The Fortune [Hardcover]

Michael Korda (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1989

In this novel Arthur Bannerman, heir to the Bannerman fortune, dies in the bed of his young wife leaving her to fight his ruthless family. The book has been sold for a TV mini series and the author has also written "Queenie", "Worldly Goods" and "Male Chauvinism".

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Prime entertainment from the author of Queenie and Charmed Lives , this facile novel shows high society red in tooth and claw. The wealthy, snobbish Bannerman family is a fictional hybrid of the Rockefellers and the Binghams. It's bad enough that Arthur Bannerman has the poor taste to die in the bed of an attractive young woman. But when she declares herself his widow and delivers a will giving her control of the family fortune, his son Robert and the redoubtable matriarch Eleanor haul out the heavy artillery. Korda has a wonderful ear for bitchy, brittle society chatter, and he takes satirical swipes in every direction. A Mayflower madam, a whiny, upperclass priest and the New York art scene are raked over the coals for the reader's amusement, while skeletons rattle loudly in the very best closets. Despite some overly obvious set-ups and some irritating prose mannerisms (including the tendency of almost every character to "break into a sweat"), it's easy to enjoy the novel's narrative drive and coast smoothly to the gratifying finish. Literary Guild main selection; ABC miniseries; author tour.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 481 pages
• Publisher: Summit Books; First Edition edition (January 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671601008
• ISBN-13: 978-0671601003
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,118,885 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Korda is the New York Times bestselling author of Horse People,
Country Matters, Ulysses S. Grant, Cat People, Journey to a Revolution, and Ike.
He lives with his wife, Margaret, in Dutchess County, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More Fun, Because Less Real, September 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Fortune (Paperback)

Korda's "Queenie" and "Curtain" were interesting, though too somber and ultimately tiresome, because each was based (until the last third) rather too closely on real, and always unhappy, actors and producers. "The Fortune" is meant to remind you of Nelson Rockefeller's family, but Korda veers off so quickly into a polished TV-movie romance plot -- young, poor, brave farm girl loves old, super-rich, lonely city guy, and both have dark family secrets -- that it's laughs and sighs all the way.

My mind-movie casting was Catherine Zeta-Jones and Mitch Ryan. The plum role is, as usual in this genre, the Matriarch -- maybe Tippi Hedren.

In any case, a fine heroine and a good read.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book revealing the unimaginable, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Fortune (Paperback)

Wow! Korda has outdone himself once again with fiction. This novels shows us how presumptuous one can be with more than half a billion dollars-- meaning bribing the police force to discard files and erase evidence of murder files. As a young woman, Korda exemplifies the will power of a young woman like myself who must over come the pressures of fame, power, and most of all, her distasteful in-laws.