Just a small update to the site this month. A new page on animals has been added to the site under ‘The Era’ menu. Animals played an important role in 19th century life and are featured in the Alienist books quite frequently, so it seemed appropriate to include information here on their roles and treatment during the late 1800s. In this update, I would also like to make mention of the fact that the 17th Street Message Board is back up and running with a new script. Please feel free to join up and discuss anything you would like about the books, the era, or the website itself. Finally, I hope that everybody is having a very happy holiday period and that 2007 is a prosperous year with a lot of good reading ahead!

Thanks to a suggestion I received about a month ago, I have created a map of locations in Manhattan that are used as settings within the Alienist books. There are a few other places that I would have liked to have included on the map but unfortunately, I could not obtain information on their exact locations and so had to leave them out. All the same, I think the map is fairly comprehensive and hopefully can be of assistance for many of you. It can be accessed via the places page. The other part of this update relates to the forums. I have taken them down for the time being while I re-organise them and possibly install a new forum script. They will be returning but if you wish to be notified on when they are back up and running, you are more than welcome to contact me. Thanks!

I am happy to report that we have a couple of new pages here at 17th Street. I have recently completed a mini biography for Caleb Carr which can be found within the “Books” navigation menu. If you notice any errors, please feel free to let me know. Cait has also finished John Moore’s character biography. This means that the only main character biography not yet complete is Stevie Taggert’s but Cait hopes to complete that in the coming weeks. Other than those new pages, I have also made some small updates to the transport page; all forms of transport used within the books has now been listed.

Cait has recently finished three new character biographies, including Sara Howard’s, Cyrus Montrose’s, and the Isaacson brothers’. She has also made a small edit to Laszlo Kreizler’s biography. I hope you enjoy the essays and look for more updates coming in the next few weeks! Finally, for those of you who would be interested in discussing the Alienist books with other readers, don’t forget to check out the forums.