Love these historical/psychological crime novels, especially when they are set in New York. Hadn't really thought of them before as a favorite genre...but it's become clear that there's a pattern here!
Rubenfeld brings the great Freud and the younger Carl Jung to New York during a period of great change and growth. It's 1909 and in the last ten years, there are subways, cars, electric lighting and telephone service proliferating in Manhattan. There are also all the ills of a city rapidly expanding in population, including crime, political corruption and a lively economy with women and children now working in great numbers in the clothing factories and other businesses. The immigrant neighborhoods are overcrowded and disease-ridden.
Against this backdrop, there is, of course, a sensational murder. A young woman of the "better" classes is found dead, and another survives, but can remember nothing. A young psychologist, a disciple of Freud, is engaged in trying to reach the memories of the second victim.
There is a great deal of weaving fiction with actual circumstances and characters, but it works in the most compelling way. It will keep the reader engaged with fascinating historic detail as well as the plot. The book is well-researched and fast-paced.
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