Empire Rising

by Thomas Kelly

It is 1930, and ground has just been broken for the Empire State Building. One of the thousands of men who will come to work high above the city is Michael Briody, an Irish immigrant torn between his desire to make a new life in America and his pledge to gather money and arms for the Irish republican cause. When he meets Grace Masterson, an alluring artist who is depicting the great skyscraper's rise from her houseboat on the East River, Briody's life suddenly turns exhilarating--and dangerous--for Grace is also a paramour of Johnny Farrell, Mayor Jimmy Walker's liaison with Tammany Hall and the underworld.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, New York, Literary Fiction, Book Club, Architecture, Contemporary

390 pages, Paperback

First published August 28, 2004

About the author

Thomas Kelly (b. 1960) is the author of three novels set in New York City. Born in New York, Kelly spent ten years as a construction worker and sandhog—working in the subway tunnels beneath the city—before attending Fordham University and Harvard University, where he received a master’s degree in public administration. Kelly parlayed his experience in union politics into a job as an advance man for the campaign of New York City mayor David Dinkins, an experience which would form the basis for some of his fiction.

Kelly began writing in the mid-1990s, and published his debut, Payback, in 1997. A gritty look at the overlap between construction and the Mafia, it was critically acclaimed and adapted to film by David Mamet. Kelly’s other works are The Rackets (2001), which was inspired by Kelly’s experience working for City Hall, and Empire Rising (2005), a historical novel about the construction of the Empire State Building.

Reviews

[Mike Rogers · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited about "Empire Rising" when I saw it on the New York Times' "100 Notable Books of 2005" list but Thomas Kelly's novel proved ultimately disappointing.

It has all the ingredients of great historical fiction: New York City, the Empire State Building, racial tension, the Great Depression and a plethora of Tammany Hall politicians and neighborhood gangsters. Sounds pretty good, right? I wish I could say that this were true. Although I did read to the end, I found myself not really caring what happened to the main character, an Irish construction worker helping build the Empire State Building rivet by rivet. The historical detail seemed like barely adequate window dressing on a thin plot - it made the whole thing palatable, but only just barely.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is historical fiction of a sort relating the story of an Irish immigrant who is building the Empire State Building, adjusting to life in NYC in the Tammany Hall era, and involving himself in both the underworld of the Irish revolution and the corruption of Jimmy Walker. It is an accurate fictional representation of the Tammany Hall era and Depression-era NYC.

[J.S. Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Some brilliant passages; overall lacking drive, despite the fascinating era and focus on the Empire State Building. Identified well with the Irish characters who were well done and not overdone ! The nuances of the 1920s bloodshed in Ireland and how that played out might be too subtle here for nonIrish readers to appreciate.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book gets off to a fairly slow start as the characters are introduced. I do like how the narrative follows one character to another with relative ease, which adds to the intrigue. My favorite part is when Briody and Grace see each other for the first time. That being said, I never really felt the quickening pace of the story that I was expecting. Whether they were on Empire, or carrying out a 'job,' the narrative all seemed to remain fairly disconnected and slow. I picked up the book because I've always been enthralled by the idea of how these buildings were built, and who built them. I'm certainly not an expert on historical fiction, but I liked how this combined an appealing story that I feel gave a realistic look at the issues of the time period.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I was hoping for something different. I expected more about infrastructure and the Empire State building. Instead, I got a lot of fluff and stuff about the time period. Sex, and gangsters, unions… I suppose that was the point of the book but also it was not very cohesive. I also didn’t find any of the characters engaging and I don’t even know if there was a character that went through the whole story. It just meandered. Halfway through, I just decided it wasn’t worth my time.

[Nate Hendrix · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great novel about the time of the building of the Empire State Building. It covers the turmoil with union organizing and the death of the Tammany Hall political machine. Kelly is as comfortable in the area of politics and he is in the blue collar world of construction in New York City.

[Tim Morrissey · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 / 5 ⭐️

A relatively entertaining noir full of all the usual tropes with an FSG flavored literary mask on it. The romance was so contrived though.

Kelly does in fact have interesting things to say about Irish American society in the 30s.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading, interesting characters, setting and time. Somewhat predictable, but it’s a summer read and it fit the bill nicely.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific read about NYC and the corruption of Tammany Hall and the rackets. Also the building of the Empire State Building. Made me realize, nothing has really changed since then. Political corruption will always be part of this city.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good read.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome story, would happily read again. It was a little hard to follow the characters and their motives, as someone who’s not intimately familiar with the New York mobster/businessman scene of the 1930’s. But I loved Broidy, I loved Grace, I loved her friends, I loved the progression of the whole plot. Makes you think about what you would sacrifice for love - it’s not always as simple as “I would die for you!”

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Briody may have left Ireland but that does not mean he has left behind his fight for a free homeland. Weapons running by night and building the Empire State Building by day, his life is full of close calls. Then he meets the beautiful Grace Masterson, a painter from back home. But Grace is not the easy romance one would hope for; she is also the mistress of Johnny Farrell the corrupt mayor’s right hand man and his connection to the New York City underbelly and Tammany Hall. Full of suspense, intrigue and glorious images of the immigrant experience in 1930 New York City, this novel had me glued to my chair.

[David Corbett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd been meaning to read Kelly for some time and this novel, based in 1930 New York during the building of the Empire State Building, was just the ticket. A thoroughly enjoyable, informative, engaging read, following the intersecting lives of three Irish immigrants -- one a Tammany fixer, the second his artist mistress, and the third an IRA recruit and a rivet gun jockey on the building crew. The stakes rise as the artist and worker/revolutionary meet and become lovers, and as FDR seeks to bring down the Tammany machine on his way to the presidency.

[Mattie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gritty portrait of NY immigrant experience (mainly Irish) and NY politics in the era of Tammany Hall, featuring the construction of the Empire State Building. The action of the story takes kind of a while to get going, but the characters (and I include the City itself as a character) are interesting. The construction of the building is really it's own subplot and it's fascinating (& sobering) thinking about the literal blood, sweat & tears that went into the construction of the skyscrapers that defined early 20th Century New York (and other major American cities).

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was kind of dull. While I more or less enjoyed another novel by the same author, this one meandered a lot before finally wrapping everything up in the last 30 pages. When your 390 page book takes 120 pages just for your romantic leads to spot each other for the first time, pacing may be a problem. This should be the last time I get a book based simply off the fact I share a name with the author.

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Everyone was dressed in their holiday best, cops and firefighters, nurses, local merchants, hooky players, killers, clergy, the milkman, most of them Irish, but some darker, Spanish and Negro, others Jewish and Italian, all believers in the power of the machine, the giver of jobs, and bail, and life, of the cradle-to-grave lookout and all the trials in between. Just turn up on Election Day, the machine will handle the rest."

[Christina Landrum · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has all the makings of an epic tale. Depression era NYC, gangsters, corruption, lovers, and characters all fighting internal and external wars. I read to the end expecting things to pick up with every page turn. They never really did. I finished thinking of how exciting the story could have been and never became. The redeeming quality is the historical elements of the era including the construction of such an iconic building.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not usually into thrillers, but this is also a historical novel with a rich sense of time and place. It's sort of a detective/mob novel set in 1930-31 as the Empire State Building was going up. It's got meaty characters from Tammany Hall and its various relations, immigrants from Ireland and Italy, and a pretty gross cameo by FDR himself.

I generally try to match books with vacations, and this was an outstanding choice for a New York book and visit.

[Michael]

NY historical fiction. The building of the Empire State Building. A bigger deal than I thought (no irony intended) because it was done during the Great Depression- it was symbolic of the city/nation's undefeatable will. Very interesting topic with an engrossing fictional plot. I see that Kelly has more books. I will be picking them up.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was waiting to read the book, nevertheless I didn't like the end of the story at all. It seemed like Author was trying to make it realistic, but he put too much afford on that:/
Overall, I liked the time and place, the way he described those iron workers on the one hand and gangsters, on the other.

[Marguerite Hargreaves · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd heard a lot of stories from Mom's family about New York during this time. Kelly's novel was an immersion in the period, and a fairly riveting read. I recommended it to a couple of natives of the area, but one older friend was put off by the sex scenes. Not me ... or Mom.

[Christytaray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was fun to read and to be able to picture certain areas of NYC. Although the story is fiction, it was interesting to learn about the building of the empire state building.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fine, nothing remarkable, some interesting history about the Empire State Building (one of my most favorite buildings.) The somewhat exciting end made very little difference after a slow first two-thirds, sort of stopped caring midway...

[noel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of action, took awhile to get into it, but once I did (after 100 pages or so), it was a good read. I felt like I was back in NY and was dying for a time machine to go back to the 1930's Manhattan. Author really captured the feel of the place for me. Ending good.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eagerly anticipated book club selection that gels nicely with my obsessive reading of vaguely historical novels featuring famous buildings set in New York City (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Let the Great World Spin). Plus I hope it's JUST like Gangs of New York.

[Tania Sleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A heart breaking story of betrayal and love filled with many unexpected twists and turns. I started this novel with no particular expectations and was suprised at the extent of its complexity and the thorough character development. I was impressed by the easy flow of the book.

[Howard Curzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book brings bootleg gangs, Tammany Hall guys, Irish immigrants and the IRA all into collision over the hero and heroine. A good read and a nice window into the time and place. Were things really that corrupt in NYC during Prohibition? Wow!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book though the ending was not what I'd expected. It's a real page-turner with well developed characters I found myself rooting for and thinking about long after finishing.

[Steve P · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel about the workers, mostly Irish-American, who build the Empire State Building.

[Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic look at NYC in the 1930s depression era, immigration, boroughs. Excellent characters, great plot, very good writing. Very readable.