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In 1960, Mary van der Linden, a loyal daughter, wife, and mother approaching forty, moves with her family from London to Washington, D.C., where she escapes her narrow world for the larger issues of politics and the Cold War with the help of Frank, a New York journalist, who introduces her to Miles Davis, Greenwich Village, and adultery.

"Faulks, who is English, has taken considerable risks in setting the novel in a country he does not seem to know especially well and in a year that now seems surprisingly distant, and for the most part he has overcome them. Every once in a while Faulks insists on showing off his research..., but mostly he gets it right....He gets the country's mood right -- balanced uneasily between the fears of the Cold War and the optimism of Kennedy -- but without belaboring the point....There are times, to be sure, when he lays the emotions on a little heavily....Faulks is a romantic at heart, and romanticism often crosses the line between exquisite feeling and wretched excess. But he has given us three very real, immensely appealing people, and he has put them through an experience to which only the hardhearted can fail to respond with sympathy and empathy."

Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World, 01/13/2002

"The novel, which feels uninspired in its early and middle sections, gathers momentum and gravity as the question of honor and responsibility becomes more pressing....[Faulks's] account of the conflicting calls of duty and love makes the last pages of the novel race past as Mary, Frank and then fate finally make a choice."

Julie Gray, New York Times Book Review, 02/03/2002

On Green Dolphin Street: A Novel: Search Results