Rating: 
Summary: A thoroughly captivating read!
Review: I have had this book for over a year with good intentions of reading it. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I picked it up...and did not put it down until I had finished it!!
The historical content of this novel is remarkable and reflects a great deal of research on the author's part. Much of the history represented focuses on early surgical procedures which are detailed graphically at times. I would not recommend this novel for the squeamish!(Or children for that matter.) There is also some graphic sexuality; though it "works" within the confines of the story.
The book is a bit long, almost 600 pages, and requires some concentration while reading due to the fact it covers over 100 years of history and several generations of a family.
I will definitely read this one again!
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Summary: A Riveting Epic Novel Of Historical Manhattan. Superb!!
Review: "City Of Dreams" provides an extremely rich slice of Manhattan history along with an intricately plotted novel filled with unforgettable characters. I couldn't put this book down!English barber surgeon Lucas Turner and his apothecary sister, Sally, land in mid-17th century Nieuw Amsterdam after a grueling sea voyage from the Netherlands. The two are devoted to each other, having escaped from a life of squalor and poverty to make their way in the New World. They are aided by Governor Peter Stuyvesant after Lucas performs a successful surgery on him to remove a kidney stone. The future seems filled with promise until a terrible betrayal causes a rift between the siblings that will impact generations to come. In a series of eight segments, author Beverly Swerling unfolds the lives of the original Turners and their descendants, as Nieuw Amsterdam becomes the city of New York and finally the first capital of the United States of America. This absorbing multi-generational saga continues through the Revolutionary War providing detailed and accurate historical background as well as an extraordinary storyline and subplots. Patriot Nathan Hale, British Generals Clinton and Howe, and colonial General George Washington are some of the characters who interact with Ms. Swerling's fictional cast. The history of the beginnings of medical science are absolutely fascinating. A number of medical interventions, all performed without the use of anesthesia, are vividly described, including tracheotomies, amputations, a radical mastectomy, and the removal of kidney stones. As an added attraction the dust jacket is illustrated with a wonderful view of early Manhattan taken from a copper engraving. The inside end papers show beautiful aerial illustrations of the city in its early days. There is also a family tree at the beginning of the book, although I was easily able to follow the plot without using it for reference. I highly recommend this absorbing and informative novel.
JANA
Rating:
Summary: Visit the "City of Dreams"
Review: "City of Dreams" took me back in time to Manhattan at its inception. The author certainly researched the details of everyday life... every day bringing an adventure of survival, between illness, the elements, and the politics of the times. The story is compelling. The characters are vibrantly real, their language well crafted to reflect history but their passions and actions as true as today. Loved the book. Can't wait for the movie!
Rating: 
Summary: I put this one down halfway thru-I'm not going to finish it.
Review: ...and here's why. Strong sexual content, graphic rape scenes, and crude racist portrayals of both blacks and Jews make this a no-no for my list of recommended reads. I picked this one up hoping for an engrossing tale that I could share with my son, like I plan to do with Mark Twain's, Charles Dickens' and other classic historical novels. I was not expecting pornography! It's clear that Ms. Swerling has done her research, but why she felt it necessary to put her talents to use to produce such a profane, utterly crude novel is beyond me. Perhaps someone reading this review could steer me in the right direction, I'd like to start a collection of modern historical novels, I'm not offended very easily, but this one was just appalling to this reader.
Rating: 
Summary: Good read -- could stand some restraint
Review: A really good read -- lots of sex, gore, colorful characters, interesting history. Would be a 5 star if only the author had shown a bit more restraint; sometimes it is just too over the top. Obviously, the historical look at medicine took a great deal of research and the "medical" scenes hold true. It just seems as the author felt required to bring absolutely every sort of bizarre character and scene into the story as if to say "top this" and in the next chapter, she did. It's not Michener, but it's still a good read.
Rating:
Summary: I loved it, I loved it, I loved it!
Review: As a New Yorker, from Canarsie, Brooklyn, New York--I can't say enough about this book, except this.........I WANT MORE!
From the first paragraph of the first page I was hooked. Ms Swerling, please bring us the next generation.
Rating:
Summary: Sex, murder, lies and disease could you ask for more
Review: Beverly Swerling's historical novel "City of Dreams" chronicles colonial life in New York City. As the novel implies, is about dreams; fulfilled and unfilled, altered by unforeseen events. The dream of a better life begins with siblings Sally and Lucas Turner being rowed ashore after eleven harrowing weeks about a small wooden ship. The seas tossed the ship like a toy boat, the passenger's insides tossed out, arriving more dead than alive. The Turner's are healers;Sally is an apothecary and her brother, Lucas, a barber surgeon. It is from these two the story, their dreams and six generations of decendents evolve.
Sally and Lucas initially work together using their knowledge of medicine to advance them in the New World. Medicine is the central focus for the book. But love, lust, murder and greed conspire to pitch the two family lines apart, burdening their descendents with their sins. Some of the medical scenes are agonizingly graphic but accurate. Swerling did her homework about medicine during the colonial period.
The art and science of medicine is brillantly portrayed with the discussion of smallpox. The religious, moral and political ramifications of the controversy parallel many of the dilemmas that we face today in the medical community.
Readers want characters to care about and have the characters in the book be true to the spirit of the time. We read to be entertained as well as educated and as I finished "City of Dreams", Swerling had entertained, educated and enriched my life with a broader understanding of early New York City. Than as now New York City is the City of Dreams.
If one is interested in learning more about New York City the book "Gotham" is an excellent resource.
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Summary: City of Corruption in Epic Proportions
Review: City of Dreams is an epic novel beginning with Lucas and Sally Turner, brother and sister, who come to the New World. Lucas later sells Sally for marriage, and so begins the epic tale of the Turners and the Devreys. We meet many of the descendants for Lucas and Sally. Some are memorable and some are not. And each of them is somehow involved with the age old themes: Money, sex, and love. A family tree is included at the beginning of the novel. I referrenced this many times as the number of cousins and all the other relations were difficult to remember. This novel is viewed as a near perfect historical novel, and I have no doubts. The author clearly did her homework here, as she weaves in the current social and political changes into the novel. Even General Washington makes his appearance during the Revolutionary War. She also describes in detail the building and planning of early Manhattan and other NYC boroughs. NYC history buffs would enjoy these details. A enjoyable, historical read.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining and Informative but...
Review: City of Dreams is definitely entertaining and compelling and is a real eye opener in how medecine was practiced before anestesia and modern medical knowledge. The characters are richly developed and quite memorable. Nevertheless, I found the book disturbing. The history of New York is reduced to a tapestry of meanness, psychosis, sexual aggression, and racism culminating in the founding of our nation as a soiled dystopia. Yes, the book was very entertaining and I will likely read a sequel. However, is this novel really anything resembling a sweeping vision of of early New York? I do not ask for Michener, just a little more balance.
Rating:
Summary: A good comfort book for those long weekends
Review: City of Dreams: A Novel of Niew Amsterdam and Early Manhattan is a book that is sure to capture the hearts and imaginations of anyone who reads it. Following the decedents of Sally and Lucas Turner, who were sister and brother, the curtain in front of a thick plot, seeping with passion and imagination comes alive before your very eyes as the Turner siblings turn against each other.
Beverly Swerling's writing captures your and brings you into the world of early Manhattan. Just when you feel comfortable with the present characters, the book jumps ahead to their children and examen how they are affected by the family turmoil in their everyday lives. This book is written in third person omniscient, which make for a very interesting read when conflict arises. The descriptiveness of the scenes and the lifelike dialogue make it very easy to get submerged in the thick and complicated plot.
Though this book is nearly 600 pages long, or short, depending on how you look at it, it is worth every moment you surrender to the book. The mature nature of the story dictates that it should not be read by people under the age of sixteen or so. Vivid descriptions of sexual intercourse are few and far between, but they are still there and something to be considered. I truly enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good comfort book you can curl up with.
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