In Sunlight and In Shadow

This is beautifully, artfully written, but it is not my style of book. It’s more of a romance novel, although to call it only that would be unfair. There are other important themes in this post-WWII novel of a soldier who falls in love with a beautiful woman who just happens to be from one of the wealthiest families in America and who is about to be married to a man who is from her socioeconomic strata. Catherine Thomas Hale is not in love with her fiancé. Her fiancé is 25 years her senior and he raped her when she was only 13 years old. After their chance encounter on the Staten Island Ferry, Catherine falls in love with Harry Copeland. Harry is dealing with his own failing leather goods business that he inherited from his recently deceased father, and his partner is a black man, so racism is a theme, as is the mob and their protection racket in New York. Helprin is an accomplished writer and scholar (not to be confused with Mark Halperin, author of Game Change), whose work has not previously been reviewed in this bog. The language of In Sunlight and In Shadow was at times poetic, always beautiful, but also a bit too flowery for my tastes. My wife loved this book, but it was not my style and I chose to abandon it about 1/5 of the way through.