Turnaway

by Jesse Browner

A weekend sailor is shipwrecked on the beach of Turnaway, an island off Manhattan inhabited only by an elderly German-Jewish doctor and his ward, Elias Hutchinson, which leads an innocent Elias to be exposed to the temptations of Manhattan for the first time. By the author of Conglomeros. 15,000 first printing.

Paperback

First published May 1, 1996

About the author

Jesse Browner is the author of six books including the novels Conglomeros (Random House 1992), Turnaway (Random House 1996) and The Uncertain Hour (Bloomsbury 2007). He has also translated a number of notable books including the award winning Celine: A Biography. He lives in New York City. http://jessebrowner.com/index.htm. "

Reviews

[Marilyn Terhune-Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a stunning tale of New York City past and present. Browner weaves a tapestry of history and social commentary around the story of an unlikely relationship between a cynical but self-effacing modern day New Yorker (Ben) and Elias Hutchinson, descendent of the Seventeenth Century American colonist Ann Hutchinson. Elias is a young man who has lived his entire life on Turnaway Island, a remote island off the shore of New York City. He has resolutely lived his life like a Seventeenth Century Lenape Indian. When Ben is shipwrecked on this island, Elias engages him to introduce him into twenty-first century New York City. A sometimes funny, sometimes sad coming-of-age story unfolds. The story is meticulously researched and well- told. I highly recommend it!