It is 1934, and New York City is in the icy grip of the Great
Depression. With enormous compassion, Dr. James Delaney
tends to his hurt, sick, and poor neighbors, who include
gangsters, day laborers, prostitutes, and housewives. If they
can't pay, he treats them anyway.
But in his own life, Delaney is emotionally numb, haunted
by the slaughters of the Great War. His only daughter has left
for Mexico, and his wife Molly vanished months before,
leaving him to wonder if she is alive or dead.
Then, on a snowy New Year's Day, the doctor returns
home to find his three-year-old grandson on his doorstep,
left by his mother in Delaney's care. Coping with this
unexpected arrival, Delaney hires Rose, a tough, decent
Sicilian woman with a secret in her past. Slowly, as Rose and
the boy begin to care for the good doctor, the numbness in
Delaney begins to melt.
Recreating 1930s New York with the vibrancy and rich
detail that are his trademarks, Pete Hamill weaves a story of
honor, family, and one man's simple courage that no reader
will soon forget.