A review by aleffert
In Sunlight and in Shadow by Mark Helprin

2.0

I wanted to like this book. I'm a big fan of Helprin's book Winter's Tale and I moved to New York not too long ago so I was looking forward to seeing something fresh by him about it. (Winter's Tale is practically an ode to New York). He was a way of leading a run of the mill description into a passage of utter poetry. But in this, too many of those passages then turned into lectures and the whole thing was just so tedious. All the women are beautiful and perfect and completely one note (the female lead is an heiress (and young and beautiful and a supremely talented singer, but wise beyond her years). The villains are also totally uninteresting and don't have as much impact as one would expect. The protagonist is brave and plucky and had managed to overcome his upper middle class upbringing and make it into Harvard.

The plot, once it finally gets going was supremely stupid. It tries to build toward a strong, affecting ending, but the whole situation is idiotic. It aims for a home run, but swings and misses completely.