The Golden Door

An exceptional historical thriller that brings to mind The Gangs of New York and asks what happens when the American Dream becomes a nightmare . . . 1930, New York. In the unbearable heat of summer, Irish immigrant Will Carthy works as a riveter on the tallest skyscraper in the world, spending his days above the clouds and his nights fighting loneliness. When his half-sister, Isobel, sails out to join him, Will hurries to meet her at Ellis Island, only to find that she seems to have vanished before passing through immigration control. And so begins Will's quest, scouring the teeming tenements for a red-haired girl who now haunts his dreams. Desperate for help, Will becomes involved with the charismatic but lethal union agitator, Foxy Nolan, and the Trichardts - a wealthy, socialite couple with a disturbing agenda of their own. Little by little, though, Will realises that something deeply sinister is at play in Isobel's disappearance and that the answer might rest in an altogether wider arena of social and political ambition . . . The Golden Door captures brilliantly the mood of Prohibition-era New York, when the glittering towers of modern Manhattan were rising from every street corner as the American Dream came crashing down.