City of Light | Lauren Belfer

City of Light | Lauren Belfer | First novel that will leave you wanting more from author

books:

City of Light

	City of Light Lauren Belfer, 1999 - 528 pages average customer review:based on 161 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

It is 1901 and Buffalo, New York, stands at the center of the nation's attention as a place of immense wealth and sophistication. The massive hydroelectric power development at nearby Niagara Falls and the grand Pan-American Exposition promise to bring the Great Lakes "city of light" even more repute.

Against this rich historical backdrop lives Louisa Barrett, the attractive, articulate headmistress of the Macaulay School for Girls. Protected by its powerful all-male board, "Miss Barrett" is treated as an equal by the men who control the life of the city. Lulled by her unique relationship with these titans of business, Louisa feels secure in her position, until a mysterious death at the power plant triggers a sequence of events that forces her to return to a past she has struggled to conceal, and to question everything and everyone she holds dear.

Both observer and participant, Louisa Barrett guides the reader through the culture and conflicts of a time and place where immigrant factory workers and nature conservationists protest violently against industrialists, where presidents broker politics, where wealthy "Negroes" fight for recognition and equality, and where women struggle to thrive in a system that allows them little freedom.

Wrought with remarkable depth and intelligence, City of Light remains a work completely of its own era, and of ours as well. A stirring literary accomplishment, Lauren Belfer's first novel marks the debut of a fresh voice for the new millennium and heralds a major publishing event.

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City of Light

Excellent read, hard to put down. Background information about Buffalo during the late 1800's is very interesting for someone being from the area.

First novel that will leave you wanting more from author

Heard CITY OF LIGHTS by Lauren Belfer, a first novel about life
in Buffalo, New York, in 1901 . . . it is the story of a headmistress
for the Macaulay School for Girls who becomes entangled
in the aftermath of a murder at the nearby power plant.

I've never been to Buffalo, but this book made me feel like
I knew what it must have been like living there around the turn
of the century . . . Belfer also gave me a feel for how society changed
with the development of hydroelectric power.

What I enjoyed most was the introduction of President Cleveland
into the action . . . he seemed so real that I kept comparing
him to President Clinton for reasons that I won't reveal here
for fear of ruining a key subplot.

CITY OF LIGHTS was different than most books I typically
read . . . my only regret is that it seems Belfer wrote no
other novel since then . . . what a shame!

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City of Secrets: A delicious slice of American life at the turn-of-the-century Buffalo (3.5 stars)

Well-researched and well-written, this first novel by Lauren Belfer is exceptional and if this is any indication of what her novels yet to be will be like, I am looking forward to her next one.

There is nothing bad I can say about this book. The only plot point that didn't add anything to the story was when Millicent Talbert, the niece of well-to-do Negroes and a student of Miss Louisa Barrett's school, came to Miss Barrett to tell her that Grace Sinclair (Louisa's biological child who she had in secret and arranged to be adopted by her best friend, Margaret Sinclair) said she wanted to kill herself. This did not add anything to the story and made Louisa's/Margaret's daughter come across as a very disturbed little girl, even though there was no indication of any such thing elsewhere in the novel, but other than that, all the other little stories and tidbits were like pieces of a patchwork quilt--by themselves, they weren't anything special, but when all stitched together, they made a beautiful tapestry.

There were parts of this story that made me angry (like what happened to Louisa the night of Grace's conception and the way the poor babies who had no parents were treated by Miss Maria Love, a charity worker who makes sure that children who do have parents get breakfast, calling them, the illegitimate children varmints and proclaiming that if they die, due to lack of care, by the way, that it is in God's will). I hated that woman and I despised Grace's natural father (whose identity I will not reveal because it is so shocking).

I thought that it was interesting that having a baby out-of-wedlock made you an outcast, but not if you were a rumored lesbian. This book illustrated with words just how terrible it was to be a woman back then.

Mary Talbert, Millicent's aunt, reminded me a lot of Michelle Obama, though I could more understand this woman having a chip on her shoulder, considering the time period she lived in. Other parallels to the world today were the preservationists (think environmentalists), who would resort to violence (eco-terrorism) to further their agenda, and from the way a certain prominent Democrat is demonized in this book and the way McKinley, a Republican, is canonized (well, I wouldn't go quite that far--she just portrayed him as a kindly gentleman), it leads me to believe Ms. Belfer is a conservative. (Not a bad thing, by the way.)

I did find it a little hard to keep up with all the names (reminded me of "The Great Gatsby"), and so there are some minor characters whose names I have forgotten, but this was an intricate, complex piece of literature.

CAUTION: POSSIBLE SPOILER AHEAD!

The ending was open in this book, and I, for one, was led to believe that since Louisa was freed (under tragic circumstances) from what had held her in Niagara all those years, had finally found love and was able to embrace it.

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Being a Buffalonian...

Since I grew up in Buffalo, I really wanted to read this book. I thought the story line itself was just so so. However, I liked reading about the streets that she went down, and other historical sites that she reffered to in this book, as I knew them well. I think this book could have been a lot shorter, as Louisa tended to get very side tracked when she was talking to someone, or talking about something. She never really just got to the point. Anyway, if you are from Western New York I think you will really enjoy reading about the history of Buffalo.

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