It is a magnificent novel by the author of A Visit from the Goon Squad, one of the great writers of our time. Manhattan Beach is a deft, dazzling, propulsive exploration of a transformative moment in the lives and identities of women and men, of America and the world. With the atmosphere of a noir thriller, Egan’s first historical novel follows Anna and Styles into a world populated by gangsters, sailors, divers, bankers, and union men. One evening at a nightclub, she meets Dexter Styles again, and begins to understand the complexity of her father’s life, the reasons he might have vanished.

She becomes the first female diver, the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations, repairing the ships that will help America win the war. Anna works at the Brooklyn Naval Yard, where women are allowed to hold jobs that once belonged to men, now soldiers abroad. ‎Years later, her father has disappeared and the country is at war. She is mesmerized by the sea beyond the house and by some charged mystery between the two men. Named One of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, Esquire, Vogue, The Washington Post, The Guardian, USA TODAY, Time Īnna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her father to visit Dexter Styles, a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family.

The daring and magnificent novel from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author. Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction NEW YORK’S “ONE BOOK, ONE NEW YORK” PICK.St Joseph's University (Brooklyn Voices Series).

Manhattan beach jennifer egan summary