Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 1/21/2021 + 1223 more book reviews

This was a really engrossing historical novel about the early days of New York. The novel is multi-generational and dates from 1661 when New York was a Dutch colony and called Nieuw Amsterdam up to 1798 after the Revolutionary War. The novel focuses on a family of surgeons/barbers, physicians, and apothecaries. The surgeons were actually the ones that had the most useful medical knowledge including ways to cut into people to cure them. The physicians were actually trained in medical schools but the medical knowledge of the time was pretty much barbaric and useless and included such things as bleeding, use of leeches, purging, and cupping. Then there were the apothecaries who treated people with cures found mostly in the wild or cultivated for use. This included laudanum which was derived from opium poppies and alcohol.

The surgeons descended from Lucas Turner who arrived in New York in 1661 with his sister Sally, an apothecary. Lucas had a falling out with Sally when he basically sold her to a rich physician named Van der Vries thus separating the family into two feuding branches. The novel goes on through several generations and includes some very fascinating characters who struggle to make it in the early days of New York. In addition to doctors, the family included slaves, privateers, gun dealers, pimps, madams, and prostitutes.

Especially interesting were descriptions of some of the early medical techniques. Lucas actually operated on Peter Stuyvesant, the governor of the colony, to relieve him of kidney stones. The method used was very squirm-worthy but according to the author, it was a method actually used and historically documented.

And of course the novel also provided a lot of history on the city including how it evolved from a small Dutch colony to a "city of dreams" where people went to make their fortune. Included in this was its role in the Revolutionary War. George Washington was a key figure in the story along with the British siege of the city and their treatment of the rebel prisoners. I also didn't realize that New York was the first capitol of the United States and Washington was sworn in as president there. Very compelling reading that I would consider both an historical romance and a great adventure novel. Swerling also wrote three sequels to this: CITY OF GLORY, CITY OF GOD, and CITY OF PROMISE. Hopefully, I will get around to reading these as well.

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