As an Italian American family's decades-old secret begins to unravel, they will have to bear the consequences—and face each other—in this thrilling south Brooklyn-set tragic opera of the highest caliber from crime fiction luminary William Boyle.
William Boyle is the master of Brooklyn-set crime fiction and Saint of the Narrows Street is his magnum opus. For fans of The Sopranos, Jonathan Lethem, and Dennis Lehane.
Gravesend, Brooklyn, 1986: Risa Franzone lives in a ground-floor apartment on Saint of the Narrows Street with her bad-seed husband, Saverio, and their eight-month-old baby, Fabrizio. On the night Risa’s younger sister, Giulia, moves in to recover from a bad breakup, a fateful accident occurs: Risa, boiled over with anger and fear, strikes a drunk, erratic Sav with a cast-iron pan, killing him on
the spot.
The sisters are left with a choice: notify the authorities and make a case for self-defense, or bury the man’s body and go on with their lives as best they can. In a moment of panic, in the late hours of the night, they call upon Sav’s childhood friend—the sweet, loyal Christopher ‘Chooch’ Gardini—to help them, hoping they can trust him to carry a secret like this.
Over the vast expanse of the next eighteen years, life goes on in the working-class Italian neighborhood of Gravesend as Risa, Giulia, Chooch, and eventually Fabrizio grapple with what happened that night. A standout work of character-driven crime fiction from a celebrated author of the form, Saint of the Narrows Street is a searing and richly drawn novel about the choices we make and how they shape our lives.
Genre: Mystery
William Boyle is the master of Brooklyn-set crime fiction and Saint of the Narrows Street is his magnum opus. For fans of The Sopranos, Jonathan Lethem, and Dennis Lehane.
Gravesend, Brooklyn, 1986: Risa Franzone lives in a ground-floor apartment on Saint of the Narrows Street with her bad-seed husband, Saverio, and their eight-month-old baby, Fabrizio. On the night Risa’s younger sister, Giulia, moves in to recover from a bad breakup, a fateful accident occurs: Risa, boiled over with anger and fear, strikes a drunk, erratic Sav with a cast-iron pan, killing him on
the spot.
The sisters are left with a choice: notify the authorities and make a case for self-defense, or bury the man’s body and go on with their lives as best they can. In a moment of panic, in the late hours of the night, they call upon Sav’s childhood friend—the sweet, loyal Christopher ‘Chooch’ Gardini—to help them, hoping they can trust him to carry a secret like this.
Over the vast expanse of the next eighteen years, life goes on in the working-class Italian neighborhood of Gravesend as Risa, Giulia, Chooch, and eventually Fabrizio grapple with what happened that night. A standout work of character-driven crime fiction from a celebrated author of the form, Saint of the Narrows Street is a searing and richly drawn novel about the choices we make and how they shape our lives.
Genre: Mystery
Praise for this book
"The stunning Saint of the Narrows Street is William Boyle's best novel yet, a vibrant, operatic tale of two resilient, big-hearted sisters and the fateful night that sets their life on a path they never intended. Not since Richard Price has a writer brought New York to such vivid, spectacular life, and Boyle's southern Brooklyn is all his own: a neighborhood pulsing with hard-earned humor, dive-bar pleasures and thunderous heartbreak." - Megan Abbott
"You don't read a William Boyle novel as much as you inhabit his intricately drawn world. Saint of the Narrows Street is on par with the best of Pete Dexter, Richard Price, and William Kennedy. This is a tour de force, knockout book; an immediate classic that will stay with you long after you finish the last perfect chapter." - Ace Atkins
"No one can make the everyday vagaries of life feel like Greek tragedies the way William Boyle can. He effortlessly maps the path of desire that moves through the human heart like burning chrome." - S A Cosby
"Saint of the Narrows Street is a hundred-proof shot of tragic love. Nobody writes like William Boyle. Every character has a huge thumping heart. You can smell the skeevy bars and taste the home-cooked lasagna. Boyle deals in details, but this is a big, epic novel, and it's his best yet." - Eli Cranor
"William Boyle's Saint of the Narrows Street drew me in and wrecked me. A powerful story about the ripple effect of violent acts on the lives of good people. Everyone needs to read this book." - Nikki Dolson
"With its rich setting, compelling plot and an unforgettable cast of characters - flawed and fascinating and heartbreakingly real - Saint of the Narrows Street will stay with you long after you turn the last page. A classic noir page-turner, it's also a deeply moving story about the dreams that keep us alive - and what happens when those dreams inevitably shatter." - Alison Gaylin
"With Saint of the Narrows Street, a magnum opus of family and crime, blood both shared and spilled, William Boyle proves himself once more the poet laureate of Brooklyn, and a writer of true craft and depth. He shows once more how the crime novel can peer as deep into the human heart as any other artform. William Boyle is the real thing. I don't know how else to say it." - Jordan Harper
"A new William Boyle novel is always cause for celebration, and Saint of the Narrows Street might be his best work yet. A novel brilliant in structure and in its study of the long-term effects of a single violent crime. Ambitious in scope and impossible to put down. Boyle is that rare writer who is able to walk the line of social commentary and crime thriller." - Willy Vlautin
"William Boyle's Saint of the Narrows Street is incisive, beautiful, brutal - a book that examines what happens in a small world when big secrets are held down. Set in a neighborhood you will smell and feel as if it's your own, this novel presents a cast of characters you'll swear you've known or known about for years, and yet they'll find a way to surprise you. Death echoes, rumors kill, and the living are cursed on Saint of the Narrows Street." - Henry Wise
"You don't read a William Boyle novel as much as you inhabit his intricately drawn world. Saint of the Narrows Street is on par with the best of Pete Dexter, Richard Price, and William Kennedy. This is a tour de force, knockout book; an immediate classic that will stay with you long after you finish the last perfect chapter." - Ace Atkins
"No one can make the everyday vagaries of life feel like Greek tragedies the way William Boyle can. He effortlessly maps the path of desire that moves through the human heart like burning chrome." - S A Cosby
"Saint of the Narrows Street is a hundred-proof shot of tragic love. Nobody writes like William Boyle. Every character has a huge thumping heart. You can smell the skeevy bars and taste the home-cooked lasagna. Boyle deals in details, but this is a big, epic novel, and it's his best yet." - Eli Cranor
"William Boyle's Saint of the Narrows Street drew me in and wrecked me. A powerful story about the ripple effect of violent acts on the lives of good people. Everyone needs to read this book." - Nikki Dolson
"With its rich setting, compelling plot and an unforgettable cast of characters - flawed and fascinating and heartbreakingly real - Saint of the Narrows Street will stay with you long after you turn the last page. A classic noir page-turner, it's also a deeply moving story about the dreams that keep us alive - and what happens when those dreams inevitably shatter." - Alison Gaylin
"With Saint of the Narrows Street, a magnum opus of family and crime, blood both shared and spilled, William Boyle proves himself once more the poet laureate of Brooklyn, and a writer of true craft and depth. He shows once more how the crime novel can peer as deep into the human heart as any other artform. William Boyle is the real thing. I don't know how else to say it." - Jordan Harper
"A new William Boyle novel is always cause for celebration, and Saint of the Narrows Street might be his best work yet. A novel brilliant in structure and in its study of the long-term effects of a single violent crime. Ambitious in scope and impossible to put down. Boyle is that rare writer who is able to walk the line of social commentary and crime thriller." - Willy Vlautin
"William Boyle's Saint of the Narrows Street is incisive, beautiful, brutal - a book that examines what happens in a small world when big secrets are held down. Set in a neighborhood you will smell and feel as if it's your own, this novel presents a cast of characters you'll swear you've known or known about for years, and yet they'll find a way to surprise you. Death echoes, rumors kill, and the living are cursed on Saint of the Narrows Street." - Henry Wise
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