Synopsis
In 1866, tragedy strikes at the exclusive Windfield School. A young student drowns in a mysterious accident involving a small circle of boys. The drowning and its aftermath initiates a spiraling circle of treachery that will span three decades and entwine many loves... From the exclusive men's club and brothels that cater to every dark desire of London's upper classes to the dazzling ballrooms and mahogany-paneled suites of the manipulators of the world's wealth, Ken Follett conjures up a stunning array of contrasts. This breathtaking novel portrays a family splintered by lust, bound by a shared legacy... men and women swept toward a perilous climax where greed, fed by the shocking truth of a boy's death, must be stopped, or not just one man's dreams, but those of a nation, will die...
Bill Kent
Like The Pillars of the Earth, Mr. Follett's intricate saga about the construction of a medieval cathedral, A Dangerous Fortune reads more like an exercise in which the author applies the conventions of the plot-driven thriller to the historical novel. He delivers a silly, good-time read that for all its giddy leaps and bounds shows us little about the Victorians and the vital era they inhabited. -- New York Times