Golden Hill (2016) by Francis Spufford

 Book Review

Golden Hill (2016)

by Francis Spufford

  Fair to say I've been sleeping on English author Francis Spufford.   I ignored his last book- Light Perpetual, because it just didn't sound very fun, but it did very well.  Tons of people read it, and it landed on several year end best-of lists  but I just couldn't get into it.  I did, however, get very excited when I read about his newest book- Cahokia Jazz- which is an alternate history noir set in a jazz age Cahokia city where Native Americans never lost control.  Reading that book spurred me to go back and revisit Golden Hill which was a smash hit by the standard of literary/historical fiction, and is set in 18th century New York to boot, making it a candidate for the revised 1,001 Novels list.

  It's clear that Golden Hill is a work of historical fiction inspired by the fiction of that era- specifically Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding. Along those lines, I found myself waiting for the plot to really blast off, but it never really does, just muddles along to a neat and tidy resolution.  It is a book that contains surprises so describing the plot isn't a good idea, but it's a fun romp through pre-American New York City.