First published 1977
In 1906 New Rochelle, an affluent American family's quiet Sunday ends when escape artist Harry Houdini crashes his car into a telephone pole outside their home. This collision opens their world to an America where historical figures and ordinary people intersect in unexpected ways. The family encounters Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, J.P. Morgan, Evelyn Nesbit, Sigmund Freud, and Emiliano Zapata as these famous personalities weave through their lives. Meanwhile, an immigrant peddler works to build his American dream, and a Harlem ragtime musician faces injustice that pushes him toward violent action. As the country moves from the turn of the century toward World War I, these interconnected lives reveal an America caught between old traditions and new possibilities. The musician's demand for justice becomes the driving force that threatens to tear apart the fragile connections between all these characters, both real and imagined.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-figures, interconnected-lives
Setting: New Rochelle, Harlem
Period: 1906, World War I
236 pages · Paperback · Macmillan General Books