"The Given Day" by Dennis Lehane

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The Given Day
by Dennis Lehane
720pp. William Morrow. $27.95

Reviewed by Paul Stotts

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A great historical novel not only should maintain a verisimilitude to the era it is set in, but craft a greater story that transcends its setting, making social and political observations that are utterly relevant to the current world. It is a story that instructs by unfolding the mistakes of the past and laying them out in front of us. It is history as a teacher and social critic.

Following this criteria, Dennis Lehane’s new novel “The Given Day” is undeniably great, since it is a reflection on the past that also speaks quite loudly about the social and political events of the current day. In fact, “The Given Day” is an astute political and social commentary, which is not surprising considering Lehane has spent the last few years writing for the brilliant HBO show, “The Wire”. Just as “The Wire” shined a light on the political and social implications of the inner city drug trade in Baltimore, “The Given Day” focuses on these same implications in the immigrant communities of Boston in 1918-1919. Terrorism in the Boston immigrant community has a foremost role in the novel, and it is in these parts that most readers will most readily grasp the similarities to current American events. Furthermore, other issues tackled in the novel like racism, class division and exploitation of labour are still pertinent to the American social structure.

Danny Coughlin is a patrolman in the Boston Police Department. He comes from a well-respected family where his father is the powerful and tough Police Captain Tommy Coughlin, a self-made man and survivor. Various immigrant groups in the Boston community are organizing at the time, spouting rhetoric that runs from unionism to progressivism to communism. Eventually, Danny finds himself involved against his families’ wishes in the Boston Social Club, a group of Boston police, who are striving to unionize. Danny must overcome harsh political resistance to the Boston Social Club’s newfound activism, treachery and estrangement from his family and the woman he loves, Nora.

Luther Lawrence is an incredibly gifted baseball player, a man that leaves Babe Ruth, who stumbles across Luther playing, stunned by his athletic prowess. But Luther is a black man, and not only baseball, but the world, is still a white man’s game. Luther is starting to build a life in Tulsa with his pregnant wife, Lila, when an unexpected confrontation forces him to flee Tulsa, leaving behind Lila and his unborn child. He eventually finds his way to Boston where Isaiah and Yvette Giddreaux take him in. Isaiah Giddreaux also gets Luther a job as a houseman for the Coughlin family. While working for the Coughlins, Luther befriends both Nora and Danny, who are instrumental in helping him navigate the racism and violence he encounters in Boston.

Lehane has written a powerhouse of a novel, vast and Dickensian in scope and filled with intelligent social commentary without any cloying melodrama. The pace is astonishingly brisk which makes the novel a real page-turner, which is quite a surprise considering “The Given Day” clocks in at around 700 pages. The main characters have tremendous depth, evolving beautifully along with the story. They sincerely breathe, filled with life and ambition, doubt and deceit, love and hate. I cared about the plights of Danny, Nora and Luther and their seemingly futile struggle against an unfair world.

Last Word:
“The Given Day” is an incredible achievement, an immensely engaging, brilliant and entertaining novel infused with a well-crafted historical milieu, an asute world-view, radiant and believable characters and tight plotting. The social and political aspects of the story will reverberate with today’s reader, provoking further thought and awareness of American society. It is one of the very best novels of 2008.

Final Grade: 92 out of 100