Hosack's Folly

the long version

Set in 1820s Manhattan, Hosack's Folly weaves a vibrant tapestry of a time, a place, and a people on the verge of surrendering their innocence and idealism for the greed and glory of the Gilded Age. In a cast of fictional characters as rich and colorful as any in Dickens stands one fascinating historical figure: David Hosack, the doctor who attended Alexander Hamilton during the fatal duel with Aaron Burr and who went on to found Bellevue Hospital, Columbia University Medical School, and the first Botanical Garden in New York. The novel opens twenty years after the ill-fated duel and Hosack is once again at the center of controversy. Struggling to contain an outbreak of yellow fever on the New York docks, Hosack must also contend with the malice of powerful merchants and corrupt politicians who aim to cover up the fever threat at all costs. Brought down by scandal, Hosack turns to his brave young assistant, Albert Dash, to expose the truth. Meanwhile, an influential newspaper editor and a visionary architect team up on a scheme of their own to save the city: the Croton Aqueduct, the most ambitious public works project since Roman times. Climaxing in a mass exodus as a deadly fever epidemic sweeps through old New York, Hosack's Folly is historical fiction at its most thrilling. Generously seasoned with comedy and romance, it is a thoroughly satisfying reading experience.