A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Michael Toms for the iconic New Dimensions radio show. Toms, often called the...
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In Sunlight and in Shadow (Mariner Books) is an epic love story set in post-war New York by the bestselling author of Winter's Tale. Can love and honor conquer all? Mark Helprin's enchanting and sweeping novel springs from this deceptively simple question, and from the sight of a beautiful young woman, dressed in white, on the Staten Island Ferry in the summer of 1946.
New York City is subsumed in arctic winds, dark nights, and white lights, its life unfolds, for it is an extraordinary hive of the imagination, the greatest house ever built, and nothing exists that can check its vitality. One night in winter, Peter Lake — orphan and master-mechanic, attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side.
Though he thinks hte house is empty, the daughter of the house is home. Thus begins the love between Peter Lake, a middle-aged Irish burglar, and Beverly Penn, a young girl, who is dying.
Peter Lake, a simple, uneducated man, because of a love that, at first he does not fully understand, is driven to stop time and bring back the dead. His great struggle, in a city ever alight with its own energy and beseiged by unprecedented winters, is one of the most beautiful and extraordinary stories of American literature.
Review:
"[I]maginatively engaging as well as entertaining." Library Journal
Review:
"A gifted writer's love affair with the language." Newsday
Synopsis:
A bestseller that takes readers on a journey to New York of the Belle Epoque, where Peter Lake attempts to rob a Manhattan mansion only to find the daughter of the house at home. Thus begins the love between the middle-aged Irishman and Beverly Penn, a young girl who is dying. “This novel...is a gifted writers love affair with the language” (Newsday).
Synopsis:
"He creates tableaux of such beauty and clarity that the inner eye is stunned." - Publisher's Weekly
Mark Helprin's magical masterpiece will transport you to New York of the Belle Epoque, to a city clarified by a siege of unprecedented snows. One winter night, Peter Lake - master mechanic and master second-storey man - attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side. Though he thinks it is empty, the daughter of the house is home. Thus begins the affair between a middle-aged Irish burglar and Beverly Penn, a young girl who is dying of consumption. It is a love so powerful that Peter Lake, a simple and uneducated man, will be driven to stop time and bring back the dead. His great struggle is one of the most beautiful and extraordinary stories of American literature.
"This novel stretches the boundaries of contemporary literature. It is a gifted writer's love affair with the language." - Newsday
"Is it not astonishing that a work so rooted in fantasy, filled with narrative high jinks and comic flights, stands forth centrally as a moral discourse? It is indeed . . . . I find myself nervous, to a degree I don't recall in my past as a reviewer, about failing the work, inadequately displaying its brilliance." - Front Page, The New York Times Book Review
A New York Times Bestseller
Educated at Harvard, Princeton, and Oxford, Mark Helprin served in the Israeli army, Israeli Air Force, and British Merchant Navy. He is the author of, among other titles, Refiner's Fire, Ellis Island and Other Stories, Winter's Tale, A Soldier of the Great War, Memoir from Antproof Case, The Pacific and Other Stories, and Freddy and Fredericka.
Mark Helprin has written for the Atlantic Monthly, the Wall Street Journal, the New Yorker, and the New York Times, among many other publications. His collection The Pacific and Other Stories was published in the fall of 2004. He lives in Virginia.
creativecaravan, August 4, 2012 (view all comments by creativecaravan)
This is my favorite book of all time. The wordcraft is amazingly rich and beautiful. As you read, you can see, hear, taste, smell and feel every passage. Mark Helprin is the master of words and symbolism. He creates a surreal world that one can really believe exists. Don't let the large number of pages intimidate you. It is such a flowing and enjoyable book. If you love words and magic, this book provides both. Enjoy!
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No (1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
dilly, January 1, 2011 (view all comments by dilly)
This book grabbed from the start for its descriptions. Every corner of New York that he writes about seems a place of splendor. On top of that it is tinged with fantasy. I have really enjoyed the whole experience of the story.
rainbow.colder, November 25, 2008 (view all comments by rainbow.colder)
Love and language create a epic and minutely powerful world - at once achingly familiar, utterly real, and inspiring in its fantastic insistence of magic.
I love this book. I re-read it once a year (whether I need it or not) and inflict dramatic readings of choice scenes on the people by whom I most want to be understood. Winter's Tale is food for both the intellect and the sentimental heart.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No (4 of 5 readers found this comment helpful)
"Review"
by Library Journal,
"[I]maginatively engaging as well as entertaining."
"Review"
by Newsday,
"A gifted writer's love affair with the language."
"Synopsis"
by Firebrand,
A bestseller that takes readers on a journey to New York of the Belle Epoque, where Peter Lake attempts to rob a Manhattan mansion only to find the daughter of the house at home. Thus begins the love between the middle-aged Irishman and Beverly Penn, a young girl who is dying. “This novel...is a gifted writers love affair with the language” (Newsday).
"Synopsis"
by Firebrand,
"He creates tableaux of such beauty and clarity that the inner eye is stunned." - Publisher's Weekly
Mark Helprin's magical masterpiece will transport you to New York of the Belle Epoque, to a city clarified by a siege of unprecedented snows. One winter night, Peter Lake - master mechanic and master second-storey man - attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side. Though he thinks it is empty, the daughter of the house is home. Thus begins the affair between a middle-aged Irish burglar and Beverly Penn, a young girl who is dying of consumption. It is a love so powerful that Peter Lake, a simple and uneducated man, will be driven to stop time and bring back the dead. His great struggle is one of the most beautiful and extraordinary stories of American literature.
"This novel stretches the boundaries of contemporary literature. It is a gifted writer's love affair with the language." - Newsday
"Is it not astonishing that a work so rooted in fantasy, filled with narrative high jinks and comic flights, stands forth centrally as a moral discourse? It is indeed . . . . I find myself nervous, to a degree I don't recall in my past as a reviewer, about failing the work, inadequately displaying its brilliance." - Front Page, The New York Times Book Review
A New York Times Bestseller
Educated at Harvard, Princeton, and Oxford, Mark Helprin served in the Israeli army, Israeli Air Force, and British Merchant Navy. He is the author of, among other titles, Refiner's Fire, Ellis Island and Other Stories, Winter's Tale, A Soldier of the Great War, Memoir from Antproof Case, The Pacific and Other Stories, and Freddy and Fredericka.
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