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Set in Boston at the end of the First World War, New York Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane's long-awaited eighth novel unflinchingly captures the political and social unrest of a nation caught at the crossroads between past and future. Filled with a cast of unforgettable characters more richly drawn than any Lehane has ever created, The Given Day tells the story of two families—one black, one white—swept up in a maelstrom of revolutionaries and anarchists, immigrants and ward bosses, Brahmins and ordinary citizens, all engaged in a battle for survival and power. Beat cop Danny Coughlin, the son of one of the city's most beloved and powerful police captains, joins a burgeoning union movement and the hunt for violent radicals. Luther Laurence, on the run after a deadly confrontation with a crime boss in Tulsa, works for the Coughlin family and tries desperately to find his way home to his pregnant wife.

Here, too, are some of the most influential figures of the era—Babe Ruth; Eugene O'Neill; leftist activist Jack Reed; NAACP founder W. E. B. DuBois; Mitchell Palmer, Woodrow Wilson's ruthless Red-chasing attorney general; cunning Massachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge; and an ambitious young Department of Justice lawyer named John Hoover.

Coursing through some of the pivotal events of the time—including the Spanish Influenza pandemic—and culminating in the Boston Police Strike of 1919, The Given Day explores the crippling violence and irrepressible exuberance of a country at war with, and in the thrall of, itself. As Danny, Luther, and those around them struggle to define themselves in increasingly turbulent times, they gradually find family in one another and, together, ride a rising storm of hardship, deprivation, and hope that will change all their lives.

Average Customer Rating:

don't want it end	Customer Rating:
Ever read a book and you want to keep reading but also want to take your time because you know you'll be sad when you're done? This is one of those books for me. I'm not done yet but don't want it to end. I give this book 8 stars. Given I've so far enjoyed every book Lehane has written, I can't wait for his next one.

a schizophrenic approach

Customer Rating:

Dennis Lehane never resolves the question of whether he is writing a historic novel, or a novel set during an important historic event. When he needs to set the background for the story, his characters, their actions and language, become very stilted and unnatural; they become props to advance the historical narrative and never provide the depth of character development, nor the intense passion of their interactions, which was such a hallmark of his previous books. Only in a few instances did Lehane focus on this aspect: some scenes between Danny and Nora, some confrontations between Thomas Coughlin and his sons - that teased the reader into thinking that there would be more depth to the book, but alas, such was not the case. Perhaps the most unexpected surprise in the book, was the extraordinary description of Babe Ruth and baseball - some of the most memorable sports writing I can remember.

Three Strikes

Customer Rating:

Until this, his eighth novel, Dennis Lehane was regarded as `merely' a top mystery writer. This evaluation has to be reconsidered with the appearance of this historical novel set in Boston just before the United States entered World War I, and the years following. It is a family saga reflecting the various undertones of immigrant society, discrimination against blacks and other aspects of a stratified society. Essentially, the novel traces the lives of two families, one black and the other a privileged Irish family headed by a police captain. Reflected along the way are events of such epic proportions as the influenza epidemic of 1918, the Boston police strike and the resulting riots, the nation's Red scare, and terrorist bombings, among other issues. Playing cameo roles are such luminaries as Babe Ruth, Jack Reed, Calvin Coolidge, Eugene O'Neill, W.E.B. DuBois and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Sweeping as to the characters and times, the novel shows a depth of monumental proportions. Whether intended or not, the parallels to the present day are vivid. It is a tale of both tragedy and hope, reflecting the conflicts of human nature, and is highly recommended.

Can't get past the mistakes

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This is not Lehane's best work. The book deals with some fascinating issues, but by narrowing the scope of these issues down to how they affect a single (and more importantly, atypical) family he takes away much of the power these issues hold. Still, it makes for a decent read. The main problem with the book is that it is not historically accurate. The storyline involving Babe Ruth has serious flaws. Ruth is constantly referred to as large and overwieght. Mention is made of how he moves his large frame with tiny little steps. However when Ruth played for Boston, he was a young man. Quite athletic and somewhat lanky, as even the pictures in this book show. He was not the big, round player he would become during his time with the Yankees. During the same Ruth storyline, Lehane describes Ruth hitting a home run into the upper deck of the bleachers in right field. Fenway Park had no upper deck in right field at the time. In fact, the upper deck (rooftop, actually) seats they put in a couple years back aren't even in fair territory. These are pretty glaring mistakes, and even an average baseball fan will pick these up.

From the Shanties to the Drawing Rooms

Customer Rating:

"The Given Day," doesn't seem to be so much an attempt at the Great American Novel, as the Great Boston Irish Novel that in its course gives us a look at America in 1919. Babe Ruth was coming into his own, baseball was about to be corrupted, the Irish of Boston were a power unto the city, the impoverished working class was unionizing, and America was in a turmoil of growth and greed. Mr. Lehane tries to patch it all together in the stories of two characters, one black, one Irish, and their families. Irish immigrants had three paths to success: politics, the police force, and the priesthood. Mr. Lehane gives us the first two "p's" but inexplicably leaves out the third - so the picture is incomplete - but in the first two he gives us the rise of the shanty Irish to the lace-curtain Irish, and it's not a pretty picture. "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely," both parts of the axiom are on display in "The Given Day," and none of the main characters is untouched. We also get to see how lack of power corrupts, and that is the story of how the poor, and the workers (especially the police) never seem capable of climbing out of the muck of violent crime, petty theft, and criminal living and working conditions. If things were bleak for poor whites, they were dismal for poor blacks, and though we get a fascinating peek at the black bourgeoisie, even they are trapped in the insularity of oppression. To round things out we get the "bomb throwers," the anarchists who were the terrorists of their day; and the revolutionary nincompoops, the constantly theorizing Bolsheveks, and intellectuals of revolution. The question is, "Does Mr. Lehane succeed in all this?" Well, in many ways, but not completely. "The Given Day," is a patchwork of a novel. The whole of it coheres, but there are pieces that just don't belong. The book is a page-turner (a good thing considering its length,) but there's just too much of it, and I'd hang it on the fascinating, but superfluous inclusion of the troubled times and psyche of Babe Ruth. The Babe is not quite the chorus, commenting on the action, he's not vital to the action, and his connection to only one of the main characters is inconsequential. He's beautifully limned, and his individual pieces are beautifully written - especially the first, which is as good a description of a baseball game as any - but unnecessary. I think Mr. Lehane could have had another book with the Babe. One of the author's great feats is his use of alternating chapters to bring the protagonists together. It's a strategy that I usually hate because lesser authors tend to give more of their talent to one story over another, write clunkier transitions, and force the eventual meld. Mr. Lehane doesn't commit any of these crimes, and the joining of the stories is as smooth as butter. All in all, yes, I would recommend this book, and the four stars are a reflection of what works well, which is to say most of it.