Manhattan Beach

Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What I have read about Manhattan Beach is how much research Egan put into this book. The good news is that it reads as though she researched to write instead of writing to show off her research. There is a lot of information, but it is organic to the story. The plot covers the story of Anna, the daughter of a former dancer and bagman with a disabled sister. WWII comes and her father disappears and Anna goes to work in the shipyard where she becomes obsessed with being a diver. The story itself is a bit disjointed and meandering but the story as a whole seems to focus on the body and the ways it holds up back and propels us forward. Moments when we leave our body behind and become something outside it. How different bodies can accomplish different things and how we are often captured by the way our bodies look. What our bodies can do through will and grit, and how the spirits of those we love can inspire us.

View all my reviews