Golden Hill

A Novel of Old New York

De: Francis Spufford

Narrado por: Sarah Borges

A Wall Street Journal Top Ten Fiction Book of the Year * A Washington Post Notable Fiction Book of the Year * A Seattle Times Favorite Book of the Year * An NPR Best Book of the Year * A Kirkus Reviews Best Historical Fiction Book of the Year * A Library Journal Top Historical Fiction Book of the Year * Winner of the Costa First Novel Award, the RSL Ondaatje Prize, and the Desmond Elliott Prize * Winner of the New York City Book Award

“Gorgeously crafted…Spufford’s sprawling recreation here is pitch perfect.” —Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air

“A fast-paced romp that keeps its eyes on the moral conundrums of America.” —The New Yorker

“Delirious storytelling backfilled with this much intelligence is a rare and happy sight.” —The New York Times

“Golden Hill possesses a fluency and immediacy, a feast of the senses…I love this book.” —The Washington Post

The spectacular first novel from acclaimed nonfiction author Francis Spufford follows the adventures of a mysterious young man in mid-18th-century Manhattan, thirty years before the American Revolution.

New York, a small town on the tip of Manhattan island, 1746. One rainy evening in November, a handsome young stranger fresh off the boat arrives at a countinghouse door on Golden Hill Street: this is Mr. Smith, amiable, charming, yet strangely determined to keep suspicion shimmering. For in his pocket, he has what seems to be an order for a thousand pounds, a huge sum, and he won’t explain why, or where he comes from, or what he is planning to do in the colonies that requires so much money. Should the New York merchants trust him? Should they risk their credit and refuse to pay? Should they befriend him, seduce him, arrest him; maybe even kill him?

Rich in language and historical perception, yet compulsively readable, Golden Hill is “a remarkable achievement—remarkable, especially, in its intelligent re-creation of the early years of what was to become America’s greatest city” (The Wall Street Journal). Spufford paints an irresistible picture of a New York provokingly different from its later metropolitan self, but already entirely a place where a young man with a fast tongue can invent himself afresh, fall in love—and find a world of trouble. Golden Hill is “immensely pleasurable…Read it for Spufford’s brilliant storytelling, pitch-perfect ear for dialogue, and gift for re-creating a vanished time” (Newsday).

Immensely Engaging and Craetive

If you could sum up Golden Hill in three words, what would they be?

Unique, historic, delightful

What did you like best about this story?

The use of period language and tone-- shades of Tristan Shandy.

Which scene was your favorite?

The staging of Cato the Elder

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

The machinations behind the relationship between Smith and Tabitha

Any additional comments?

Terrific reader-- granted a a dozen or so words were mispronounced but the reading was brilliant nevertheless!

What a delightful surprise!

Would you listen to Golden Hill again? Why?

The story is intricate, and involving. I loved the evocation of pre-revolutionary New York.

What does Sarah Borges bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her narrative and vocal skills are extraordinary

Ehh.

I've been reading reviews of this book that claim it's some kind of literary such and such, but I don't see it. The reader makes the whole book seem pompous, affected, and strangely effeminate. I did enjoy some particularly well-written tidbits and I liked what history there was, although I felt it to be more, but I'm not sure that the story is truly there, and it certainly in no way a literary marvel. It is a good fun read and it's sad that others have played it up to be more than what it is.

Well...

...if you like a tale where the hero meets with one calamity after another, is insulted and wronged and never takes his recompense, then this book is for you. Nicely written and well-read, it nevertheless has a plot that disappoints.

Good narration, even better tale

The mystery of "Richard Smith," a young man who shows up in mid-18th-century New York City with a £1000 check is examined over the course of this novel. Along the way there is romance, swordplay, double-dealing (with a feud between the colonial legislature and governor that mirrors the Obama-Congress stalemate of recent years). It almost seems Shakespearean.