NOVEL NEW YORK 
Booklist, 2005

A list of fiction books about New York, for the general reader. These books are available for free loan, in recorded and/or braille formats, to all participants in the Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped program. Titles for children and teens are included in this list.

RC = Recorded Cassette; BR = Braille Book.

FICTION

  Actor
Parnell Hall
RC 52222
New York private investigator Stanley Hastings accepts the lead in a summer theater production on behalf of an old college chum. Some descriptions of sex and some violence. 1993.

 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Michael Chabon
RC 50950
An eighteen-year-old artist and magician flees Czechoslovakia for his cousin's New York home. Some descriptions of sex and some strong language. Bestseller. 2000.

  Ashes to Ashes: An Inner Sanctum Mystery
Emma Lathen
RC 58557
The New York Archdiocese plans to sell a parochial school to realtors who will replace the building with high-rise apartments. 1971.

  Awakening: The Holts; An American Dynasty
Dana Fuller Ross
RC 58575
New York, 1900. Sequel to Homecoming (RC 42633) relates events in the lives of Sally Holt, sixteen, and friend India Blackstone, twenty. Strong language, some descriptions of sex, and some violence. 1995.

  Betrayal in death
J.D. Robb
RC 52142
New York City, 2059. Lieutenant Eve Dallas investigates a series of ritualistic murders of employees at her husband Roarke's upscale hotel. Descriptions of sex, violence, and strong language. Bestseller. 2001.

  The Body in the Big Apple: A Faith Fairchild Mystery
Katherine Hall Page
RC 50378
In this prequel to the Faith Fairchild series, young Faith has just launched her catering business in New York when former classmate Emma Stanstead asks for her help. Some violence and some strong language. 1999.

   Bronx Masquerade
Nikki Grimes
RC 55776, BR 14623
Tough students at a Bronx high school reveal their innermost thoughts, dreams, and fears during the monthly English class's Open-Mike Fridays. For junior and senior high readers. Coretta Scott King Award.  2002

 Brown Girl, Brownstones
Paule Marshall
RC 5302
Set in Brooklyn during the Depression and World War II, the novel tells the story of Barbadian immigrants striving to surmount poverty and racism and make their new country home. 1981.

 Buttons and Beaus
Margaret Brownley
RC 54521
New York City, 1880. Amanda Blackwell runs a cycling school for young ladies while caring for her mentally challenged brother. 1997.

 Child of My Heart
Alice McDermott
BR 14542
Theresa, a beautiful fifteen-year-old girl, lives in East Hampton, Long Island, and takes care of children and pets for wealthy families during the beach season. Some strong language. 2002.

 Coney
Amram Ducovny
RC 5397
A chronicle of 1930s Coney Island, alive with immigrant families, carnival freaks, and criminal low-lifes. 2000.

  Dawn on a Distant Shore
Sara Donati
RC 57936, BR 13199
Northern New York, 1794. Elizabeth Bonner brings her children to Montreal to ransom her husband, Nathaniel, and his father, Hawkeye, from the French. Sequel to Into the Wilderness (RC 57979.) Some explicit descriptions of sex and some violence. 2000.

 Death of Riley
Rhys Bowen
BR 14657
New York City, 1901. Irish immigrant Molly Murphy, last seen in Murphy's Law (BR 14095), cajoles private investigator Paddy Riley to hire her as his assistant. 2002.

 Dreamland
Kevin Baker
RC 50727
Tale of a young Eastern European stowaway who encounters love, jealousy, and betrayal in the squalid tenements of turn-of-the-century New York City. Some strong language. 1999.

 For the Love of Mike
Rhys Bowen
BR 15427
New York, 1901. In this sequel to Death of Riley (BR 14657), Molly Murphy inherits her boss's detective business. 2003.

 The Fortress of Solitude
Jonathan Lethem
RC 57374
Brooklyn, 1970s. Dylan Ebdus, who is white, moves into a black neighborhood where he becomes the victim of bullies. Strong language and some violence. Bestseller. 2003.

 Gramercy Park
Paula Cohen
BR 14379
New York City, 1894. When noted Italian tenor Mario Alfieri arrives for his debut with the Metropolitan Opera, he finds a quiet home in Gramercy Park. Unfortunately, it is still inhabited by Clara Adler, the ward of the former owner. 2002.

 Harlem Redux
Persia Walker
RC 57306
Harlem, 1920s. Lawyer David McKay returns home when he learns of his sister Lilian's suicide. Some explicit descriptions of sex, some violence, and some strong language. 2000.

  Iceweaver
Margaret Lawrence
RC 52546
New York state, 1809. In this sequel to The Burning Bride (RC 50538), midwife Hannah Trevor dies, leaving her grown deaf daughter, Jennet, destitute. Some descriptions of sex, some violence, and some strong language. 2000.

  Lake in the Clouds
Sara Donati
RC 57904, BR 14406
Upstate New York, 1802. Nathaniel Bonner's half-Mohawk daughter, Hannah, hides a pregnant escaped slave from a bounty hunter. 2002.

 Little Casino
Gilbert Sorrentino
BR 14879
Autobiographical fiction depicting depression-era and postwar Brooklyn of the author's childhood and later years. Explicit descriptions of sex and strong language. 2002.

 Mobtown
Jack Kelly
BR 14228
Rochester, New York; 1959. A woman who suspects her husband is cheating with a teenager hires ex-cop-turned-private eye Ike Van Savage. Strong language and some violence. 2002.

 Morningside Heights
Cheryl Mendelson
BR 15468
Tucked into Manhattan's west side, Morningside Heights, home of modest intellectuals, is a middle-class neighborhood threatened by gentrification. 2003.

  Must the Maiden Die
Miriam Grace Monfredo
RC 52076
Seneca Falls, New York; 1861. Librarian Glynis Tryon assists constable Cullen Stuart in investigating the murder of local businessman Roland Brant. 1999.

 The Nanny Diaries
Emma McLaughlin
RC 54032
Satirical take on rich New Yorkers who hire caregivers to be substitute parents. Some strong language. Bestseller. 2002.

 The Night Inspector
Frederick Busch
RC 50212
William Bartholomew, a maimed veteran of the Civil War, returns to New York City bent on reversing his fortunes. 2000.

  One Police Plaza
William J. Caunitz
RC 51265
New York City police detective Dan Malone becomes suspicious of the murder of a low-level clerk who inexplicably had access to an elite club. Strong language. 1984.

  Out of the Blue
Sally Mandel
RC 51716
Teacher Anna Bolles has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair the day she visits a photography exhibit in New York City. There she meets exhibitor Joe Malone who, she later declares, "swept me off my feet."  Strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2000.

 Paradise Alley
Kevin Baker
RC 56752
In the waterfront slums of New York City in 1863, three women wait out riots against a military draft decree. Sequel to Dreamland (RC 50727). Violence, strong language, and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2002.

  Queer Street: Rise and Fall of an American Culture, 1947-1985
James McCourt
RC 58816
Anecdotal history of New York's gay life. In a collage of screenplay, prose, poetry, and free association McCourt reflects on his own coming out in the 1950s. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2004.

   Suspension
Richard E. Crabbe
RC 52236
New York City, 1883. Police sergeant Tom Braddock learns that former Confederate soldiers plan to blow up the new Brooklyn Bridge. Some violence and some strong language. 2000.

 Swimming Toward the Ocean
Carole L. Glickfeld
RC 5383
Devorah, the daughter of Russian emigres to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn in the 1950s, tells the story of her parents' marriage. 2001.

 Valley of the Dolls
Jacqueline Susann
RC 50906
New York City, 1945. Three beautiful young women — Anne, Neely, and Jennifer — become best friends as each seeks success in the world of show business. Explicit descriptions of sex. 1966.

 You Can't Get There from Here
Earl Hamner
BR 11478
Sixteen-year-old Wes tells of a day spent combing New York in search of his father. 1965.

SHORT STORIES & COLLECTIONS

 Ellis Island
Mark Helprin
RC 5134
These ten stories and title novella, "Ellis Island," are closely unified in their beauty and in their concern with enduring and universal questions. 1981.

 The Harlem Reader: A Celebration of New York's Most Famous Neighborhood, From the Renaissance Years to the Twenty-First Century
Herb Boyd
RC 57319
Anthology of essays, articles, short stories, and poetry reflects the diversity and creativity of this unique urban community. 2003.

 Keys to the City: Tales of a New York City Locksmith
Joel Kostman
RC 5314
Funny stories about everyday people and what they do to fill their time and make ends meet, and how extraordinary an ordinary life can be. 1997.

 Model Behavior: A Novel and 7 Stories
Jay McInerney
BR 12620
Stories about the superficial nature of life in New York City. Strong language and descriptions of sex. 1998.

 New York: An Anthology
Compiled by Mike Marqusee and Bill Harris
RC 5266
A collection of writings by classical and contemporary writers. 1985.

 Old New York: Four Novellas
Edith Wharton
BR 10570
Originally published in 1924, these stories offer a glimpse of New York life in the 1840s, 1850s, 1860s, and 1870s. 1995.

 Wonderful Town: New York Stories from The New Yorker
Edited by David Remnick with Susan Choi
RC 51374
An anthology of forty-four timeless short stories set in the diversity of New York City, selected from seventy-five years of The New Yorker. Some strong language. 2000.