Banished Children of Eve: A Novel of Civil War New York (New York ReLit)

Review\nVividly imagined, scrupulously researched, and almost disorienting in its authenticity . . . A historical classic . . . Nothing short of splendid. ― The Philadelphia Inquirer\nPeter Quinn’s extraordinarily fine and ingenious novel, Banished Children of Eve, shows how much we are made of history . . . Unflinching in its depiction of prejudice and, for that matter, of grace, Quinn deftly weaves the lives of his characters into an intricate web of past and present, of association and moral involvement, until I, at least, had a sense not only of this terrible time but of history itself at the fundamental level, of the individual actions that make up its fabric. ― The Boston Sunday Globe\nHistorical fiction as well made and whole as this is not common . . . Convincing and intriguing . . . Hardly a page of this book is without some revelation. ― The New York Times Book Review\nOne of the very, very best of modern historical novels. -- Thomas Flanagan\nNamed one of the top twenty books every Irish American should read by Irish Central\nThe Civil War has just entered its third bloody year, and the North is about to impose its first military draft, a decision that will spark the most devastating and destructive urban riot in American history. Banished Children of Eve traces that event as its tentacles grip New York City. The cast is drawn from every stratum: a likeable and laconic Irish-American hustler, an ambitious and larcenous Yankee stockbroker, an immigrant serving girl, a beautiful and mysterious mulatto actress and her white minstrel lover as well as a cluster of real-life characters, including scheming, ever-pompous General George McClellan; fiery, fierce Archbishop “Dagger John” Hughes; and fast-declining musical genius Stephen Foster. The fates of these characters coalesce in the cataclysm of the Draft Riots, as a pivotal period in the history of New York and the nation is painfully, vividly, magically bought to life.