Literary
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Fortune
Eddie Wade has recently returned from the US oilfields. He is determined to sink his own well and make his fortune in the 1920s Trinidad oil-rush. His sights are set on Sonny Chatterjee's failing cocoa estate, Kushi, where the ground is so full of oil you can put a stick in the ground and see it bubble up. When a fortuitous meeting with businessman Tito Fernandez brings Eddie the investor he desperately needs, the three men enter into a partnership. A friendship between Tito and Eddie begins that will change their lives forever, not least when the oil starts gushing. But their partnership also brings Eddie into contact with Ada, Tito's beautiful wife, and as much as they try, they cannot avoid the attraction they feel for each other. Fortune, based on true events, catches Trinidad at a moment of historical change whose consequences reverberate down to present concerns with climate change and environmental destruction. As a story of love and ambition, its focus is on individuals so enmeshed in their desires that they blindly enter the territory of classic Greek tragedy where actions always have consequences.
Editorial Reviews
"Amanda Smyth writes like a descendant of Jean Rhys… a born novelist" -Ali Smith
"A writer has to be at the heights of her power to slip so comfortably, so beautifully into the skin of history and let it breathe like this. Trinidad is at a crossroads: cocoa is literally dying; oil is about to change everything. Smyth gathers a wonderful cast of characters to meet at this crossroads and everyone's fortune is at stake. This is Smyth's best novel to date." -Kei Miller
"Fortune is a sexy, steamy, infinitely subtle novel. Like all the best literature, it takes a big canvas and yet foregrounds a small set of characters in order to create a page-turning narrative. This is a story about oil, ambition and money - but it's also a story about intimacy and love. Somebody will be making the movie of this novel in a couple of years time and I'm really looking forward to seeing it on the big screen." -Jane Harris
"Intimate and extraordinary, beautiful and brutal, this master storyteller brings alive the lost world of 1920s Trinidad in an ageless parable of fate and desire. Smyth's concerns are elemental: the oil whispering beneath the ground, the passions concealed in the heart, and the terrible cost of bringing these things to the surface. Tender, warm and wise, this is a novel of patient honesty and metaphysical depth that leaves the reader transported." -Chris Cleave
"Based on a true story, and set amidst Trinidad's early oilfields in the 1920s, this book satisfies on so many levels. Skilfully crafted, meticulously plotted, and written in sentences of polished platinum, Fortune is a master work of Caribbean literature and a book which will stay with me for a long time. Smyth, here, is writing at the top of her game." -Monique Roffey
"Like a fossil you might unearth in the sediment of south Trinidad, Amanda Smyth's Fortune is a glimpse of a bygone world in which patterns echo warnings: after oil comes trouble, after joy comes sorrow, what is right can also be wrong. With remarkable economy, the complexities of oil prospecting, the human heart, and the natural world are distilled into a compelling narrative that gushes forward. It is a book as enthralled with Trinidad as its doomed characters are; a work that understands how Midas, for all his gold, was cursed." -Andre Bagoo
"A writer has to be at the heights of her power to slip so comfortably, so beautifully into the skin of history and let it breathe like this. Trinidad is at a crossroads: cocoa is literally dying; oil is about to change everything. Smyth gathers a wonderful cast of characters to meet at this crossroads and everyone's fortune is at stake. This is Smyth's best novel to date." -Kei Miller
"Fortune is a sexy, steamy, infinitely subtle novel. Like all the best literature, it takes a big canvas and yet foregrounds a small set of characters in order to create a page-turning narrative. This is a story about oil, ambition and money - but it's also a story about intimacy and love. Somebody will be making the movie of this novel in a couple of years time and I'm really looking forward to seeing it on the big screen." -Jane Harris
"Intimate and extraordinary, beautiful and brutal, this master storyteller brings alive the lost world of 1920s Trinidad in an ageless parable of fate and desire. Smyth's concerns are elemental: the oil whispering beneath the ground, the passions concealed in the heart, and the terrible cost of bringing these things to the surface. Tender, warm and wise, this is a novel of patient honesty and metaphysical depth that leaves the reader transported." -Chris Cleave
"Based on a true story, and set amidst Trinidad's early oilfields in the 1920s, this book satisfies on so many levels. Skilfully crafted, meticulously plotted, and written in sentences of polished platinum, Fortune is a master work of Caribbean literature and a book which will stay with me for a long time. Smyth, here, is writing at the top of her game." -Monique Roffey
"Like a fossil you might unearth in the sediment of south Trinidad, Amanda Smyth's Fortune is a glimpse of a bygone world in which patterns echo warnings: after oil comes trouble, after joy comes sorrow, what is right can also be wrong. With remarkable economy, the complexities of oil prospecting, the human heart, and the natural world are distilled into a compelling narrative that gushes forward. It is a book as enthralled with Trinidad as its doomed characters are; a work that understands how Midas, for all his gold, was cursed." -Andre Bagoo
Readers Top Reviews
Dmfan16Matt
I usually read about 2 pages of a book a night. Not so with this book. I finished it in 2 nights. I was gripped by the history, the love story, the betrayal and the technical descriptions of the workings of the early 20th century oil industry in Trinidad. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am amazed how Amanda Smyth managed to transport me to 1920s Trinidad. Highly recommend it.
Sarah H
On the face of it reading the synopsis of this novel about money, greed, speculation and ruthless ambitions in the Trinidad oil rush of the 1920s, I wouldn’t have thought it would appeal to me at all. But having read the author’s other novels, I knew it would be something special and would not disappoint. Yes, the story did include technical details about the oil industry (obviously very well researched) and the machinations of individual speculators and corporations, but this novel is so much more. I found it riveting from start to finish! Primarily it’s a novel about love and people, their yearnings and disappointments and the things that drive them not only to discover oil but also their relationships with each other and to love their beautiful lush and sometimes ferocious and hostile country of Trinidad. Throughout the book the landscape is always there in a vivid backdrop of colours, sights and sounds and behind this enchanting Eden is an ever increasing sense of doom which drives the reader on. It and makes you feel an affinity with even the less pleasant characters in the face of their thrill and apprehension for their dangerous ventures. It’s man versus nature in this elemental battle, but while this big scene is playing out, the minutiae of domestic life and everyday ordinariness is described in loving detail. There’s also a clandestine love affair taking steamy shape in the background. The author has a marvellous economical way with words, describing a character or scene in a few short sentences which completely grab your mind’s eye. This style makes the novel race along without getting bogged down, but equally made me want to stop and savour the descriptions. I loved the variety of characters of the Trinidadians in the book, and their very different backgrounds, traditions and superstitions. I was sad to leave them at the end of the novel because they’d become my friends. Well done Amanda Smyth, this was a fantastic read, storytelling at its best!
MrsCabbages
I highly recommend this book. Amanda brings to life the people and country of Trinidad in a gripping and enjoyable tale of love and intrigue. My father also read this book and his review follows... I was born and brought up on the Apex Trinidad oilfield adjacent to the Dome field described in Amanda's story. My father started work at Apex at the earliest permissible age of 18, one year before the Dome disaster. He told me all about it and as a child I often walked through the dome site with an interest in the flora and fauna that lived there. Amanda has written a novel which gives a fascinating insight into the characters of people whom lived in and around the oilfields, and the nature of people who worked under the spell of oil and gas in those early days. She has skilfully woven her story around those characters and their families bringing out the differences between the African Indian and European heritage in a sympathetic tale of joy and sorrow.
S. Ltd
It’s not often I’m so engrossed in a book and the characters that I let out a shriek at a significant plot point... and I did it twice! The build up to this tumultuous affair was just as intriguing.... who knew I’d be lapping up the details of how an oil derrick works and its need to be fixed? There’s something in Ms Smyth’s details of the setting, the people, the technology that makes you invested in the search for oil in the way the three main characters are. You’re totally with them, cheering them on, fearing for them. It was an emotional read, a ‘transporting you from where you are’ read... it really doesn’t get better than that. I highly recommend this book...and the experience of reading it...
CM
An absolute winner. Smyth's depictions of Trinidadian nature and the Trinidad of the 1920s are so lush; you are absolutely transported. The book simmers with tension from start to finish. It's sexy, fascinating, moving... multi-layered characters, rich historical detail... I can't gush enough, honestly.
