The plot focuses on two rival half-siblings vowing for
a spot as the head of an auction empire (Despard’s International) left by the deceased
father of one of the two (he abandoned woman and child to marry the love of his
life who already had a daughter from a previous marriage). Of course, both
women are as different as night and day. One is a manipulative vixen who will
stop at nothing to get ahead. The other is a plain duckling turned into a swan who
is a bit green but tries her best to stay afloat in business. In between stands a
sexy Cherokee lawyer who is married to the vixen but ends up being very
attracted to the swan. He is also the executor of the will which stipulates
that whoever accumulates the highest profits wins the whole shebang. Who will
end up on top? Well, mum’s the word, I say.
What I can reveal, however, is that there is a lot
going on in this novel: fraud, attempted murder, arson, anything to trample on the
competition. The chemistry between the swan and the lawyer is not as palpable
as it should be but the narrative does its hardest to spice it up; as it does much
more adroitly when focusing on the two female competitors. In fact, I would have
loved a lot more confrontations between the two. They sort of reminded me of
Alexis and Krystle in Dynasty, which is always a good thing. Speaking of which,
there is also a queer character in this novel who I feel the author captured
very realistically, but, alas, he is brushed aside too quickly to focus more on
romance and double-crossing.
To say that FORTUNES
is the best read of the year would be an inaccuracy on my part. It does its job
well without rendering it a page turner. The bloated narrative may irk some but
if you are able to overlook this you’ll probably have a nice time too reading
this 80’s novel. I will definitely give Vera Cowie another try now that she has
redeemed herself with this effort.
Until next post—Martin
 |
| UK PB Edition |
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