Hanover Place a [Paperback]

Thomas Michael (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this toothsome, yet often ponderous saga by the author of The Ropespinner Conspiracy , the rustle of money reproducing itself is heard continuously at One Hanover Place, headquarters of the Wall Street brokerage firm owned by the illustrious Warringtons. The canny Fletcher Warrington, his dutiful son and heir Howland, and his savvy daughter-in-law Lyda are wary of the dizzying bull market of the late 1920s. With the aid of Lyda's unlikely protege Morris Miles (detested by the other partners because he's a Jew) the firm sidesteps the financial carnage of the '29 Crash. As decades pass and Wall Street changes from a playground for wily robber barons to a world of leveraged buy-outs and insider trading scandals, Thomas burdens the Warringtons with an excess of tragedies. Lyda loses two sons to war, another to drink and a fourth to drowning, and her daughter becomes a raving Christian fundamentalist. Time and place are dazzlingly evoked, but readers unfamiliar with Wall Street's terrain will find the detailed financial footwork hard going.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

At the heart of this lengthy novel is S.L. Warrington & Son, an old American financial institution. The story begins in 1924. Wall Street has come out in full force to witness the dynastic marriage of Howland Warrington, heir to the family business, and socialite Lyda Farwell. The Warrington motto, "honor and optimism," influences the way in which Howland conducts business , and "The Firm," rather like a real person, changes and evolves with the times from the Roaring Twenties until the present day. This is a story of ambitious men and women, and their power, mergers, compromises, hostile takeovers, betrayals, and leveraged buyouts. Almost a fictionalized social history of Wall Street, this well-crafted novel will be enjoyed by family saga enthusiasts. Recommended for most popular fiction collections. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/89.
-Maria A. Perez-Stable, Western Michigan Univ. Libs., Kalamazoo
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Little Brown Paperbacks (a&C); 1st PB ed. edition (July 25, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0708849377
• ISBN-13: 978-0708849378
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.4 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,039,361 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

After a career as a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a partner at Lehman Brothers and an independent financial consultant and investor, I sat down in 1978 to write my first novel. The book, Green Monday, published in 1980, was a success, and I became a full-time writer. Since then I have published seven other novels, written innumerable articles and reviews, and beginning in 1987, a weekly column for The New York Observer. I also contribute occasional commentary to Forbes.com.
I like to write novels that I would enjoy reading - for I was a voracious reader long before I took up the typewriter and then the computer keyboard.To me, reading enjoyment derives from both the intelligence and the heart. I've often said I read nonfiction for information, but novels for truth, by which I mean insight and understanding. Plots must make narrative sense; the reader must say to himself or herself from the first page, "Yes, this could happen!" And, indeed, much of what I've set down in my novels has in fact subsequently come to pass.My characters take a view of life, which they both shape and are shaped by. They have opinions, and sometimes what they have to say has such a ring of authenticity that readers can get upset. Still, the criticism I am most proud of appeared just last Suday, July 19, in The New York Post, in a review of my latest novel, Love & Money (Melville House), by Kyle Smith, who opened his review with the statement, "Smart people need beach reads too." There's my ideal reader: who wants both enlightenment and entertainment in the same package, and is scared of neither.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for Financial fiction fans, April 19, 2000

By 

B. Pappas (Nothern Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hanover Place (Hardcover)

Hanover Place was the first Michael Thomas novel that I read and it made me fan for life. Financial oriented fiction is an underappreciated subject for writers, but amongst the few Michael Thomas is without a doubt the best. Its the only novel I've found that propels the reader through the evolution of Wall Street at the turn of the 20th century to the modern era. Its the best of Thomas's works and a mainstay in my library.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Why was this book not more popular?, December 6, 2009

By 

A. wright (Asheville, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hanover Place (Paperback)

I picked this book up at a used book store. A reviewer said that Thomas was part Fitzgerald meets Dominick Dunne. It was a great family saga set in Wall Street. I know nothing about the financial world, but I still found it enjoyable. I can't believe this author does not have a greater following.