After his mother died, Ezekiel Harrington finds himself torn from his midwestern home and forced to Philadelphia where he must rely on the mercy of his uncle. While he's invited to become part of the family, he chooses spite instead after he discovers that he must enroll in school and graduate from college before he can access his inheritance. "Come the Morning" shares the story of Ezekiel's life and choices as a young man and adult.
While building his career as a store owner, he reconnects with his childhood friend and current artist Robert Henri. This friendship leads "Easy" to meet new friends, including a crude Bohemian woman with tremendous talent. Through the ups and downs of the economy during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Ezekiel takes charge of his own life and makes financial, personal and relational decisions based on suppositions.
I rated this book 2.5 stars rounded up to 3. It took me a while to get in the story. As I read, I kept thinking that this book is a boring look at the life of a man who keeps having bad luck but uses his ambition to push through hard times. The book includes lots of art and business references, plus descriptions of the rich, poor and middle class lifestyles of the time that I skimmed over. I didn't really ever connect emotionally with any of the characters, either, until the last chapter. I did appreciate that although the story does include sexual content, there's no profanity.
History, art and business fans might appreciate this book. It's not a very memorable book but is a decent story to pass the time.

I was a little disappointed that I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. The premise sounded exactly the sort of thing that I like, but for me the balance was off between prose and character interactions. I felt as though I was reading Ezekiel's life at a remove, rather than being pulled in and feeling invested in the character. The writing was very good and so was the story, but the telling of it was not my taste.