At first I had trouble getting into this novel because the characters all seemed to be television stereotypes of New Yorkers of various socioeconomic classes and ethnicities. Eventually I was able to put that aside as the story evolved. The Christodora is a building in the East Village that, after becoming run down, was renovated into apartments and became the symbol of gentrification in the area. The novel encompasses the 1980s through to current times jumping back and forth in time to tell a fictionalized version based in reality of the early days of the AIDS crisis, those who fought for research into treatments, and others whose lives were directly impacted by the people involved. Everything connects back to the Christodora in some way. The main story revolves around Millie and Jared, a married couple, both artists, who adopt Mateo, a young boy whose activist mother died of AIDS complications. Their story is wrapped up in the stories of Hector, a gay Puerto Rican activist & drug addict, Millie's mother, a Health Department Official turned AIDS advocate, friends of Millie & Jared from the art world, and others who enter, leave, and return to their lives in a myriad of ways. In addition to the building, Mateo is a catalyst that draws many of them together throughout is life, first as a boy, then a teen trying to cope with the truth about his mother, his drug addiction, and his ultimate success as an artist. I cannot say that I liked this book but it has a memorable impact.
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