Book #80: Brookland

Title: Brookland


Author: Emily Barton


In this brick of a book, Emily Barton follows Prue, Pearl and Tem, the Winship daughters, who live in Brooklyn in the early 1800s. The girls run a distillery founded by their father and Prue, the eldest daughter, becomes consumed by her vision of building a bridge to Manhattan across the East River. The book chronicles the construction of the bridge, as well as the tensions in the relationship between the sisters.


I agree with some of the online reviewers who commented that Prue seemed to be some sort of a prefeminist heroine. She has it all: runs a business, supports her sisters, has a happy marriage, raises her children, and wears the pants in the family (literally). But that didn't bother me as much as the guilt she carried around with her over her sister, Pearl. When Prue was a young child (six or seven, I think) she prayed in a fit of jealousy that her newborn sister, Pearl, would die. Pearl almost died, but instead lived as a mute for the rest of her life. Prue carried the guilt of feeling responsible for her sister's disability for the rest of her life, fearing to tell anyone what a horrible sin she had committed. It surprised me that Pearl, when she discovered Prue's secret, reacted as strongly as she did.


Overall, I really enjoyed Brookland. Even though it's nearly 500 pages and heavy, I found the character development satisfying enough to sustain me as a reader.


--originally published 12/12/06