“…dares to satisfy us in a way that stories of an earlier age used to.” “Manhattan Beach is ambitiously and deliciously plot-driven. 'A novel that deserves to join the canon of New York stories.' Its strands of subtle intrigue and quiet heroism make you reluctant to leave each page while eager to get to the next.' Her novel is an absorbing story, beautifully written. Jennifer Egan has masterfully conjured an era we are on the cusp of losing. ' Manhattan Beach is so rich in detail and atmosphere such an exploration of underworlds of all kinds, filled with lessons on lifelines and buoyancy and how to bear life’s weight by diving deep into it. There is a generosity in her prose that is vastly enlivening to its reader and brings about that beautiful effect fiction sometimes causes: more, and better-grounded, fondness for reality, just as it is.' 'A bounteous miracle that makes you feel that past time, and our time, differently everything becomes freshly energized, infused with humanity, vital, sad, and full of importance. To see the world through Egan’s eyes is to be moved, through language, to new adoration of the world. I don’t know a better writer working today.

Manhattan Beach takes us into a world populated by gangsters, sailors, divers, bankers, and union men in a dazzling, propulsive exploration of a transformative moment in the lives and identities of women and men, of America and the world. “A magnificent achievement, at once a suspenseful noir intrigue and a transporting work of lyrical beauty and emotional heft” ( The Boston Globe), “Egan’s first foray into historical fiction makes you forget you’re reading historical fiction at all” ( Elle). One evening at a nightclub, she meets Dexter Styles again, and begins to understand the complexity of her father’s life, the reasons he might have vanished. She becomes the first female diver, the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations, repairing the ships that will help America win the war. Anna works at the Brooklyn Naval Yard, where women are allowed to hold jobs that once belonged to men, now soldiers abroad. ‎Years later, her father has disappeared and the country is at war. She is mesmerized by the sea beyond the house and by some charged mystery between the two men. Named One of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, Esquire, Vogue, The Washington Post, The Guardian, USA TODAY, and TimeĪnna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her father to visit Dexter Styles, a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. The daring and magnificent novel from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author.

Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction

Manhattan beach novel review