Set in Boston at the end of the First World War, New York Times
bestselling author Dennis Lehane’s long-awaited eighth novel
unflinchingly captures the political and social unrest of a
nation caught at the crossroads between past and future. Filled
with a cast of unforgettable characters more richly drawn than
any Lehane has ever created, The Given Day tells the story of two
families--one black, one white--swept up in a maelstrom of
revolutionaries and anarchists, immigrants and ward bosses,
Brahmins and ordinary citizens, all engaged in a battle for
survival and power. Beat cop Danny lin, the son of one of
the city’s most beloved and powerful captains, joins a
burgeoning union movement and the hunt for violent radicals.
Luther Laurence, on the run after a deadly confrontation with a
crime boss in Tulsa, works for the lin family and tries
desperately to find his way home to his pregnant wife.
Here, too, are some of the most influential figures of the
era--Babe Ruth; Eugene O’Neill; leftist activist Jack Reed; NAACP
founder W. E. B. DuBois; Mitchell Palmer, Woodrow Wilson’s
ruthless Red-chasing attorney general; cunning Massachusetts
governor Calvin Coolidge; and an ambitious young Department of
Justice lawyer named John Hoover.
Coursing through some of the pivotal events of the
time--including the Spanish Influenza pandemic--and culminating
in the Boston Strike of 1919, The Given Day explores the
crippling violence and irrepressible exuberance of a country at
war with, and in the thrall of, itself. As Danny, Luther, and
those around them struggle to define themselves in increasingly
turbulent times, they gradually find family in one another and,
together, ride a rising storm of hardship, deprivation, and hope
that will change all their lives.
“[An] engrossing epic. . . . A vision of redemption and a
triumph of the human spirit.”
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
About the Author
Dennis Lehane is the author of seven novels. These include the
New York Times bestsellers Gone, Baby, Gone; Mystic River; and
Shutter Island, as well as Coronado, a collection of short
stories and a play. He and his wife, Angie, divide their time
between Boston and the Gulf Coast of Florida.
Images from The Given Day
The Boston Molasses Disaster
The Boston Molasses Disaster, also known as the Great Molasses
Flood, occurred on January 15, 1919, in the North End
neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. A large molasses tank
burst and a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an
estimated 35 mph, killing 21 and injuring 150. The event has
entered local folklore, and residents cl that on hot summer
days the areas still smells of molasses. (From Wikipedia).
Headline from the Boston Post, September 9, 1919
Rioters clash with National Guardsmen called in by Massachusetts
Governor Calvin Coolidge during a strike by Boston
officers.
Emma Goldman
"I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck."
Influenza
City officials in Boston were caught off guard when three
civilians dropped dead of influenza in early September 1918. As
September 1918 drew to a close, Boston had lost more than 1,000
citizens to the silent, relentless killer. The deadly influenza
now posed a threat to the entire nation, and the world at large.
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge (1872 - 1933) was a Republican lawyer from
Vermont who worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state
politics, eventually becoming governor. His actions during the
Boston Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national
spotlight; he became the 30th President of the United States
(1923 - 1929).
The Boston Molasses Disaster
The headline from the Boston Post, September 9, 1919
Emma Goldman
Influenza
Calvin Coolidge