First published 2002
Francis Phelan once played professional baseball. Now he wanders Albany's streets as a vagrant and alcoholic during the Great Depression's final years. His son Billy hustles pool in the city's underground, wrestling with the violent legacy his father left behind. His brother Peter channels family darkness into his artwork, painting the shadows that define their shared history. Across three interconnected novels spanning the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s, the Phelan family embodies the Irish immigrant experience in upstate New York. Francis serves as the thread connecting these stories of ambition, failure, and survival. Billy fights to escape his father's reputation while building his own. Peter transforms family trauma into art. Meanwhile, Francis himself returns to Albany's familiar neighborhoods, confronting the ghosts of his past choices. The novels capture the raw energy of immigrants chasing opportunity in America, revealing how one family's struggles reflect the broader tensions of the American dream.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-secrets, generational-trauma
Setting: Albany, New York
Period: Mid-1800s, Mid-1900s, Great Depression
640 pages · Paperback · SCRIBNER
Content warnings: alcohol-abuse, violence