Baker Towers - Softcover

Haigh, Jennifer

3.75

4,855 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007150873 ISBN 13: 9780007150878

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2005

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Jennifer Haigh’s second novel is an intimate portrait of love and family, which will appeal to fans of Anne Tyler and Carol Shields.

Stanley Novak is a first-generation Polish immigrant. Seeking a better life, he settles in Bakerton and finds work in the booming local mine. He meets and marries Rose, a shy, beautiful Italian girl. They move to a mine-owned house in an area of town known as Polish Hill, teeming with immigrants from all over Europe, all chasing the American Dream. Five children follow for the Novaks.

The Novak children belong to what will someday be known as the Greatest Generation, but for now, they are just trying to find their identities in a vastly changing world. The five children could not be more different. The eldest, George, avoids signing up but is drafted to the Pacific when America joins the war. He comes home determined to leave Bakerton behind, but finds it much more difficult the second time around. Dorothy is a fragile and naive girl, who finds it hard to cope with her desk job in Washington. Joyce, fiercely intelligent, must hold the family together and remains bitterly aware of the life that she could have had. Sandy, the youngest boy, swans through life with his movie-star looks, never taking responsibility for his actions. And Lucy, the youngest, must find her own path in the shadow of her formidable siblings.

Haigh gives us a beautiful snapshot of a small town – of company houses and union squabbles; the boom and bust of the post-war years; the immigrant neighbourhoods of Swedetown, Little Italy and Polish Hill; the miners, undertakers, soldiers, firemen and housewives who populate the town and bring it to life.

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Review:

Praise for Jennifer Haigh and her first novel, Mrs Kimble:

‘An elegant, elegiac multigenerational saga...Almost mythic in its ambition, somewhere between Oates and Updike country.’ Kirkus Review

'A truly impressive first novel...a mere summary cannot do justice to this engaging story. Haigh is an astute observer of human nature and every one of her many characters is well-drawn. In her writing and storytelling style, there are echoes of Anne Tyler, one of the greatest exponents of the contemporary American novel. Mrs Kimble is a remarkably assured and imaginative debut.' Irish Examiner

'A chilling and beautifully written first novel.' Good Housekeeping

'A clever, admirable novel. The three Mrs Kimbles present the whole gamut of family values gone awry.' Washington Post

‘Beautiful, devastating and complex.' Chicago Tribune

From the Back Cover:

Stanley Novak is a first generation Polish immigrant. Seeking a better life, he moves to Bakerton and finds work in the booming local mine. The Novaks move to an area known as Polish Hill, teeming with immigrants from all over Europe, all chasing the American Dream.

Their five children belong to what will someday be known as the Greatest Generation, but for now, they are just trying to find their identities in a vastly changing world. The eldest, George, avoids signing up but is drafted to the Pacific when America joins the war. He comes home determined to avoid the mines and leave Bakerton behind. Dorothy is a fragile and naive girl, who finds it hard to cope with her desk job in Washington. Joyce, fiercely intelligent, must hold the family together and remains bitterly aware of the life that she could have had. Sandy swans through life with his movie-star looks, never taking responsibility for his actions. And Lucy, the youngest, must find her own path in the shadow of her formidable siblings.

Baker Towers is a beautiful snapshot of a small town - of company houses and union squabbles; the boom and bust of the post-war years; the immigrant neighbourhoods of Swedetown, Little Italy and Polish Hill; the miners, undertakers, soldiers, firemen and families who populate the town and bring it vividly to life.

‘An elegant, elegiac multigenerational saga...Almost mythic in its ambition, somewhere between Oates and Updike country, and thoroughly satisfying.’ Kirkus Reviews

‘Haigh is an astute observer of human nature...In her writing and storytelling style, there are echoes of Anne Tyler’ Irish Examiner

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