On Green Dolphin Street: A Novel [Paperback]

Sebastian Faulks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 7, 2003

The bestselling author of Birdsong and Charlotte Gray delivers an enthralling, vibrantly evocative novel set in America in 1960, when the country stood poised between the paranoia of the Cold War and the ebullience of the New Frontier.

Faulks' heroine is Mary Van der Linden, a pretty, reserved Englishwoman whose husband, Charlie, is posted to the British embassy in Washington. One night at a cocktail party Mary meets Frank Renzo, a reporter who has covered stories from the fall of Dienbienphu to the Emmett Till murder trial in Mississippi. Slowly, reluctantly, they fall in love. Their ensuing affair, in all its desperate elation, plays out against a backdrop that ranges from the jazz clubs of Greenwich Village to the smoke-filled rooms of the Kennedy campaign. A romance in the grand tradition that is also a neon-lit portrait of America at its apogee, On Green Dolphin Street is Sebastian Faulks at the peak of his powers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A romance full of luminous insights, brimming with feeling and paced to perfection. . . . No contemporary author writes with more power, more eloquent simplicity.” –San Francisco Chronicle

“Smart, well-wrought . . . a tenderly orchestrated love story. . . . everything an old-fashioned novel is supposed to do. . . . It will provoke and linger.” –Chicago Tribune

“Faulks is an exquisite observer. . . . The characters inhabit a setting so exotic and vivid, so correct in all its details, that it floods them with animating light.” –Newsday

“When passion erupts, Faulks is equal to the task. His prose gets it just right. . . . He has given us three very real, immensely appealing people.” –The Washington Post Book World

“[A] thoughtful love story [and] a melodic mood piece.” –The Oregonian

“Faulks has given us immensely appealing people, and only the hardhearted can fail to respond to their experiences with sympathy.” –New York Post

“[A] vivid novel of New York. . . . Seductive and radiant prose. . . . Faulks captures beautifully the cadence of the United States 40 years ago.” –Rocky Mountain News

“Exquisite. . . . Tragic. . . . [Faulks] displays to good advantage his considerable powers in describing the story’s various landscapes.” –The Seattle Times

“Faulks’ achievement is that he renders the period and places so convincingly that they become intimately familiar.” –Daily News (New York)

“Fans of Faulks . . . will find plenty of period atmosphere on which to hang their snap-brimmed fedoras.” –People

“This wonderful novel . . . makes being a grown-up seem enviable, stylish, seductive. . . . A joyous book with a glow of pleasure.” –Book

From the Inside Flap

The bestselling author of Birdsong and Charlotte Gray delivers an enthralling, vibrantly evocative novel set in America in 1960, when the country stood poised between the paranoia of the Cold War and the ebullience of the New Frontier.

Faulks' heroine is Mary Van der Linden, a pretty, reserved Englishwoman whose husband, Charlie, is posted to the British embassy in Washington. One night at a cocktail party Mary meets Frank Renzo, a reporter who has covered stories from the fall of Dienbienphu to the Emmett Till murder trial in Mississippi. Slowly, reluctantly, they fall in love. Their ensuing affair, in all its desperate elation, plays out against a backdrop that ranges from the jazz clubs of Greenwich Village to the smoke-filled rooms of the Kennedy campaign. A romance in the grand tradition that is also a neon-lit portrait of America at its apogee, On Green Dolphin Street is Sebastian Faulks at the peak of his powers.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (January 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375704566
• ISBN-13: 978-0375704567
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #445,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great book--but not my favorite!, January 19, 2005

By 

Jennifer R. Gremillion (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On Green Dolphin Street: A Novel (Paperback)

On Green Dolphin Street

Never thought the 60's could be interesting, but Sebastian Faulks manages to write about this politically turbulent time in a very intriguing manner. This novel is both a post-war/cold-war psychological study and a full throttle story of love's infidelity. It is always enjoying to read Faulks' British perspective, in On Green Dolphin Street it is particularly interesting to see America through these British eyes; particularly the Kennedy era. Mary is a well-developed character who provides a portal to a wealth of human emotion ranging from her strong attachment to her children, her moral struggles as the wife of an alcoholic and her wrenching grief when faced with death/dying.
This novel is quieter than all of Sebastian Faulks' other novels, but its message is just as deep and meaningful while delivering a history steeped in fact.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tender Love Story, September 7, 2003

By 

prisrob "pris," (New England USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: On Green Dolphin Street: A Novel (Paperback)

This story is centered during the Cold War in the 1960's, and tells the story of Mary van der Linden and the two men she loves. One is her husband who is posted to the British embassy in Washington, DC and may be at the top of his game. The other love is journalist, Frank Renzo. They meet at a cocktail party and for some unexplicable reason they fall in love. Mary has two children who attend private school and during the school year she is at loose ends. An affair ensues and she and Frank meet in New York and other cities where Frank is following the young Jack Kennedey in his presidential bid. Mary has a full life in Washington but a husband who is not present. He is fully involved in the Russian story of the Cold War, and it is this post that will make or break his career. He does not notice Mary's absences except for the break in his routine.
Mary is called suddenly to England to help care for her dying mother , and then to help her father re-set his life. During this time Charlie is called to Moscow, and Mary plans to join him when her father has his life in place.
Mary has a conundrum should she leave her husband- she is his life- what would he do without her - what would her children do? But she in so much in love with Frank, and he her. He appreciates her and helps nmake her life come alive. Much of the book centers on Mary's decisions and how she makes them. Mary is afterall a realist, a romantic at heart but a realist in mind.
One of Sebastain Faulks better books-

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good love story in a great setting, October 23, 2003

By 

Javier Echavarri (Madrid, Spain) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On Green Dolphin Street: A Novel (Paperback)

On Green Dolphin Street tells the story of a long triangle between Mary van del Linden, her husband Charlie, and Frank Renzo, a New York journalist. As important as the characters is the historical setting, which is America during the Nixon-Kennedy campaign. Faulks creates three vivid characters, each with their own motivations and weaknesses, and paints a love story that is passionate and filled with longing, but also with resignation.

What I liked about the book is the sense of urgency it creates and the mood it is set in. Among the main characters, Charlie is the one I felt more interesting. I also enjoyed the sections set in England when Mary's mother dies, how her feeling are wonderfully explored. Faulk's prose is literate although sometimes he gets too wordly when he describes the characters' thoughts, rendering them unreal. Also, I wasn't very interested in the politics.

All in all, a good read. Faulks proves his versatility with this novel. Don't expect another Birdsong though!