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Summary: This great, highly entertaining novel will electrify you.
Review: CITY OF LIGHT does for Buffalo what GONE WITH THE WIND did for Atlanta. This involving, compulsively readable, historical novel delivers it all: romance, murder, intrigue, scandal, mystery, adventure, and a heroine for the ages. CITY OF LIGHT is epic storytelling at its very finest. Treat yourself to this book; you won't be disappointed on any level.
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Summary: An unusual, first-class novel by an outstanding new writer
Review: In this accomplished novel, Lauren Belfer's characters are vivid, its story engrossing, its research awesome. Her setting is an electrifying era.In Buffalo, N.Y. 1901, electricity is in the air. AS the novel opens, the city prepares to host a World fair where LIGHT will be the main attraction, perhaps upstaged by an official visit by the President of the U.S.A. Both events will prove disastrous. Miss Louise Barrett is a most progressive school principal, urging her female pupils into worthy occupations, who spins her appointment into a concurrent influential role amongst the city's powerful elite. She harbors secrets from her past, but discovers that the city Establishment who have supported her school for girls generously, may have worse secret than hers. Strange events occur that could sabotage the Niagara Falls project to supply electricity, and she suspects the man she loves of complicity. A long, (500 pages)worthy and fulfilling read.
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful mix of fact and fiction!
Review: This book is a very impressive debut novel. Beautifully written and researched, the author takes us into fin de siecle Buffalo, NY during the discovery and implementation of electric power, something I have given very little thought to in my lifetime. All the ingredients are there for this major upheavel in lifestyle--the environmentalists (called preservationists), the engineers, the unionists, the capitalists, the politicians--everyone with a finger in the pie, playing roles that are similar to the same sort of thing in this day and age. The main story takes place in 1901 and covers about one year. The narrator is a Louisa Barrett who is the headmistress of an exclusive girls' school in Buffalo. Because of her position, she has access to all important movers and shakers in the city, thus weaving the story from several points of view. The reason I gave this story only 4 stars is because I didn't care much for this narrator. She was far too conscious of her own primness and propriety. In spite of being well-educated, she seemed uninteresting and self-absorbed, living life vicariously. There was far too much of her musings on trivial matters, such as the scene in the candy shop where she mulls over the attributes of various chocolates. Indeed, on several occasions during the book I found myself laughing at her insipid thoughts. Louisa's friend, Francesca, was a far more interesting person of whom I would have enjoyed reading more. This is not a passionate novel, but it IS a good story. At the end of the book are a couple pages of historical notes. I'd recommend readers to read those notes before reading the story. If I'd have done that, the story may have taken on another dimension. As it was, I was reading along thinking that all the characters (except a few notables like Grover Cleveland and Pres. McKindley) were fictional. If this is an example of what Ms. Belfer has in store for the future, I look forward to reading more of her work.
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Summary: Ambitious, sprawling novel about Buffalo in the early 1900s.
Review: The star of Lauren Belfer's debut novel, "City of Light," is Buffalo, New York. When you think of exciting cities, perhaps Buffalo doesn't spring to mind immediately. However, Belfer's "City of Light" was an entirely different place in the early part of the twentieth century than it is today. At that time, Buffalo was a hub of industry, a major port city, and a place of social ferment. The very rich threw lavish parties and politicians who aspired to high office were careful to cultivate Buffalo's elite and influential citizens. Although the novel is full of carefully researched historical tidbits, there is also a fictional story in "City of Light." Louisa Barrett is an unmarried woman in her thirties. She is the headmistress of the Macaulay School where proper young ladies receive an enlightened education. Louisa is a strong-willed individual with a shadowy past that she keeps carefully hidden. She is also a devoted godmother to Grace Sinclair, who is one of her students in the Macaulay school. Grace's late mother, Margaret, was Louisa's closest friend. Grace's father, Tom, is a controversial figure who uses Niagara Falls to generate electricity, and there are those who resent Sinclair's exploitation of nature to make huge profits for both himself and the titans of industry. Is Tom Sinclair a megalomaniac or a visionary? Is hydroelectric power the wave of the future or a selfish use of nature for man's enrichment? These are some of the issues that Belfer raises. Belfer weaves many other historical strands into this 500 plus page novel. She discusses the plight of African-Americans and women at the turn of the century. She shows how industrialization was a two-edged sword. The Robber Barons got rich, but the poor lived in squalor and they were sometimes maimed or lost their lives working in unsafe factories and industrial plants. For a first novel, "City of Light" is an astonishing accomplishment. Belfer creates a vivid and colorful world that engulfs the reader in a kaleidoscope of images. Louisa Barrett is a strong central character. She is smart, beautiful and vulnerable. Louisa has a strong sense of self-worth as well as an instinct for survival in an often cutthroat world. There are many other fascinating characters that Belfer beautifully depicts in "City of Light." Maria Love is a self-important society matron whose charitable deeds always come with strings attached. Grover Cleveland uses his ties to Buffalo as a stepping stone to the Presidency of the United States. However, Cleveland's womanizing comes back to haunt him more than once. As fascinating as "City of Light" is, it has some minor flaws. The narrative occasionally gets bogged down in melodrama, and it is a little too long. However, Belfer's "City of Light" is, in many ways, a marvelous achievement. The author has created a self-contained world that comes to brilliant life and her elegant prose is a joy to read. Belfer is definitely a writer to watch and I await her next novel with great anticipation.
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Summary: intertwined Fiction -logic, Non-Fiction -historical reality
Review: The setting for CITY OF LIGHT is the early 1900's, burgeoning Buffalo, New York, the hometown of the author Lauren Belfer. Infused with the excitement of the development of Niagara Falls, one of the greatest hydropower projects in the USA, there are factions that desire to control the distribution of electrical power.... i.e. industrial vs. public usage. Rights activists attempt to protect the amount of water that the upper echelon may use for power purposes vs. for the natural beauty of the area and the public good. The elite use money, power and position to control the cast of characters represented in this historical novel. The activists use public rallies as well as secretive physicallly destructive means to gain attention to their cause.
The Pan-Am Exposition is a primary historical event revolving around glory, greed, recognition, partnerships, and the future of Buffalo NY, Niagara Falls, and surrounding locations. Narrating character, Ms. Louisa Barrett is elected to the position of headmistress to the prestigious Macauley School for Girls, reporting to a powerful board of elite men, who back Louisa in her goals for the School, however control with money & societal position, assumed,assigned & unassigned. Proud of her proteges, Louisa represents a forward-looking woman, who is highly supportive of education for women, instilling high values in Macauley students and its graduates and the paths they choose for their future in the world. Amid suspicious 'accidental deaths' of a mysterious nature, abduction of a McCauley school girl,leaden hands of control over Thomas Sinclair, head of the hydropower project, secrets of Ms. Louisa Barrett and her connections with Gloria Sinclair and Gloria's deceased mother Margaret Sinclair, racial prejudices combined with political plays and maneuvers for power are inherent and rampant. CITY OF LIGHTS contains moments of joy & triumph with much despair, sadness and tragedy. The author's talent of elegance in writing with finesse touches the emotions, with eloquence and historical knowledge, and is the prime positive factor of this novel. Author Belfer's ability to vividly describe the locations, scenes, scenery and resolve of the cast of characters persuades the reader to complete this tome to its ending, discovering justice unabated throughout the story. The author provides intelligent, informative facts of research representing events & the non-fictional personages who played a part in the role of rights, politics, progress, and power. Among the historical cast, the least of which are... journalist Nellie Bly; President (Stephen) Grover Cleveland; Thomas Edison; President William McKinley; Vice President then President Theodore Roosevelt; the famous Frederick Law Olmstead (landscaper-designer of Buffalo NY Parks; the well-known Manhattan NYC Central Park, plus other sites); rich & powerful magnates such as J.P. Morgan; and Mary Talbert (Afro-American rights activist). The Macauley School for Girls is a fictional name for the still existent Buffalo Seminary, Buffalo, NY. The attempted assassination of President McKinley and his subsequent death is dutifully recorded. This reader is proud to have absorbed this novel, only regretting that it took so long to pull the 1999 publication off the shelf from within a plethora of tomes beckoning to be read. It is truly a writing that embraces the senses, and emotions of the cast members finding their demeanor truly human.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow beginning, Great middle, Terrible ending
Review: Wow! What a time-travel trip! Now I feel like I spent a few days in the early 20th Century. This is a well-written historical novel, with characters real and imagined. It's very thought-provolking when you really stop and think about the lives of women in this era....we have come a long way...and it has not been easy. The only disappointment was toward to end, but when it was over, I wanted more! Maybe this author is working on something similar. A fast read.
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Summary: GENERALLY COMPELLING, WITH A SUSTAINED "FLOW":
Review: I really enjoyed the narrative style of this book, which albeit somewhat overly-descriptive at times, nonetheless succeeded in sustaining my interest throughout. I do believe a few of the many "players" could have been eliminated without detracting from either the essence of this story or its "flow." Keeping up with SO MANY characters as they materialized, "faded to black," and then reappeared some pages "down the road" became both confusing and challenging, particularly when coupled with the myriad sub-plots -- perhaps I SHOULD HAVE jotted down some names and brief descriptions of them as they were introduced. In terms of the depiction of the times and locale, Ms. Belfer did a comprehensive, effective job. Her main character, while generally interesting and introspective, is by turns equally naive and "weak" as concern mustering up the courage of her convictions in nearly each instance where such opportunity presents itself. However -- one must visualize the era, the "place" of women during same, and hence the inordinately high standard mandated by "society-at-large" for being deemed "socially acceptable" (eg., as a woman). Operating within such parameters, it seems quite plausible that the main character -- (given her station)-- would function precisely as she did. My PRIMARY quibble lies with the wrap-up of issues in general, and subsequently WHY the author opted to go that route. While I have to admit that her scenario "makes sense," yielding a logical finale, I PERSONALLY would have enjoyed something more satisfying here. I now apply the brakes for the sake of those who may be interested in reading this book, or haven't yet completed it.
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