City of Light (Abridged) Audiobook

" Historical fiction set in Buffalo at the turn of the last century, more or less. The main character didn't come across very convincingly to me, and the drama wasn't all that dramatic. I did enjoy the "other" main character - the power station under construction at Niagara Falls. "

" Enjoyed the majority of the story. I didn't buy the rape scene and thought the ending was tied up a bit too neatly. With the forementioned exceptions I enjoyed it immensely. "

" I applaud anyone who wants to bring the rich history of western New York to the world through writing or art. The novel includes much information and research and provides a good "feel" for Buffalo at the turn of the century and what was at stake for the landscape and the people. That said, the main character was inconsistent and unbelievable, and the plot veered over the falls about a third of the way through. I enjoyed several of the strands of story, and was hooked enough to find out what happens (a good thing!) but I refused to be weighed down by the overly wrought story and for the final third of the novel, became a 7th grader reading the first lines of every other paragraph. Just pruning this novel would have made it stronger. "

" Loved the historical details. Very delightful read. "

" Not bad, was a bit disappointed in the ending. "

" Very convincing portait of a superior woman in a tough time for women, but a tipsy-turvy time for America. I loved this book. The era is well described and made through its characters. "

" A beautifully written book that includes fictional as well as historical characters. The book is set in Buffalo, but the city is almost a character in itself. A great read with lots of twists and turns. "

" I had never read anything about Buffalo, much less in this time period. Such a great book! I couldn't put it down. From the characters and story to the underlying political and social elements of electricity at Niagara and the Worlds Fair, it was an amazing book. I highly recommend it. "

" Buffalo when it was the place to be...can you imagine? "

" The use of actual historical figures to move the plot forward was distracting, but the exploration of my hometown's history carried me through. "

" Wonderful book about a woman living on her own in the late 1800's in Buffalo, NY. It is intriguing and historically accurate about the city if Buffalo and what was going on politically at the time.I could not put it down! "

" I really enjoyed this book. I love historical fiction and love learning about the Buffalo-Niagara area. I loved reading how the main character carried herself in a man's world. Sometimes I wanted her to break free of the control they had over her life. "

" A fine novel, richly deserving of all the accolades it has received. "

" Started out as very good with romance, history, intrigue, feminism but I did not like the ending of the personal story and the whole business about the Niagara big business vs the environment seems to just get dropped and life goes on. Bit of a fizzle out. "

" I would choose this book again. It's short coming was that it repeated some description of Buffalo. The story was somewhat unbelievable. Lots of history. Maybe her fitst novel "

" I may have liked this book so much simply because it took place in my home town. All of the places mentioned were real and many still exist today. It made the glory days of early Buffalo history come alive in this fictional story. "

" This book takes place at an interesting time in history and I learned more about Niagara Falls and the city of Buffalo than I could ever have imagined. I will never look at the Falls in quite the same way. "

" Very interesting from a historic standpoint. Thr story itself was disappointing. "

" What a wonderful book about Buffalo! Ms. Belfer does a wonderful job bringing history to life and even has Mrs. Grover Cleveland in the book. "

" One of the best books I've read in a while. I really enjoyed it. "

" I read this book a couple of years ago..Although, I was excited to read it, I ended up feeling that it was alot of fluff. "

" A good book, interesting history, but too long. Started skimming at the end because I just wanted to finish it already! "

" compelling...I really like Lauren Belfer as a writer... "

" What a wonderful book about Buffalo! Ms. Belfer does a wonderful job bringing history to life and even has Mrs. Grover Cleveland in the book. "

" Lot of research done behind this book. Learnt a lot about electricity, Buffalo, past presidents... "

" I enjoyed the plot of this story. The narrator annoyed me. "

" Despite some fairly obvious foreshadowing, and more than a little melodrama, I really enjoyed this book. "

" I didn't realize Buffalo had such a vibrant history, and I enjoyed the historical background. It was a bit long for me and unnecessarily sad, but very well written with an interesting turn of the century setting. "

" Lauren Belfer has become one of my favorite authors, and this book is great. It's part murder mystery, love story, and history lesson and it is set in New York. So so good. "