Sons of Fortune [Paperback]

Jeffrey Archer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 7, 2003

It is Hartford, Connecticut, in the late 1940's and a set of twins are separated at birth by a desperate nurse. Nat Davenport goes home with his parents, a schoolteacher and an insurance salesman. But his twin brother is to begin his days as Fletcher Andrew Davenport, son of a wealthy CEO.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Veteran novelist and British politician Archer (Kane and Abel) is currently serving a prison sentence for perjury, so readers can perhaps forgive him if this latest effort falls short of his usual standard. The implausibly plotted novel follows fraternal twin boys separated at birth by a bizarre set of circumstances. Nat Cartwright and Fletcher Davenport are born in Hartford, Conn., in the early 1950s. A meddlesome nurse sends them home with different families. Nat is raised in a lower-middle-class household, attends the University of Connecticut, serves heroically in Vietnam and goes into banking. Fletcher, the wealthy Yalie, becomes a lawyer and a politician. The men are repeatedly thrown into competition with each other, whether for admission to college or in their professional lives, their rivalry culminating when they both run for governor of their home state. The characters are too thin, and their respective worlds too littered with clich‚s, to offer a satisfying portrait of the baby boomer generation. Contrived plot twists offer little distraction, while the dialogue sometimes reads like a set of photo captions-information without emotion. "When you think about it, they are the obvious predator," says Nat about a takeover threat. "Fairchild's is the largest bank in the state; seventy-one branches with almost no serious rivals." Archer is usually a skillful storyteller, but he drops the ball here.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

In Hartford, Connecticut, during the early 1950s, twin boys are separated at birth. Fletcher and Nat attend competing colleges, fall for the same girl, and have best friends who are the sons of movers and shakers. In the 1960s, Nat is drafted and becomes a hero in Vietnam, while Fletcher goes into law. By the 1990s, Nat's an affluent banker, and Fletcher's a politico on the rise; then, inevitably, their paths come together. Archer's long-anticipated new novel is sure to garner loads of publicity, but much of it may have little to do with the quality of the book: the former Olympic athlete and fabulously wealthy novelist, once a member of the British House of Lords, is currently serving a four-year prison sentence for perjury. Is the novel good? It's actually pretty standard stuff from Archer, author of such best-sellers as The Fourth Estate (1996): broad-stroke character portraits painted on a large canvas, a two-dimensional but somehow compelling saga of ambition and destiny. Fans will be quite pleased, while his critics will note all the usual deficiencies, among them a largely wooden supporting cast and dialogue that is often ludicrous. In a nutshell: a typically slick, well-written, but shallow novel that will benefit from the author's notoriety. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Pan Books (January 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0330418629
• ISBN-13: 978-0330418621
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,821,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jeffrey Archer was educated at Oxford University. He has served five years in Britain's House of Commons, fourteen years in the House of Lords and two in Her majesty's prisons, which spawned three volumes of highly acclaimed Prison Diaries. All of his novels and short story collections--including Kane and Abel, Sons of Fortune, and False Impression--have been international bestsellers. Archer is married with two children and lives in London and Cambridge.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Who wrote this nonsense?, January 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Sons of Fortune (Archer, Jeffrey) (Hardcover)

Being a fan of Mr. Archer's from way back, I was delighted to see that he was back on track and making good use of his confinement. Boy, was I wrong! This novel reads like Danielle Steel wrote it- full of trite phrases and hokey dialogue that only shows that Mr. Archer must not be conversing a great deal lately. Also, the time frames do not match up with the characters: if they are twins, Nat goes to Vietnam when he is in his first year of college, (18) stays 2 years and comes back when he is 19? Simultaneously, his "twin" is now at Yale Law? Huh?
The worst part of the book is the ending- (stop here if you don't want to know...)a rival reveals secrets that lead Nat's talented and sensitive son to suicide (even though it had NOTHING to do with him..) and the two brothers find themselves at last- only to agree never to acknowledge each other. Neither of these incidents stop them from campaigning for governor...

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars AN ABSORBING STORY with a disappointing ONE STAR ENDING, January 7, 2003

By 

Tucker Andersen (Wall Street) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sons of Fortune (Archer, Jeffrey) (Hardcover)

This is an well crafted, well researched novel by the master storyteller Lord Jeffrey Archer that I decided to read immediately because of its special interest to me. It is a tale of destiny and fortune that spans the last half of the twentienth century, and is fast paced and foreboding. It is set in Connecticut, with the birth of two twins who are separated at birth and raised in disparate circumstances by parents who are unaware of the switch which occurred in the hospital nursery. (Of course, the reader's knowledge of the situation and desire to to see how the resultant issues are finally resolved is one of the compelling aspects of the book.)

Nathaniel Cartwright grows up with his middle class parents, an insurance salesman and schoolteacher. They all believe that his twin brother Peter died shortly after birth. Meanwhile, only two individuals are aware of the fact that the baby who leaves the hospital as Fletcher Andrew Davenport, son of a millionaire and major benefactor of the hospital, is in reality Peter Cartwright. We follow their lives as they grow up in CT.

Nat wins a scholarship to Taft, meets his lifelong friend Tom Russell, attends the University of Connecticut and eventually serves in Vietnam. Also, while at Taft Nat first opposes Ralph Elliot for school president, whose cunning and manipulative ways will influence both Nat's and Fletcher's lives in unforeseen ways. Meanwhile, Fletcher attends rival Hotchkiss, meets Jimmy Gates, son of a state Senator and eventually goes to Yale and studies law. Their stories seem to alternately move in parallel and then diverge as their fortunes rise and fall. After initial careers in NYC they both return to CT., Nat as a banker and Fletcher as a criminal defense attorney; as befitting a saga of this type they both become devoted husbands and fathers as well. As their careers proceed, it seems inevitable they they will both eventually run for public office.

This is a story that does a very good job of capturing the era. In fact, it is divided into seven books, and the very aptly chosen titles clearly indicate the author's intent for this to be a major literary work - GENESIS, EXODUS, CHRONICLES, ACTS, JUDGES, REVELATION, and NUMBERS. This book is of special interest to me. I was born and raised in CT, won a scholarship to a New England prep school and also attended college There. And now my wife and I once again live there, in close proximity to Taft and Hotchkiss. The narrative rings true to the time and locale. Even the politics are relatively accurate.

It took me a short while to get used to a story written totally in the third party, but after a few chapters I was completely involved. The story moves rapidly and continually between the two protagonists' lives; I almost hesitated to start the book (503 pages, not 400 as indicated), but it read very rapidly. The juxtaposition of the lives is very effective, but be warned, this is story, not a book of personal reflection and psychological insights.

I became increasingly involved, and several of the climactic developments during during the last few sections took me by complete surprise. I was tremendously impressed by the author's ability to weave a tale. If, I had had to guess at my rating with twenty pages to go it probably would have been five stars. Then, total disppointment. The last section seems excruiatingly slow, totally predictable, and completely unsatisfying and unrealistic. It is inexplicable; perhaps Sir Archer felt the story had been so good that the reader would accept a conclusion that basically says life goes on, but that is not the mark of a great story teller.

A few other minor complaints. First, for as meticulous research as was done, it is surprising that two of the towns involved in political events were Ipswich and Chelsea, both of which are in reality in Massachusetts rather than CT. (Any map or atlas would have shown this.) Second, at a crucial point the vote for the two candidates on page 498 is sloppily transposed. Last, the final election scenario is riduculous for 1992, and the consultation regarding the election outcome indicates an utter lack of knowledge of the difference between federal and state authority in elections. (This is too bad since I am quite a political junkie and most of the political background and maneveuring and mind numbing attention to detail of political campaigns was very accurately portrayed.)

So, if you like good stories of a broad sweep, read and enjoy SONS OF FORTUNE. You will be entertained (and surprised), but I suspect that like me you will also feel that the conclusion is an anticlimax. However, perhaps you won't care, especially if you are a confirmed Jeffrey Archer fan.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great story from a master entertainer!, November 5, 2005

By 

Paul Weiss (Dundas, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sons of Fortune (Archer, Jeffrey) (Hardcover)

Fletcher Davenport and Nat Cartwright are two successful young men - but they also happen to be twins separated at birth as a result of the unscrupulous actions of a well-meaning nurse in the hospital nursery. Nat Cartwright, raised in a loving modest household, his mother, a school teacher and his father, a successful insurance salesman, serves with honourable distinction in Vietnam, and becomes an overwhelmingly successful currency dealer and banker. On the other hand, Fletcher begins his days as the son of a millionaire and his society wife, graduates from Yale and distinguishes himself as a defender in the field of criminal law. Popular among their friends and peers, both men become involved in politics, first in school and college, then at the municipal level and finally as opposing candidates for state governor, all the while unaware that they are twin brothers.

Is the story or plot believable? The best one could say is that it's possible but it isn't even close to being credible! Are the characters overly good, overly perfect, overly handsome, plain, nerdy or beautiful, or overly despicable and evil? No doubt about it! Is the ending too pat and too cute? Yep, no question there either! Do I care about any of that? Not even a teeny bit! If Jeffrey Archer showed up at my door and tried to explain that there was a deep, subliminal moral message and some special theme underlying the whole story, I'd cover my ears and tell him to go away. The story was simply too artificial, too contrived, too enjoyable and too well written and exciting to be accounted for as anything other than great brain candy.

Did I mention that I loved it from start to finish? Time Magazine put it best in their editorial review on the back cover of the book - "Archer is a master entertainer"!