A Dangerous Fortune

Esta es la historia de la familia de banqueros Pilaster que desde el crimen que se comete en el internado de tres de sus principales protagonistas en su infancia, marca el destino de toda una familia. Augusta, Edward y Hugh Pilater por un lado y Micky Miranda por otro, nos llevan con sus vidas a un Londres sordido y lujoso donde la hipocrecia, ambición, división de clases, intrigas, crimenes, sueños, deseos y frustraciones marcan la vida de estos y de todos aquellos que se cruzan por los caminos de sus principales protagonistas siendo el eje principal de sus vidas el capital del banco y la manipulación de estos para sus intereses personales. Una novela que nos adentra en una Inglaterra de entre mediados y finales del siglo XIX en plena expansión industrial, mercantil e imperial donde el poder del dinero marcaba y sigue marcando a la sociedad británica.

This was my second book by the author, after "Night Over Water," and I was not disappointed. The two books are not similar at all, except in their quality of writing and very engaging plot. Characters are well developed and a reader can relate. "A Dangerous Fortune" has to do with English upper-class society, intrigues, banking system, inheritance issues, love, lust, deception, and more deception. A fantastic read. Highly recommend.

The author, a masterful storyteller, weaves an intriguing and mesmerizing tapestry of events that surround the wealthy Pilaster banking family in the latter part of nineteenth century England. Its panoramic sweep will hold the reader in its thrall. This complex story tells of the ebb and flow of their individual personal fortunes and the personalities that are to profoundly affect them, for better or worse. Augusta Pilaster is the scheming, socially conscious, self-appointed matriarch of the family. She is a woman who will stop at nothing to ensure that her reckless and easily manipulated husband, Joseph, and their indolent, dissolute, and lackluster son, Edward, will get and retain control of the Pilaster banking enterprise. Her machiavellian machinations, however, will eventually trigger the downfall of the family's fortune.Hugh Pilaster, Augusta's nephew by marriage, is the Pilaster who has the brains and work ethic to take the Pilaster banking fortunes to a new level. His Achilles heel is that he seems destined to be attracted to working class women, a chink in his armor that Augusta Pilaster uses to her and her immediate family's advantage. He, too, is Augusta Pilater's unwitting pawn, until the day of reckoning comes. Micky Miranda is the romantically handsome scion of a wealthy, unscrupulous, and power hungry South American businessman. Micky attended an exclusive school with Edward and Hugh Pilaster, when they were young. While there, tragedy struck when a mysterious swimming "accident" took the life of one of their friends, an event that was to shadow their lives in ways no one could have imagined. Micky Miranda would eventually enter into into a web of complicity with Augusta Pilaster that would impact on the fortunes of both the Miranda and Pilaster families.This book takes the reader through all strata of English society, from the drawing rooms of the upper classes to the exclusive men's clubs and brothels that cater to exotic appetites. It is a totally engrossing and absorbing tale of love, hatred, and treachery that spans three decades. It is a story that the reader will thoroughly enjoy.I originally read this book several years ago and enjoyed it so much that I decided to purchase the unabridged audiobook for a road trip. It provided seventeen hours of pure listening pleasure, as the narrator, Michael Page, is absolutely superlative. He manages to imbue each character with its own recognizable voice and personality. I was able to tear myself away from the car only with great difficulty, at times, as I was so engrossed by the story and its telling.This is a terrific book. Whether one reads it or has it read to them makes no difference, as it is a captivating and wholly entertaining work of well written fiction. Bravo!