Once Upon a New York Dream: In Sunlight and in Shadow by Mark Helprin

In Sunlight and in Shadow proves once again that Mark Helprin is one of the most outstanding novelists of the late 20th/early 21st century. This expansive and lyrical novel, is, at its heart, a tribute to New York at one of its most glorious points, the post World War II era, but it is also a love story, a war story, a family saga and a full-throated attack on the evils of organized crime.

Harry Copeland was a captain in the US Army, and belonged to a paratrooper unit that parachuted into German territory and fought amidst all the blood, danger and mayhem that entailed. When he returns to New York, it is to take control of the family business, which manufactures ultra high-end leather goods in a loft workshop in downtown Manhattan. He was an only child, his mother dying young and his father while he was away in the war. He has no remaining family other than an aunt by marriage on Staten Island.

A large part of his identity comes from his Jewish background, a family of immigrant strivers who succeeded in commerce, in their case the leather business, and eventually made the move to a comfortable existence on Central Park West. Harry is well-educated, a Harvard graduate and with an advanced degree from Oxford. A former student athlete, he also remains in excellent physical condition – as battle-ready as any soldier.

Catherine Thomas Hale is the beautiful only daughter of a wealthier-than-wealthy WASP banker on Wall Street and his wife, who, in addition to their townhouse on Sutton Place, enjoy a lavish home in the Hamptons, a cottage in Maine and a flat in London. She's a recent graduate of Bryn Mawr, and an aspiring actress and singer, about to debut in her initial Broadway show, which will try out first in Boston. She's also about to become engaged to a man with whom she has had a long relationship. When their two families merge, it will join wealth and position at the highest level.

By the most unlikely chance (or perhaps because it is their destiny, bashert, in Yiddish), Harry notices Catherine on the Staten Island Ferry when he goes out to visit his aunt. He has business and family matters to discuss with her, and when gets on the boat to return to the city, he sees Catherine again. Their connection is made...

If by this point you are not intrigued, then this is not the book for you. But if you are, you will not be disappointed, because Helprin is the master of making the most unexpected, most unlikely events seem not just feasible, but absolutely as they should be. And, he does it with such elegance of description and exquisite imagery, that the reader becomes completely immersed in the events and settings he creates, and the characters become so vivid and alive that you join them.

Along with Harry and Catherine, the New York City of 1946-47 is a leading character in this novel. The descriptions of the buildings, the streets, the sounds and of the light as it falls across the city in yes, sunlight and shadow, bring the New York of that now-distant time to life in a most amazing way.

This is Helprin's great gift at work, and In Sunlight and in Shadow is a book you'll read, savor, admire and remember.