A Dangerous Fortune - Ken Follett.
The days of lock-down are not coming to an end any sooner :) and with that I have changed or rather slowed down my reading speed a bit so the remaining books should last me a while longer than usual. I have decided going forward to not to read more than 10% of a book in a day and while following that rule I was able to stretch this one (a mere 600 pages) to almost 10 days ;). That too my first of its own kind Ken Follett drama, I didn't know he wrote dramas too. Title-wise it sounds like a proper thriller and as almost all Follett's go, once you start, they usually take you on a thrilling journey at a break-neck pace and make you relax only after you finished the very last page. But this one was totally a different ball game, written in a very easy way with few romantic angles in between with a banking family in the front, all happening around late 19th century. Hence I was able to go easy not only on myself but also on the book and totally enjoyed the story of family rivalry, cousins and friends leaving no stone upturned in cutting each others throats for a few million dollars fortune.
I totally love the way Follett develops his characters, like in this book too right from the teenage till they become through professionals (or crooks) running a financial empire with so much happening from their school days (a few murders), treacheries, plotting, political connections, betrayals, lost loves, lost families and so much more. I can almost make a list of half a dozen characters that I actually loved. And with the story developing in mid to late 19th century, city of London plays a super amazing character on its own and loved the way it is portrayed, hansoms, carriages, restaurants, lives of rich and famous, mansions and not to forget the families finding it hard to survive when their investments go bust. The two lead characters (cousins) my favorite Hugh (Kane) and Edward (Abel), one whose father loses it all when he moves out of the family business of Banking to other's gain but the other is not capable enough to run the empire to success. How they fight with each other for their own rights and the way their families take it on themselves with friends coming to their rescue on their own dangerous ways is the story all about. Again, Follett's women are simply terrific and her reconfirms my belief on the same with two amazing women, a mother who will go to any extent to make her son a super success to a friend who will support hers to the end of time, simply too good. I never expected this one to have a love story of a different kind which kept me hooked to their fates to the very end.
It was total fun to read two Ken Follett's back to back (Night Over the Water). Now I need to pick up another Wilbur Smith to call it even before I go back to my favorite King :). Have you read A Dangerous Fortune? Do let me know how you like it and who was your favorite character (if not Hugh). Any other Follett you would like to recommend with a love story in the background, do let me know as I would love to lay my hands on it.
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