If you want to get lost in 400 years of brilliantly written historical fiction, read this book.
New York The Novel by Edward Rutherfurd is absolutely the best book I've read in years. (maybe excluding Hunger Games)
I have always know that the New York I grew up in is a different world than the land of opportunity my ancestors arrived in. But it was not until reading this book that I fully grasped how much has changed throughout the years (even since my parents were young). Thanks to this book I will never look at my city quite the same way ever again.
