The City Beautiful (novel)

Last updated
The City Beautiful
The City Beautiful book cover, Aden Polydoros.png
Author Aden Polydoros
Genre Historical fantasy, young adult, gothic, thriller
Publisher Inkyard Press
Publication date
5 October 2021
Pages480
ISBN 978-1-335-40250-9

The City Beautiful is a young adult, historical fantasy novel by Aden Polydoros, about a gay Jewish teenager in 19th century Chicago who is possessed by a dybbuk seeking revenge for its murder. [1] The novel won the Sydney Taylor Book Award, and was nominated for the National Jewish Book Award, the Lambda Literary Award, and the World Fantasy Award. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Background and development

Polydoros was inspired to write The City Beautiful after reading an article about real-life serial-killer H. H. Holmes. [6] He wrote the novel as part of an independent study in his undergraduate degree. [7]

Synopsis

The novel follows Alter Rosen, a 17-year-old Romanian Jewish immigrant in Chicago in 1893. Alter works at a Yiddish newspaper to pay his family's passage from Europe. He avoided death as an infant but believes he curses the people around him to die, including his father. He is in love with his roommate, Yakov Kogan. When Yakov is found dead at the Chicago World's Fair, Alter becomes suspicious that he was murdered, one in a string of disappeared Jewish boys.

Alter helps to prepare Yakov's body for burial but falls into the ritual bath and has a vision that their bodies fuse together. Alter begins to have visions and hallucinations that parallel Yakov's experiences (like feeling pain where Yakov was injured) and sometimes loses control of his actions.

Alter is joined in his investigation of the disappearances by his neighbour Raizel Ackermann and his old friend Frankie Portnoy, who both also know missing or dead boys. Frankie leads a gang of young thieves, which Alter left after witnessing Frankie violently beat a man. Frankie is now also a boxer, but faces antisemitism from his wealthy patrons. Although Alter dislikes Frankie's work, the two become close again. Alter struggles with his attraction to Frankie, at one point kissing him and later denying it meant anything.

Alter, Frankie and Raizel investigate at a club that idolises serial killers, invited by Frankie's patron, Whitby. Whitby introduces them to his friend Gregory, who has a tattoo of a dragon on his arm. They find no leads, but Alter starts uncontrollably raving about dead Jewish boys in Europe. With his visions becoming more intense, Alter confesses to Frankie about it. Frankie suggests Alter is possessed by Yakov's dybbuk and takes him for an exorcism. Although the possession will eventually kill him, Alter refuses the exorcism, fearing it will destroy both Yakov and himself. Instead, he plans to end the possession by killing Yakov's murderer.

Another dead Jewish boy is found in a meatpacking factory, and they suspect the factory's owner, Katz—the same man Frankie beat up the year before—is the murderer. Alter sneaks into the factory but is captured by Katz, who admits to sexually abusing boys including Frankie. Frankie and Raizel arrive, and goaded by Katz, Alter admits his love for Frankie. A fight ensues where Frankie kills Katz.

In the aftermath, Frankie tells Alter that Katz lured him with a job offer, and he turned to thieving to avoid further abuse. Frankie confesses his love to Alter—while Alter fears violating the biblical commandment against homosexuality, Frankie argues that the prohibition is actually against sexual abuse.

With Katz dead, Alter assumes Yakov has left. However, there is another killing, meaning Katz was not the murderer and Alter is still possessed. In a vision, Yakov tells Alter that his family died when their synagogue was burned by Tugarin Zmeyevich—the name of a mythical dragon. Alter remembers Gregory's dragon tattoo and realises he is the murderer. Gregory has been following the World's Fair, killing Jewish boys, and Whitby is now helping him. Yakov had followed Gregory for vengeance, but was murdered instead.

Frankie goes after Gregory alone, but gets injured. He warns Alter that Gregory will set a fire at the World's Fair. Alter almost dies confronting Gregory, experiencing purgatory where he watches his father buried at sea again and again. However, Yakov pushes him to live. Alter and Raizel follow Gregory to an unfinished synagogue, which he plans to burn to destroy a Jewish neighbourhood. While ranting about his hatred of Jews, Gregory gets tangled up in ropes and is strangled to death. With Yakov avenged, Alter undergoes the ritual purification of a corpse, and Yakov finally leaves his body.

Frankie and Alter recover, and Frankie suggests that Alter come to work with him again: he’ll stop being a thief, and instead support Jewish immigrants adjusting to life in America. The two begin a relationship.

A year later, Alter's mother and sisters arrive in Chicago, greeted by Alter and Frankie. His sisters admire the buildings of the World's Fair, which is now over. Alter reflects on how the beautiful but empty World's Fair is like America as a whole.

Themes

The novel deals with themes of antisemitism, labour exploitation, and immigration. [8] [9] [6] It incorporates Jewish folklore: for example, Polydoros suggested in an interview that the dybbuk and the way it overtakes Alter is an embodiment of Alter's grief and trauma. [6] It also incorporates elements of the gothic, and has been described as a 'gothic thriller'. [6] [10]

Reception

The New York Public Library included The City Beautiful on its Best Books for Teens 2021 list. [11] Kirkus Reviews described the book as "slow-moving but compelling", and praised the combination of a detailed historical setting with fantasy elements. [12] In a review for the Jewish Book Council, Sascha Lamb praises the depiction of different levels of Jewish religious observance among the characters, and how the novel affirms both Alter's religious observance and his self-acceptance as queer. Lamb considers it a standout in the small but growing field of Jewish fantasy. [10] In The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books , April Spisak describes Alter as a "sympathetic and compelling protagonist". [9] An NPR review by Caitlin Paxson highlights how the darkness of the story (such as the emotional scars of the characters) "makes it all the more moving". [8]

Awards and nominations

The City Beautiful won the young adult category of the Sydney Taylor Book Award. [5] It was a finalist in the World Fantasy Award for best novel, and in the young adult categories for the National Jewish Book Award and the Lambda Literary Award. [2] [4] [13] The City Beautiful was also a finalist for the Cybils Award and nominated for the South Carolina YA Book Award. [14] [15] [16]

Publication history

The City Beautiful has been translated into Spanish, and has been recorded as an audiobook narrated by Maxwell Glick. [17] [18]

Sequel

In June 2022, Polydoros announced that a sequel to The City Beautiful—told from Frankie's point of view and set in 1894—is set to be published in the autumn of 2025. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Chabon</span> American author and Pulitzer Prize winner

Michael Chabon is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, D.C., he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, graduating in 1984. He subsequently received a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of California, Irvine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff VanderMeer</span> American writer (born 1968)

Jeff VanderMeer is an American author, editor, and literary critic. Initially associated with the New Weird literary genre, VanderMeer crossed over into mainstream success with his bestselling Southern Reach Trilogy. The trilogy's first novel, Annihilation, won the Nebula and Shirley Jackson Awards, and was adapted into a Hollywood film by director Alex Garland. Among VanderMeer's other novels are Shriek: An Afterword and Borne. He has also edited with his wife Ann VanderMeer such influential and award-winning anthologies as The New Weird, The Weird, and The Big Book of Science Fiction.

<i>Shtetl</i> Town with a predominantly Jewish population

Shtetl or shtetel is a Yiddish term for the small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jewish populations which existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The term is used in the contexts of peculiarities of former East European Jewish societies as islands within the surrounding non-Jewish populace, and bears certain socio-economic and cultural connotations. Shtetls were mainly found in the areas that constituted the 19th-century Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, as well as in Congress Poland, Austrian Galicia, the Kingdom of Romania and the Kingdom of Hungary.

<i>Only Begotten Daughter</i>

Only Begotten Daughter is a 1990 fantasy novel by American writer James Morrow, setting the stage for his later Godhead Trilogy. The book shared the 1991 World Fantasy Award with Ellen Kushner's Thomas the Rhymer. It was also nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1990, and both the Locus and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Grey</span> American actor, singer, dancer, director, and photographer (born 1932)

Joel Grey is an American actor, singer, dancer, photographer, and theatre director. He is best known for portraying the Master of Ceremonies in the musical Cabaret on Broadway and in Bob Fosse's 1972 film adaptation. He has won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award. He earned the Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 2023.

Urban fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy, placing supernatural elements in an approximation of a contemporary urban setting. The combination provides the writer with a platform for classic fantasy tropes, quixotic plot-elements, and unusual characters—without demanding the creation of an entire imaginary world.

<i>The Dybbuk</i> Play by S. Ansky

The Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds is a play by S. Ansky, authored between 1913 and 1916. It was originally written in Russian and later translated into Yiddish by Ansky himself. The Dybbuk had its world premiere in that language, performed by the Vilna Troupe at Warsaw in 1920. A Hebrew version was prepared by Hayim Nahman Bialik and staged in Moscow at Habima Theater in 1922.

<i>Wicked</i> (Maguire novel) 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is an American novel published in 1995, written by Gregory Maguire with illustrations by Douglas Smith. It is the first in The Wicked Years series, and was followed by Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, and Out of Oz. In 2003, it was adapted as the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Wicked. The musical is in the process of being adapted into a two-part feature film, with the first film scheduled to be released in November 2024 and the second film in November 2025.

The name Portnoy, sometimes spelled Portnoi, is a Jewish surname of Russian origin. The Russian word 'портной' translates as 'tailor'. The name may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Hill (writer)</span> American writer (born 1972)

Joseph Hillström King, better known by the pen name Joe Hill, is an American writer. His work includes the novels Heart-Shaped Box (2007), Horns (2010), NOS4A2 (2013), and The Fireman (2016); the short story collections 20th Century Ghosts (2005) and Strange Weather (2017); and the comic book series Locke & Key (2008–2013). He has won awards including Bram Stoker Awards, British Fantasy Awards, and an Eisner Award.

Tugarin is a mythical creature in Eastern European bylinas and fairy tales, which personifies evil and cruelty and appears in a dragon-like form.

"Tumbalalaika" is a Russian Jewish folk and love song in the Yiddish language. Tum (טום) is the Yiddish word for 'noise' and a balalaika is a stringed musical instrument of Russian origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cassandra Clare</span> American author (born 1973)

Judith Lewis, better known by her pen name Cassandra Clare, is an American author of young adult fiction, best known for her bestselling series The Mortal Instruments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Wray (novelist)</span> American novelist

John Henderson, better known by his pen name John Wray, is an American novelist and regular contributor to The New York Times Magazine. Born in Washington, D.C., of an American father and Austrian mother, he is a citizen of both countries. He grew up in Buffalo, New York, attended the Nichols School for his high school education, and then graduated from Oberlin College, majoring in Biology. He dropped out of graduate school twice: first from New York University's M.F.A. program in poetry, where he won an Academy of American Poets Prize, and then, a few years later, from Columbia University's fiction program. He currently lives in New York City.

<i>The City & the City</i> 2009 science fiction novel by China Miéville

The City & the City is a novel by British author China Miéville that follows a wide-reaching murder investigation in two cities that exist side by side, each of whose citizens are forbidden to go into or acknowledge the other city, combining weird fiction with the police procedural. It was written as a gift for Miéville's terminally ill mother, who was a fan of the latter genre. The novel was published by Macmillan on 15 May 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah J. Maas</span> American fantasy author

Sarah Janet Maas is an American fantasy author known for her fantasy series Throne of Glass,A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City. As of 2022, she has sold over twelve million copies of her books and her work has been translated into 37 languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leigh Bardugo</span> American fantasy author (born 1975)

Leigh Bardugo is an American fantasy author. She is best known for her young adult Grishaverse novels, which include the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows and King of Scars duologies. She also received acclaim for her paranormal fantasy adult debut, Ninth House. The Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows series have been adapted into Shadow and Bone by Netflix, and Ninth House will be adapted by Amazon Studios; Bardugo is an executive producer on both works.

Matthew Kressel is a multiple Nebula, World Fantasy Award, and Eugie Award nominated author and coder. His short stories have been published in Reactor, io9, Lightspeed, Clarkesworld Magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Interzone, Apex Magazine, and many other magazines and anthologies. His first novel King of Shards was released in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam J. Miller</span> English science fiction, fantasy and horror short fiction author

Sam J. Miller is an American science fiction, fantasy and horror short fiction author. His stories have appeared in publications such as Clarkesworld, Asimov's Science Fiction, and Lightspeed, along with over 15 "year's best" story collections. He was finalist for multiple Nebula Awards along with the World Fantasy and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Awards. He won the 2013 Shirley Jackson Award for his short story "57 Reasons for the Slate Quarry Suicides." His debut novel, The Art of Starving, was published in 2017 and his novel Blackfish City won the 2019 John W. Campbell Memorial Award.

<i>The Dyke and the Dybbuk</i> 1993 novel by Ellen Galford

The Dyke and the Dybbuk is a 1993 novel by Ellen Galford.

References

  1. ↑ "The City Beautiful". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 25 Jul 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Congratulations to the 2022 Lammy Finalists!". Lambda Literary. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  3. ↑ Asher-Perrin, Emmet (20 Jul 2022). "Announcing the 2022 World Fantasy Award Finalists". Tor.com. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 Jul 2022.
  4. 1 2 JBC Staff (20 Jan 2022). "2021 National Jewish Book Award Winners". Jewish Book Council. Archived from the original on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  5. 1 2 "2022 Sydney Taylor Book Award winners announced". American Library Association. 24 Jan 2022. Archived from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Polydoros, Aden (7 Feb 2022). "Dybbuk in Chicago: A Conversation with Aden Polydoros" (Interview). Interviewed by Simona Zaretsky. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 31 Jul 2022.
  7. ↑ Lavoie, Alaina (6 Sep 2021). "Q&A With Aden Polydoros, The City Beautiful". We Need Diverse Books . Archived from the original on 4 January 2022. Retrieved 14 Aug 2022.
  8. 1 2 Paxson, Caitlyn (25 September 2021). "Fall Brings YA Historicals About Haunted Boys And The Rapscallions Who Love Them". NPR. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  9. 1 2 Spisak, April (Dec 2021). "The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros (review)". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 75 (4): 135. doi:10.1353/bcc.2021.0662. S2CID   245212517 – via Project MUSE.
  10. 1 2 Lamb, Sascha (30 Jan 2022). "The City Beautiful". Jewish Book Council. Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 27 Jul 2022.
  11. ↑ "Best Books for Teens 2021". New York Public Library. Archived from the original on 31 December 2021. Retrieved 26 Jul 2022.
  12. ↑ "The City Beautiful". Kirkus Reviews. 24 Jun 2021. Archived from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 27 Jul 2022.
  13. ↑ Templeton, Molly (7 Nov 2022). "Announcing the 2022 World Fantasy Awards Winners". Tor.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 8 Nov 2022.
  14. ↑ "Young Adult Book Award Nominees and Materials". South Carolina Association of School Librarians. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  15. ↑ "2021 Finalists: Young Adult Speculative Fiction". Cybils Awards. 1 January 2022. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  16. ↑ "2023-2024 South Carolina Book Award Nominees". South Carolina Association of School Librarians. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  17. ↑ Polydoros, Aden (31 August 2023). "The City Beautiful". Aden Polydoros. Archived from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  18. ↑ "The City Beautiful". OverDrive. 31 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  19. ↑ Polydoros, Aden (21 June 2022). "Just got the greenlight to talk about this--so thrilled to announce that my Fall 2024 book will be a sequel/companion novel to THE CITY BEAUTIFUL, told from Frankie's POV. ☺️ It'll have more of a gritty, noir feel, but same setting, winter of 1894". Twitter. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.