After reading “Mystic River,” I knew I would always be a Dennis Lehane fan. I have read all of his books and yet he has never written a more powerful one than “The Given Day.”

Most of the action still takes place in and around his beloved Boston, but instead of being in the relative present, he takes us back to 1917. The war in Europe is winding down and the economy of the nation is “in the toilet.” A worldwide flu epidemic has ravaged the world. The Great Depression is still a decade away but people are struggling and life is difficult. Boston is a city of many immigrants. Many are restless to earn their way into society and many are trying to change society for what they perceive as a “better” world.

The story has three arcs, with three main characters. The setting is genuine but only one of the characters really ever lived: Babe Ruth. Ruth was the star pitcher and outfielder for the Boston Red Sox, a high-living, poorly-paid star. It is just a few years short of the year that team owner, Harry Frazee, short of money for his Broadway endeavors, sells “The Babe” to the New York Yankees. Until recently that deal was considered the “curse” that descended on Boston.

The other two storylines are of Danny (Aiden) Coughlin, Boston policeman and son and nephew of leading members of the BPD. Our third protagonist is Luther Laurence, an African-American out of Ohio, who loses his job at a munitions factory and moves to Tulsa with his pregnant girlfriend, Lila.

While traveling from the Midwest back to Boston, Babe spends part of a day playing baseball with a group of Negroes, one of whom is Luther Laurence. Little does anyone know but all three — Babe, Danny and Luther - will cross paths one day in Boston.

Boston is a city in turmoil! The economy is lousy and the police are hardly paid enough to live on. The immigrants are fighting the locals for every job that is available. There is much political unrest, with the more radical of the immigrants forming social clubs and preaching revolution. The reader will meet many real life revolutionaries of the era, all dreaming of turning the United States into some sort of people’s republic. Danny is in love with Nora, the Irish lass who is the maid in his family home. He ends the relationship when he finds out things about Nora’s past, but he never stops loving her. Luther gets in trouble in Tulsa when he tries to earn extra money by being a number’s runner.

The trouble involves the gang’s notorious leader, Deacon Broscious. Bad things happen and he is forced to flee Tulsa. He escapes to Boston to the home of a distant relative. Meanwhile, Babe is fighting Frazee for what he feels is a salary more fitting to his stardom.

When the Coughlin’s servant and driver dies, Luther is able to get a job with the Coughlins. Little by little the paths of these three men are getting closer and closer. Boston is about to explode!

Lehane has written an epic historical novel — one that, although it is on the best seller’s list, may not be recognized for its power until some time has passed. There is no question in my mind that one day this book will become a classic.

As much as I have enjoyed Lehane’s previous work, this is by far his best and most captivating book. Don’t be turned off by its length — once into it, you will not put it down.

“The Given Day” is available at bookstores and the Wake County Libraries.

Stephen Bank works for the Cary Public Library.