Originally called Noodles Island, East Boston was once comprised of five islands connected by marshland. Today, many people identify East Boston as the location of Logan International Airport, but it is really much more than that. From colonial times through the late twentieth century, the neighborhood of East Boston has experienced significant developments in the fields of city planning, transportation, and urban development. Until the nineteenth century, East Boston was a rural community whose land was used for grazing and firewood. The East Boston Company was incorporated by William Hyslop Sumner in 1833 to plan the residential and commercial growth of this Boston neighborhood. Connecting East Boston to the city were various modes of transportation including ferries, railroads, and an underground streetcar tunnel. In the 1920s, construction of the Boston Airport, later Logan International Airport, was begun.

Reveals that stereotypical ethnic neighborhoods have developed into multicultural communities that use ethnic symbolism as a means for inclusion, not exclusion.

A true tale of illicit love in the era of Emily Dickinson. The author adds her own annotations to correspondence, journals, diaries and the observations of the protagonists' peers, to paint a detailed picture of social and sexual mores in 19th-century America.