Christodora by Tim Murphy Published by Grove Press on August 2nd 2016
Genres: Literary Fiction
Pages: 496
Format: eBook, Audiobook
Source: NetGalley & Grove Atlantic
In this vivid and compelling novel, Tim Murphy follows a diverse set of characters whose fates intertwine in an iconic building in Manhattan’s East Village, the Christodora. The Christodora is home to Milly and Jared, a privileged young couple with artistic ambitions.
Their neighbor, Hector, a Puerto Rican gay man who was once a celebrated AIDS activist but is now a lonely addict, becomes connected to Milly and Jared’s lives in ways none of them can anticipate. Meanwhile, Milly and Jared’s adopted son Mateo grows to see the opportunity for both self-realization and oblivion that New York offers. As the junkies and protesters of the 1980's give way to the hipsters of the 2000's and they, in turn, to the wealthy residents of the crowded, glass-towered city of the 2020's, enormous changes rock the personal lives of Milly and Jared and the constellation of people around them.
Moving kaleidoscopically from the Tompkins Square Riots and attempts by activists to galvanize a true response to the AIDS epidemic, to the New York City of the future, Christodora recounts the heartbreak wrought by AIDS, illustrates the allure and destructive power of hard drugs, and brings to life the ever-changing city itself.
**Special thanks to NetGalley & Grove Atlantic for supplying my copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**
Christodora is the debut novel by Tim Murphy. It’s an epic literary work that spans the years from the eighties up till 2021.
Christodora is the name of an iconic building in New York. The building had seen years of grace and also years of hardship. It’s an old building that when renovated stood to be one of the iconic buildings in New York East Village.
But the story is also about the Christodora people. It’s about the people who lived in this building together with those whose lives have been intertwined with the Christodora residents’ lives.
In the center of all those events are Milly and Jared. They are a couple of young artists. Jared had inherited the Christodora apartment from his parents. Both Milly and Jared are living a privileged life with their friends. They have adopted a little Puerto Rican kid, Mateo and they have all their hopes set as a young lovely artistic family. But life is not about hopes!
The Christodora story is rich with characters. It’s not only the story of Milly and Jared. Actually there is a wide cast of characters around them and related to them in more than one way. These interlinks are one of the things making this story amazing. Their neighbor Hector, a Puerto Rican gay, is one of the leading characters. And though there’s some kind of hardship in the beginning as his dog bites Mateo and Jared forces Hector to leave Christodora, Hector becomes connected to them in more than one way. The book comes with interlinked stories, too many stories. Stories of friends, parents, kids, relatives. All those stories are intertwined one way or the other to form one whole picture.
Christodora book focuses on the HIV/AIDS problem. Most of the characters are either diagnosed with it or working in supporting groups to support those diagnosed with it and fight for their rights or even both. And maybe this is the line linking all those characters. There’s also the addiction problem and its dramatic influence.
The story stirs a lot of emotions. The main theme is how people can be capable of self-destruction once they are in despair. The book comes rich with a lot of other emotions too. You sense the regret not only for the wrong choices but also for the choices left behind. There’s guilt, love, hate, agony. But above all, there’s friendship. It’s friendship that ties people together even in hard times.
The premise of the book is emotionally heavy. It’s not something that I enjoyed delving into. I guess the reason was that I felt sad and at the same time angry. It’s self-destruction that I hate most. However, this book discusses a sad reality for a generation.
Meanwhile, Christodora is a literary piece of work. It’s amazing how Tim Murphy built this whole set of characters and linked them together. Also the narration of the book swinging through the years with no fixed order made every chapter a surprise. It’s like going in rounds and each round making the links more obvious to us.
About Tim Murphy
