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Content snapshot
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Violence
Some
Organized crime violence; wartime danger; a death by drowning
Language
Some
Some strong language in a wartime New York register
Sexual Content
Some
Adult relationships in a 1940s noir setting; nothing explicit
Substance Use
Some
Heavy drinking in the nightclub and wartime milieu
Emotional Intensity
Some
A father who chose a path that led to disappearance; a daughter navigating grief and ambition in a world that does not want her there
What this book is about
Anna Kerrigan is nineteen and working at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II when she decides she will become the first female deep-sea diver. Her father Eddie has been gone for years — he disappeared after becoming entangled with a nightclub owner named Dexter Styles who runs in circles that get men killed. Jennifer Egan's wartime novel is three stories woven into one: a young woman's ambition in a male profession, a father's impossible choices, and a crime world that reaches from the docks to the war effort. Dense, atmospheric, and beautifully researched.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
organized crime violence
wartime setting
complex moral choices
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