Published: 1982.
Author: Sir Jeffery Archer.
Line of Story: Fiction.
Theme: Politics.
Final Rating: 7 on 10.
For the Author:
One of the best ever books written by any author of any generation. Hats off to Sir Jeffrey for creating a plot that makes the reader move to the next page in anticipation of what?s next? Mr. Archer has successfully crafted a book that is an international political thriller. The Author has definitely created an interest for the reader into a drama of love, power, family and politics.
About The Prodigal Daughter:
A sequel of another Jeffery masterpiece ?Kane and Abel?, ?The Prodigal Daughter? (although independent of ?Kane and Able?) is a story of an immigrants daughter who from childhood is fascinated by JFK. The only child of Abel Rosnovski, the chairman of the million dollar Baron Group, is faced will all the ups and downs of politics since her school days.
After getting trained by a nanny named Miss Tredgold, the girl named Florentya Rosnovski gets into her school days and comes out top of grades throughout her time over there. After acting as the sectary in the schools council in her penultimate year at the school, the girl loses the presidency in her last year at the school to her eventual second Husband Edward.
The Reason: The girl gets her first taste of power and gets carried away with the same. The landslide defeat gives the nanny an opportunity to let her ward know about the real use of power and the importance of doing good at all stages of life, in spite of the powers which any individual posses. That session with Miss Tredgold changes the way Florentya looks towards life and here begins the making of a future American President.
After getting thru the offering of Miss Tredgold, Florentya moves forward to get a better taste of life and that is when she comes across her first husband, Richard Kane, son of Abel?s biggest enemy (besides the Russians and the Germans).
For the rest, you will have to shell out the Rs. 250 /- which I did and certainly, the book is 7 out of 10 times value for the money.
The book as a whole can be divided into 3 sections:
The Daughter (The Past in the book)
The Sales Girl (The Present)
The Politician (The Future)
In the section The Daughter (referred to as the past by Sir Archer in his book), the author shows the different learning curves of the main protagonist of the story. The author here has in many ways tried to create the interest of the reader, and I will have to mention, has some what failed. The pace here is not that consistent. Slow at some places and somewhere mediocre. Still the past is worth giving a look. The way the dialog between the nanny and the ward has been crafted after the wards failure in the elections of the school council in her final year at school is awesome and will interest most of the readers. This section has a lot of learning?s especially for the young readers.
The Sales Girl section witness the author focusing on the young women who falls into love with a guy whose father Kane is Abel?s biggest enemy. Here, Sir Jeffery has created a really interesting story that is not much different from the K-series soaps witnessed on different channels of Indian Television Industry. The difference, Mr. Archer is victorious again. The part dealing with the daughter and father?s dialog over the guy is very well crafted and should be a sure winner with young female readers. The life after marriage for the newly married has all the typical writings of what any Bollywood directors look for.
My bet is not many Bollywood directors have read this book. Mr. Archer is definitely a winner with this book. They way he has crafted Richard?s (Florentya?s first husband) takeover bid of the chairmanship of the bank his father was associated half of his life and the departure of both Kane and Abel from the story and its effect on there children captivates one and all.
The Politician Section too has all the making of a great movie. This is the time were the author catches on the pace and the readers are in for a great journey of beautifully crafted writing. The detailing of the lady?s work in the cabinet is very well spelled out and will for sure leave the Indian readers think about there own leaders. I use the phrase Indian Readers, as I am not well informed about the political nature of any country other than my own country.
The Authors work on the subject is really commendable and he as really blossomed the journey of Florentya?s ride from the council to the senate and ultimately to the presidency with his articulate writing and good knowledge on the subject (American Politics to be precise). The Author actually, seems, is willing to have a dialog with the reader on the subject and has pointed out certain subjects like the pensions plan, party funds etc which are a subject of botheration not only for America but many more countries which follow democracy. This section is really a fast moving one and captivates the reader to the fullest of there interest.
To sum up ?The Prodigal Daughter? is one of the best books by Jeffery Archer and should be a sure hit with the Indian readers. The book is really fast moving as it moves forward and compelling. To review the book in two words, I would like to phrase it as ?A Page-turner?.
<<??Shikhar??>>