Thursday, December 11, 2008

"The Given Day" Dennis Lehane

I just haven't had a lot of time to read lately, especially with the holidays sneaking up on me. It seems that I've just been so busy with wrapping and planning and shopping, not to mention all of the things that I have to do on a regular basis whether or not I want to, that I just haven't been reading as much as I normally do. "The Given Day" is a sizable book, but I'm glad that I made time to pick it up and start reading it. The book was powerful and thought-provoking, about a time that has passed, yet is still relevant in so many ways today.

Without giving too much away, this book is about civil unrest in the city of Boston, and in fact right across the United States, immediately following the first World War. It takes place in a time when black people were still regarded as lesser beings than white people. There are many pivotal characters, but my favourites were Luther, a young black man who makes questionable decisions in the beginning of the book, yet changes and matures throughout. We also have Danny Coughlin, a police officer who is the son of a Police Captain, and then there is Nora, an immigrant from Ireland who's just trying to make her way. These stories and more intertwine together to make this novel a must-read, impossible to put down. I personally enjoyed watching the friendship between the three outcasts, Luther, Nora, and Danny, develop throughout, and the final pages of the book brought me to tears. I entirely enjoyed it, and would highly recommend it. Find out more about Dennis Lehane's "The Given Day" here.

This book is also a part of Harper-Collins' Fabulous Fall Reading Challenge.

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