The Prodigal Daughter (Mass Market Paperback)

by Jeffrey Archer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"One of the top ten storytellers in the world." -Los Angeles Times

"Chalk up another smash hit for Jeffrey Archer...an exceptional storyteller."
-John Barkham Reviews

"Fast-moving and compelling."-Library Journal

"A master at mixing power, politics, and profit into fiction."--Entertainment Weekly

"Archer is a master entertainer."--Time

"Archer plots with skill, and keeps you turning the pages."--The Boston Globe

"Cunning plots, silken style...Archer plays a cat-and-mouse game with the reader."
--The New York Times

"A storyteller in the class of Alexandre Dumas...unsurpassed skill...making the reader wonder intensely what will happen next."--The Washington Post

"Archer is one of the most captivating storytellers writing today. His novels are dramatic, fast moving, totally entertaining-and almost impossible to put down."-Pittsburgh Press
-- Review

Review

"One of the top ten storytellers in the world." -Los Angeles Times

"Chalk up another smash hit for Jeffrey Archer...an exceptional storyteller."
-John Barkham Reviews

"Fast-moving and compelling."-Library Journal

"A master at mixing power, politics, and profit into fiction."--Entertainment Weekly

"Archer is a master entertainer."--Time

"Archer plots with skill, and keeps you turning the pages."--The Boston Globe

"Cunning plots, silken style...Archer plays a cat-and-mouse game with the reader."
--The New York Times

"A storyteller in the class of Alexandre Dumas...unsurpassed skill...making the reader wonder intensely what will happen next."--The Washington Post

"Archer is one of the most captivating storytellers writing today. His novels are dramatic, fast moving, totally entertaining-and almost impossible to put down."-Pittsburgh Press

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (May 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312997140
• ISBN-13: 978-0312997144
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #195,384 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Make your daughters read this book, April 6, 2000

By	"sleah" (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Prodigal Daughter (Mass Market Paperback)

I was first given a copy of The Prodigal Daughter in high school, and have reread it several times since then. It is not only an entertaining and well-written story, it is very inspiring --especially to young women. Archer neither downplays nor exacerbates the difficulties faced by women in fields that have traditionally been dominated by men, and his chronicles of Florentyna's rise through business and politics are among the best available in fiction. Archer also does a good job of portraying the years of work that go into creating a successful political career.

By the time you're finished reading the book, you almost feel exhausted yourself--but the journey is worth it.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Captivating Sequel to KANE AND ABEL Is Hard To Put Down, April 12, 2004

By	Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Prodigal Daughter (Paperback)

I thought KANE AND ABEL was one of the best books I'd ever read, so I was eagerly anticipating THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER. Although it falls a shade short of the greatness of its predecessor, this is still an outstanding novel that reveals more about the characters I had come to love in the first book.

Some may argue that Jeffrey Archer cheats the reader since approximately the first 200 pages are a recap of KANE AND ABEL. However, instead of getting the story from the viewpoint of the two men, we see the events throught the eyes of Abel's daughter Florentyna and the added insight makes the second telling of the events highly worthwhile.

Florentyna Rosnovski is a formidable and unforgettable character. She endears herself to readers as a young girl through her relationship with her governess Miss Tredgold and her adventures from elementary school through college. Even the expected meeting with Richard Kane takes on new dimensions as they marry despite the deep rejection by both fathers.

It was after the initial marriage and career boom that I thought the book faltered slightly. Florentyna became too perfect, everything came too easily, and even the tragic events did not seem to touch her as I would have expected. However, her rise to fame and her battle to achieve her childhood ambition by becoming President of the United States is a page-turning read, one that will surely satisfy fans of KANE AND ABEL.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Woman All Her Own, December 12, 2004

By	Jeffrey Clinard "Jeffrey" (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Prodigal Daughter (Mass Market Paperback)

Florentyna was an exceptional girl. Born of immigrant Polish parents, one of whom become a powerful and wealthy businessman, she was tutored well, learned well, and trained well. Until she threw it all away to marry the son of her father's most bitter enemy.

Richard Kane had also defied his father to marry his love, and the two were cast off without a cent into the world. However, not only do they live on love, but they forge their own business empire in the process. If Kane and Abel were rivals, but successes; only to see their greatest dream dashed at the hands of the other, Richard and Florentyna show what their father's might have achieved by working together.

Indeed, together they build the empire of both their father's dreams. Both of their fathers recanted their hatred at the end, and they build together. But eventually success at business bores Florentyna, and she goes into politics.

Florentyna is a success in many ways in politics. Congress, then the Senate... and the White House?

Indeed, I don't know if the novel makes or breaks itself with the dirty tricks played at the end. Florentyna made her biggest mistake when she didn't outright reject one offer. Character wise, I think that is the biggest weakness of the novel. Florentyna wasn't that stupid or naive. Would it have hurt to have had her cave in if the man had outright lied (and still trapped her), and her serve her term as vice-president with no illusions about him? PLus, I have to wonder if she, faced with the end of her career, wouldn't have conceeded defeat - and then dragged down certain people as well?