As I finish up my Fall & Winter reading list, I can add The World of Tomorrow by Brendan Mathews to the books I would recommend. But this book I recommend only to patient readers.

This is an ambitious book. It starts in Ireland where two brothers ‘accidently’ steal a ton of money from the IRA. In disguise, they sail to New York where their other brother lives and set up camp in the ritzy Plaza hotel, living the high life off the bags of money. But soon we find out someone from their past is on their tail. The setting – on a micro level -includes the jazz joints of Harlem and the World’s Fair and all levels of New York society.

Though I got off to a slow start with this book and getting the background on all the characters was a bit exhausting, by the end I was fully invested in the characters and enjoyed all the places I had been taken.

“One whirlwind week of love, betrayal, and blackmail in teeming prewar New York.”

I spent a long time reading this book and in the meantime finished several other books.  I learned awhile back that I read different books and different speeds and that’s OK.

If the setting of pre-war New York interests you and you are a patient reader, I recommend The World of Tomorrow!