The Given Day

By: Dennis Lehane

Narrated by: Michael Boatman

Length: 23 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Set in Boston at the end of the First World War, New York Times best-selling 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 Coughlin, the son of one of the city's most beloved and powerful police 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 Coughlin 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 Police 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.

©2008 Dennis Lehane (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"[An] engrossing epic....A vision of redemption and a triumph of the human spirit." ( Publishers Weekly)

Good story, produced with loud music at chapter beginnings.

Prefectly servicable writing a bit predictable but interesting made into an annoying experience due to loud out of context music between chapters. As if a TV was interrupting a book. Weird

A splendid, memorable novel

Would you listen to The Given Day again? Why?

Yes, it is very well written and rich in characters and events. I might mention that this is the first of three novels centered around the Coughlins, the second being Live the Night and the third, World Gone By; this is not apparent from the introductions to these works. I had already listened to two later works because I was not aware of The Given Day; I ended up listening to these again when I finished The Given Day.

What did you like best about this story?

It is richly evocative of the period around and after World War I. In particular, it renders vividly race relations of the time.

What about Michael Boatman’s performance did you like?

Michael Boatman, whom I discovered here, is just about the finest reader I know. A great performance.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes, more than one. The one that comes to mind is Babe Ruth unexpectedly seeing Luther in the audience and being so conscience stricken than he cannot play well for the rest of the season.

Any additional comments?

The opening chapter is an anthology piece that is worth the price of the book.

I recommend this audiobook with enthusiasm.

I like pretty much anything Lehane

This book is an epic. Deep and rich, long and slow burning. I highly recommend it, but more if you have read his other work and want a trilogy. I will be reading and listening to Live by Night next!

Great historical fiction

Wow, what a book. Racism against so many different cultures, I am amazed by how far we have come, yet saddened by how bad things were.

An audio to live in!

I started out reading this book for our book club at work, and realized I wouldn't get it finished in time for our meeting, so I downloaded the audio to speed the process. I read the book in bed at night and then found my place on the audio each morning in order to listen on the way to and from work and during lunch. The narrator nails the characters' accents perfectly, from Irish to southern African American to Russian to Bostonian. Dennis Lehane presents an intimate, emotional view of a most fascinating era of American history; a view that I certainly never saw in any history class - with details from every side of the story. This one should be required reading for high school English, social studies and American history alike. Chock full of interesting details that will lead you to desire more information about history, politics, business, religion, human rights, human nature,the formation of unions, and about your own beliefs.

Not Lehane I usually like

I liked the historical fiction, but it could have used less description and more action.

Just okay...

Good setting. The story dragged. I was expecting intensity. It was lacking.

Solid read by Boatman.

Good historical novel.

Great characters, ok plot. I wonder how factual it is. Superb narration adds to the enjoyment.

A born storyteller meets the perfect narrator

Do yourself a favor. This is audio listening at its best. If we're lucky there will be a sequel. With the same reader, of course.

Things I had not heard about

Where does The Given Day rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the most enjoyable.

What did you like best about this story?

The sensation of being there then.

Which scene was your favorite?

The last scene of father and son in Boston.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

NO! The history of our country is not always a pretty one or a nice one. Some of this book was just too intense, I had to take a break from it now and then. It was always easy to return to, I could not wait to finish it. I needed time to sort of digest the information, and I felt as if I was there, it felt very real to me.

Any additional comments?

We all have had history in school, my school gave us a “thumbnail” sketch of these times. I found this book to be compelling, and entertaining. I liked the characters, and the story. It did not feel contrived to me, and I feel it gives a clearer picture of what times were like in those good ‘ol days.