Historical Fiction · ThoughtfulA wealthy New Rochelle family, an immigrant father and daughter and a Black musician appear alongside real historical figures
Ragtime
Three fictional families meet Houdini, Henry Ford and J. P. Morgan in early 1900s New York
The novel follows a wealthy New Rochelle family, known only as Mother, Father and Mother's Younger Brother, together with Tateh, a Jewish immigrant artist, and his daughter, who struggle in New York's tenements, and Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Black musician who confronts racism. It is set in the New York City area from 1902 to 1915. It weaves the fictional characters together with real historical figures, among them Evelyn Nesbit, Harry Houdini, J. P. Morgan, Henry Ford, Booker T. Washington and Emma Goldman. Random House published it in 1975.
More about this book
Who
Mother, Father, Mother's Younger Brother, Coalhouse Walker Jr., Sarah and Tateh, with historical figures such as Houdini, J. P. Morgan and Henry Ford.
World
The New York City area from 1902 to 1915.
What makes it different
It won the 1975 National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Doctorow called it a deliberate homage to Heinrich von Kleist's Michael Kohlhaas, which inspired the name Coalhouse Walker.
Feel
Lively and panoramic.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Further reading
- RagtimeWikipedia