The Fortunes

Pearl. Some novels offer readers the opportunity to understand lives different from our own and gain insight into our human condition as a result. Peter Ho Davies offers four lives for our consideration in his novel titled, The Fortunes. Some of the characters are based on real historical figures. I found each of the four figures to be interesting, but concluded that the section titled, Pearl, was my favorite. Davies’ prose is finely written, and his insight into the ways in which we fit in and the ways in which we are “the other” provided some resonant themes with our contemporary political rhetoric. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase The Fortunes from amazon.com.