Alspilsbury's review
Heyday: A Novel
by Kurt Andersen
Alspilsbury's review
Heyday: A Novel by Kurt Andersen
Alspilsbury's review
rating:
In 1848 France is in Revolution and America is in transition. An Englishman named Benjamin Knowles is witness to both. Believing he has witnessed the death of his friend at the hand of gendarmes in the first night of the French Revolution, Knowles returns to England, only to feel like a misplaced person.
Catching the first ship to America, he eventually meets up with Skaggs, a "daguerreotypist" and journalist, Polly Lucking, a fetching actress and part-time prostitute, and her brother, Duff, an emotionally scarred veteran of the Mexican wars.
Having first experienced all that the metropolis of New York City has to offer, the group sets out for the frontier. Eventually, the Gold fields of Sutters Mill beckons and the group reaches California, unknowingly tracked by one of the afore mentioned gendarmes, vowing vengance on Knowles for his percieved guilt in the death of a younger brother.
This book was written by Kurt Andersen, who may be recognized by NPR listeners as ...more
Catching the first ship to America, he eventually meets up with Skaggs, a "daguerreotypist" and journalist, Polly Lucking, a fetching actress and part-time prostitute, and her brother, Duff, an emotionally scarred veteran of the Mexican wars.
Having first experienced all that the metropolis of New York City has to offer, the group sets out for the frontier. Eventually, the Gold fields of Sutters Mill beckons and the group reaches California, unknowingly tracked by one of the afore mentioned gendarmes, vowing vengance on Knowles for his percieved guilt in the death of a younger brother.
This book was written by Kurt Andersen, who may be recognized by NPR listeners as ...more
