City of Light

By: Lauren Belfer

Narrated by: Jan Maxwell

NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • “Breathtaking . . . a remarkable blend of murder mystery, love story, political intrigue, and tragedy of manners.”—USA Today

The year is 1901. Buffalo, New York, is poised for glory. With its booming industry and newly electrified streets, Buffalo is a model for the century just beginning.

Louisa Barrett has made this dazzling city her home. Headmistress of Buffalo’s most prestigious school, Louisa is at ease in a world of men, protected by the titans of her city. But nothing prepares her for a startling discovery: evidence of a murder tied to the city’s cathedral-like power plant at nearby Niagara Falls. This shocking crime—followed by another mysterious death—will ignite an explosive chain of events. For in this city of seething intrigue and dazzling progress, a battle rages among politicians, power brokers, and industrialists for control of Niagara. And one extraordinary woman in their midst must protect a dark secret that implicates them all. . . .©1999 Lauren Belfer; (P)1999 Random House, Inc., Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, A Division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Suspenseful…A historical novel of high intrigue.”
--People

“Get your hands on City of Light, a full-to-the-brim first novel…a straight-through, sleepless read.”
--Time

“A big novel, full of electricity…Niagara Falls, with currents of romance, suspense and history, cascades through City of Light…
a pleasure to read.”
--The Oregonian (Portland)

“Breathtaking...a remarkable blend of murder mystery, love story, political intrigue and tragedy of manners.”
--USA Today

“An ingenious first novel…alive with historical figures who mingle seamlessly with fictional characters.”
--The New York Times Book Review

“Wonderful…part murder mystery, part love story.”
--Chicago Tribune

A New York Times Notable Book
A Main Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club

ABRIDGED, Please record the FULL book!

PLEASE RECORD THE FULL BOOK! The City of Light is one of my FAVORITE books-in the full-length version. I have read & re-read the FULL printed version over & over, yet I was still happy to pay my precious monthly credit for the Audio version, assuming it was the full-length book.

Unfortunately, this abridged version is terrible, and the story is ruined. This is a real shame, because the full book is a completely engaging, can’t-put-it-down story, with fascinating, realistic, historic detail that is the result of painstaking research. PLEASE re-record, and give us the FULL book!

good historical detail

I enjoyed the reader and the story. Tells a tale of gender differences and budding feminism effectively. Also recounts the beginning of electricity for the masses and how that occured.
The more we hear of how men made fortunes on the backs of the poor yet telling the world what they were doing was for our own good, the more it is the same. Very apt with the BP disaster in the Gulf.
Wish the sequel - Radiance of Light was being put into audio.

Listen to the sample before you slap down a credit

I read City of Light for a book club. While historical fiction isn't really my thing, I did find the locale especially interesting, as I currently live in the neighborhood where this novel takes place. I drive on Forest Avenue, passing the Asylum and Forest Lawn Cemetery, as well as Delaware Park and Hoyt Lake every single day. I didn't have to imagine much to see where Louisa is walking, sledding or riding, as all the same homes and estates are right here, updated slightly but mostly unchanged. Unfortunately, this is where my enjoyment of the novel ends.

I now understand better how difficult was the effort to use Niagara Falls to introduce electricity to Western NY, and how fearful people were of this "new" technology. My 123 year old house still uses gas for practically everything, and we are constantly having to remove old gas pipes in order to put in electric ceiling fans, electric appliances and such. Buffalo ran on gas, and in lots of ways, still does, which is kind of funny since the source of vast amounts of electricity is right here at the Falls.

I know this is a work of fiction, but it still felt so very contrived to me. Did you see the movie Midnight in Paris? Where the guy keeps running into all les années folles movers and shakers, like EVERY SINGLE ONE of them? This book is kind of like that, but most of the politicians and prominent Buffalo investors she encounters are rapey, misogynistic and condescending to our almost childlike heroine, Louisa. It was a different era, but I still got annoyed by almost every single male character.

As for the narration, if they were going for an old-timey, echoey, bland production, then they by George, they nailed it! Was it an effort to sound more authentic for the era in which the book was placed, or was the production just really awful? Either way, I did not enjoy it.

Protagonist Is Not Really a Modern Woman

I bought this book because the blurb sounded great, and it started out very well. The details about the beginnings of the electricity business and all the blurred notions of right and wrong that are part of any big money-making enterprise were very interesting. The protagonist is the victim of a crime--which goes unpunished by her or by others who know about it. The other crime that she uncovers in the true mystery of the story she decides to do nothing about. She really disappointed me as a woman; her choices were not those that a modern woman would make, and it ended up helping her not at all. The mystery is great, the history is interesting and chilling, but the protagonist was a disappointment to me.

Good story questionable audio

This is a good story blending history and drama. The narrator is fine. The audio quality is the shortfall. The sound is quite tinny and required equalization to keep from being unpleasant.