Brookland
As the resident blogger of historical fiction for BGB, I picked up Brookland by Emily Barton after seeing that it was in the Tournament of Books and that it was set in Brooklyn which is also a favorite locale of our blog.
The story takes place between 1774 and 1822 during the heart of colonial America when Brooklyn was known as Brookland. The main character, Prue, has inherited a gin distillery, Winship Daughters Gin, from her father, Matty, since he had the ill-fortune to not produce any male heirs. Luckily for our main character, he was an enlightened 18th century male and believed that his eldest daughter, Prue, was up to the task of running a distillery.
He begins training her at the age of 10 and by the time she is a teenager, she is practically running the distillery. The first half of the book focuses on Prue’s distillery training, life in 18th century Brookland, and Prue’s familial relationships; she has 2 sisters, one who is “mysteriously” mute (this becomes a key point in the novel which I don’t want to give away) and one who becomes her business partner.
She adores her father who is a role model in his community, and she has a rocky relationship with her tragic and depressed mother. Her parents die young and Prue and her sister, Tem, end up running the distillery at a very young age. As if managing a gin distillery before the age of 20 is not enough of an accomplishment, Prue decides to fulfill her dream of building a bridge from Brookland to New York. At that time, the only way to get to New York City was via boat, and Prue had a grand vision to build an architectural masterpiece.
The second half of the book focuses on the building of the bridge – from how Prue learns how to design and engineer a bridge to getting approval from the New York legislature to getting the bridge actually built. While bridge building is not a topic that excites me, Barton does an exquisite job of educating and enlightening the reader of the intricacies involved in bridge construction both from an engineering and political standpoint. Along the way, Prue marries, has children and continues to be caught up with family and community issues.
I really enjoyed this book and felt myself immersed in 18th century Brooklyn. All of the characters were fully fleshed out and multi-dimensional. Barton’s descriptions of the time period were so vivid that often times it felt like I was watching a movie rather than reading a novel. In fact, I would be surprised if this wasn’t made into a movie. My one fault with Barton’s writing style is that she chose to tell the story through Prue’s letters to her daughter, Recompense. I did not think this added anything to the story other than verbiage. Barton could have just as easily told the story in third person without losing any of the family drama. Good reading for any historical fiction lover.
April 11, 2007 7:00 am 
Subscribe
By DJ Cayenne, April 11, 2007 @ 12:14 pm
Wait, wait, wait. Historical fiction? Would you have us believe that a girl actually ran a distillery and is also responsible for building the Brooklyn Bridge?
Kidding. Sounds like a really good book – great review. This might be a good book to bring along while I visit with the Brooklyn Bridge this summer.
By Nitro Nicole, April 11, 2007 @ 12:23 pm
Even though the cover of the book shows the Brooklyn Bridge – it wasn’t the Brooklyn Bridge. That is a flaw with the book because when I started reading it, I assumed that it was the Brooklyn bridge and then I got very confused when they started describing the bridge design. At any rate – this bridge was the precursor to the Brooklyn Bridge.
And it’s very fun to walk across – a must do when visiting NYC.
By Herman Glimscher, April 11, 2007 @ 2:09 pm
Interestingly, the fellow who built the Brooklyn Bridge, Washington Roebling, developed compression disease (aka the bends) while working on the bridge, and his wife took over the supervision on his behalf. it just goes to show you that behind every bridge spanning from Brooklyn to Manhattan stands a woman.
By DJ Cayenne, April 11, 2007 @ 2:21 pm
Sequel! Brookland II: The Bends. Get my agent on the phone.