, a young John Hoover (J. Edgar), Massachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge, Leftist activist Jack Reed, and W. E. B. DuBois, founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. There is even an early configuration of Homeland Security complete with undercover stings, dirty tricks, and bias towards all.
This is a book you should not overlook. It’s got everything action, adventure, betrayal, murder, romance, familial dysfunction, and triumph of the spirit.
Happy Reading!
©Caryn I. McLaine
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