This was a very vivid picture of life in the Jewish ghetto of the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the early 20th century. Ravage ruthlessly ruled the Jewish ghetto while his illegitimate son Ben joined the crime fighters after earning a law degree from Harvard. Corruption and violence were rampant here. I am sure that some of this was accurate, but the plot often felt contrived - from Ravage’s obsession with his cat (I love cats, but this was excessive), to the ex-con/enforcer with his canaries. There was a lot going on here, but it was very entertaining and the writing was often beautiful. The book led me to a history book about this period. Which is one of my goals when reading historical fiction.audio overdrive37 s2 comments Ellie1,531 403

Ravage & Son is a dark and often painfully sad book. I requested it because my father was a Russian Jew who grew up on New York City’s lower East Side in the early 20th century and I wanted to read more about this. And also because Jerome Charyn is a gifted writer—I’ve read other books of his and am always impressed.

I will say that if I hadn’t won the book and had to write a review, I would have stopped early on because of animal cruelty. Consider this a trigger warning. Ordinarily, I would not have read past this but I’m glad I did, even though, as I said, there is much sadness in this book.

The book begins with Lionel Ravage, a landlord and businessman whose empty life is lit up when he falls in love with Manya. However, his is a blindly possessive and all-devouring love and he resents the son (Ben) Manya bears him because he cannot share his love.

However, he pours his resources into Ben—with the expectation that Ben will one day join his business. But Ben disappoints him by becoming a detective, whose search for a murderer, in partnership with Abraham Cahan, publisher of a progressive Jewish newspaper, brings him into confrontation with the corruption of the infamous Tammany Hall and the rest of New York City’s deeply corrupt government and judicial systems, as well as crime bosses. And it hits close to home as his father’s involvement in it all is revealed.

This is a story, with roots in historical reality, that is near and dear to me. Charyn creates this world of corruption, power, as well as the daily reality of the Jewish immigrants and their life in this time and play with compelling clarity.

There is no blinking in the face of despair, in what at times seems a hopeless fight for justice and equity. And the end makes no compromises.

But the pay-off is a vivid re-creation of the old New York City (maybe not so different, sadly, than the one we know today) and of the people struggling to survive in it. A story of the fight for power and dominance and of the ordinary people working against all odds just to survive. As always, Charyn’s writing is razor-sharp with not a wasted word.

I’m grateful I kept reading.2023-ind-chal fiction location-interest8 s Nancy1,609 400

I am perhaps the least ly reader for this novel, completely ignorant of the historical setting, and being someone who has read some noir classics but not widely or deeply. But, I have experienced this with Charyn before, reading his Cesare, a dark novel set in WWII Germany. I scramble after reading, searching online and learning the history behind the fiction, grasping to understand the interface between fact and informed fantasy.

Lionel Ravage is well named. He bears the ravaging scars of fire on his face, and he uses his power to reward or murder as he wills. He has loved twice: his feral yellow cat, horribly murdered, and the blonde beauty Manya, who bore his son. He hated that son, Ben, because Manya loved him. He inherited the business built by his father, who hung the sign Ravage & Son, now an ominous portent of Lionel’s relationship with Ben.

The publisher of a progressive Jewish newspaper, Abraham Cahan, discovered Ben, an abused boy in a dismal school, and paid for his Harvard education. Ben disappointed him by becoming a detective, working to wipe out the crime bosses…including his father. Cahan defends the powerless against the corrupt powerful courts, police, and Tammany Hall. Cahan and Ben are at heart idealists who defend the powerless. They both seek the man who is murdering women, and try to help a woman whose daughter was kidnapped. Still, Ben is snared by hate as surely as his father was.

The Jewish immigrant community of New York City’s Lower East Side consisted of earlier German immigrants, now wealthy and powerful, and the more recent East European immigrants living in the teeming ghetto–in Lionel Ravage’s slums–the streets rampant with crime. The Russian Jews were held accountable for the city’s crimes. The German Jews organized the Kehilla to police the streets. Ben had joined the Kehilla.

Colorful characters include the feared Monk Eastman with his flock of canaries and the actress Clara Karp who delighted audiences with her Hamlet and loves only Ben. Along with Cahan, they are inspired by historical people.

It’s a dark and gritty tale from over a hundred years ago, without a pretty ending. Charyn’s signature style punches bullets. The political machinations are serpentine, ensnaring society’s most vulnerable, the influential players vying for power, dealing death. Ben survives, ravaged, but alive.

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC.publisher-sent4 s Sara Goldenberg2,204 21

I know he's a famous author but it just didn't appeal to me. It sounded good but I just didnt enjoy it.1 Boris Feldman749 68

I kind of hated this book. The scenes on the Lower East Side of the early 1900's were engaging. The characters ranged from absurd to unintelligible. I forced myself to read through to the end, and then had to forgive myself for doing so.1 Samantha1,967 127

This is one of those books where there is a significant disconnect between how good the book is and how much I actually d it. This was significantly, um, nastier than what I might enjoy, though well written nonetheless. Sort of a more visceral and gross version of the Gangs of New York and its ilk.

The book fully advertises itself as a Noir and that’s accurate. It’s a good story but very violent, and includes far too much torture and sexual violence for my liking. The story itself is a good one, focused specifically on the Jewish are of the city and the lives of its citizens, while also taking a broader look at the issues plaguing the city as a whole at the time.

I wish the story had been less depressing, particularly regarding the fate of the principal characters, but it’s compelling and well written.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*1 WeLoveBigBooksAndWeCannotLie456 25

Happy Monday! And Happy Pub Day to Ravage and Son!!??
I hope you’re starting your week off with all the coffee you need and all the books that keep you up at night!
Ravage and Son is Jerome Charyn’s newest book. We first were introduced to this author when we read Big Red a reimagined historical fiction about Rita Hayworth!
We are happy to share with you Ravage and Son! This is a darker story, set in early 20th century Manhattan. Here is more info about Jerome Charyn’s newest book!
“Ravage & Son reflects the lost world of Manhattan’s Lower East Side—the cradle of Jewish immigration during the first years of the twentieth century—in a dark mirror.
Abraham Cahan, editor of the Jewish Daily Forward, serves as the conscience of the Jewish ghetto teeming with rogue cops and swindlers. He rescues Ben Ravage, an orphan, from a trade school and sends him off to Harvard to earn a law degree. But upon his return, Ben rejects the chance to escape his gritty origins and instead becomes a detective for the Kehilla, a quixotic gang backed by wealthy uptown patrons to help the police rid the Lower East Side of criminals. Charged with rooting out the Jewish “Mr. Hyde,” a half-mad villain who attacks the prostitutes of Allen Street, Ben discovers that his fate is irrevocably tied to that of this violent, sinister man.
A lurid tale of revenge, this wildly evocative, suspenseful noir is vintage Jerome Charyn.”
What new book are you excited to read this week?
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