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Fortune
1920s Trinidad. Eddie Wade’s truck breaks down and he’s offered a ride by businessman, Tito Fernandez. So begins Fortune, a novel based on a real-life event about love, money, greed and ambition.
Eddie has spent the last years in the oilfields of the US and now he has returned home and is looking to sink his own well and make his fortune. He knows how dangerous it can be, but he feels lucky and Trinidad is rich in oil. Over the last months, like other oilmen, he has been wooing Sonny Chatterjee, a difficult man whose failing cocoa estate, Kushi, in South Trinidad, is so full of oil you can put a stick in the ground and see it bubble up. The morning before Eddie meets Tito, Sonny has finally given him the go-ahead to see what he can do. Unlike the big corporations drilling nearby, in his gut, Sonny trusts Eddie. Now all he needs is someone foolhardy enough to invest.
The fortuitous meeting between Eddie and Tito, leads to a business deal and a friendship that will make and break them both. Tito invests in Eddie’s confidence and although they are hindered by mosquitoes, heat, terrific rains, and superstitious fears, they find their fortune shooting out of the ground in thousands of barrels of oil, not once but three times. 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. With everything in the balance and everything to lose Tito and Eddie decide to go for one more well before Sonny sells the estate. How can this end well?
Eddie has spent the last years in the oilfields of the US and now he has returned home and is looking to sink his own well and make his fortune. He knows how dangerous it can be, but he feels lucky and Trinidad is rich in oil. Over the last months, like other oilmen, he has been wooing Sonny Chatterjee, a difficult man whose failing cocoa estate, Kushi, in South Trinidad, is so full of oil you can put a stick in the ground and see it bubble up. The morning before Eddie meets Tito, Sonny has finally given him the go-ahead to see what he can do. Unlike the big corporations drilling nearby, in his gut, Sonny trusts Eddie. Now all he needs is someone foolhardy enough to invest.
The fortuitous meeting between Eddie and Tito, leads to a business deal and a friendship that will make and break them both. Tito invests in Eddie’s confidence and although they are hindered by mosquitoes, heat, terrific rains, and superstitious fears, they find their fortune shooting out of the ground in thousands of barrels of oil, not once but three times. 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. With everything in the balance and everything to lose Tito and Eddie decide to go for one more well before Sonny sells the estate. How can this end well?
266 pages, Paperback
Published July 15, 2021
24 people are currently reading
769 people want to read
About the author
Amanda Smyth
7 books24 followersAmanda Smyth is Irish Trinidadian, and author of four novels, Black Rock, A Kind of Eden, Fortune and Look at You, published by Peepal Tree Press in February 2025.
Her first novel, Black Rock, won the Prix du Premier Roman Etranger, was nominated for an NAACP award, short listed for McKitterick Prize, and selected as an Oprah Winfrey Summer Read. Black Rock was chosen as one of Waterstones New Voices, and translated into several languages. Her second novel, A Kind of Eden, set in contemporary Trinidad, was published in 2013 and optioned this year (2024) as a TV series by Ringside Studios. Fortune, her third novel, was based on the tragic Dome fire in Trinidad, 1928. Fortune, was shortlisted for Walter Scott prize 2022. Look at You, her fourth novel, will be published in 2025. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in New Writing, London Magazine, The Times Literary Supplement, Harvard Review and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Amanda teaches creative writing at Arvon, Skyros, Greece.
Her first novel, Black Rock, won the Prix du Premier Roman Etranger, was nominated for an NAACP award, short listed for McKitterick Prize, and selected as an Oprah Winfrey Summer Read. Black Rock was chosen as one of Waterstones New Voices, and translated into several languages. Her second novel, A Kind of Eden, set in contemporary Trinidad, was published in 2013 and optioned this year (2024) as a TV series by Ringside Studios. Fortune, her third novel, was based on the tragic Dome fire in Trinidad, 1928. Fortune, was shortlisted for Walter Scott prize 2022. Look at You, her fourth novel, will be published in 2025. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in New Writing, London Magazine, The Times Literary Supplement, Harvard Review and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Amanda teaches creative writing at Arvon, Skyros, Greece.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
December 2, 2022
YES YES YES YES YES!!!! This is what I call great storytelling!!! YESSSS!!!!
Fortune is set in 1920S Trinidad and Tobago, during the oil boom, when oil was seen as the black gold. The book opens with Eddie Wade truck breaking down on his way to Port of Spain where he is going to get investors to invest in an oil drilling project. As luck would have it, business Tito Fernandez was driving pass and offered Edie a ride. During the ride Edie tells Tito about his venture, and he decides to invest.
Edie is a seasoned oil man, having worked in oilfields in Texas and South America. He knows how drilling for oil the luck of a draw and many men is spend years seeking that one lucky drill. After returning home to Trinidad hears the word on the ground is that Sonny Chatterjee’s estate is ripe for drilling. The only problem, Sonny is not interested, he wants to farm his cocoa, he wants to do what’s been done for generations in his family. After much back and forth, Sonny agrees to have Edie drill, but for one year, after that he will return to coca. With the oil secure, Edie must now find an investor who will take this fool’s luck investment…especially on the heels of the US market crashing….
In comes Tito, a businessman who comes from generation of wealth, only problem, after years of risky investment Tito’s funds is running low. After listening to Eddie’s pitch he is ready to try his luck, even after being advised oil is not the way, it is a fool’s errand. Eddie pushes forward in the hope that this risk will pay off big!
In the rush to get fortune, Tito and Eddie risk it all, will it pay off?
Friends! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, I was hooked from the very first page to the end. I absolutely loved being transported to 1920s Trinidad and Tobago when oil was now becoming a thing. I think the author did such a great job of writing characters who are believable and situation you can relate to. I could see why Sonny wouldn’t want to drill for oil- why switch from cocoa to oil? I can see why Eddie loves the rush of drilling and finding oil and I believe that this was Tito’s last shot at remaining wealthy.
This is a such a great historical look into Trinidad and Tobago, and by extension the Caribbean during that time. How oil impacted the lives of every Trini. It was just so well done!
I loved how the plot moved quickly and how immerse you were in the drilling aspect without it being too technical. I think she wrote community and characters really well. I felt like I was there waiting for the oil to spurt up. She really did a great job of tension and suspension to the very end. You literally will be rooting for Eddie and Tito down to the very end.
I do think the ending wrapped up a little too quickly for my taste and I would have loved 50 more pages, but maybe that is me being greedy. This is a book I will not forget anytime soon. WOW!
Thanks Peepal Tree Press for sending me this ARC.
Fortune is set in 1920S Trinidad and Tobago, during the oil boom, when oil was seen as the black gold. The book opens with Eddie Wade truck breaking down on his way to Port of Spain where he is going to get investors to invest in an oil drilling project. As luck would have it, business Tito Fernandez was driving pass and offered Edie a ride. During the ride Edie tells Tito about his venture, and he decides to invest.
Edie is a seasoned oil man, having worked in oilfields in Texas and South America. He knows how drilling for oil the luck of a draw and many men is spend years seeking that one lucky drill. After returning home to Trinidad hears the word on the ground is that Sonny Chatterjee’s estate is ripe for drilling. The only problem, Sonny is not interested, he wants to farm his cocoa, he wants to do what’s been done for generations in his family. After much back and forth, Sonny agrees to have Edie drill, but for one year, after that he will return to coca. With the oil secure, Edie must now find an investor who will take this fool’s luck investment…especially on the heels of the US market crashing….
In comes Tito, a businessman who comes from generation of wealth, only problem, after years of risky investment Tito’s funds is running low. After listening to Eddie’s pitch he is ready to try his luck, even after being advised oil is not the way, it is a fool’s errand. Eddie pushes forward in the hope that this risk will pay off big!
In the rush to get fortune, Tito and Eddie risk it all, will it pay off?
Friends! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, I was hooked from the very first page to the end. I absolutely loved being transported to 1920s Trinidad and Tobago when oil was now becoming a thing. I think the author did such a great job of writing characters who are believable and situation you can relate to. I could see why Sonny wouldn’t want to drill for oil- why switch from cocoa to oil? I can see why Eddie loves the rush of drilling and finding oil and I believe that this was Tito’s last shot at remaining wealthy.
This is a such a great historical look into Trinidad and Tobago, and by extension the Caribbean during that time. How oil impacted the lives of every Trini. It was just so well done!
I loved how the plot moved quickly and how immerse you were in the drilling aspect without it being too technical. I think she wrote community and characters really well. I felt like I was there waiting for the oil to spurt up. She really did a great job of tension and suspension to the very end. You literally will be rooting for Eddie and Tito down to the very end.
I do think the ending wrapped up a little too quickly for my taste and I would have loved 50 more pages, but maybe that is me being greedy. This is a book I will not forget anytime soon. WOW!
Thanks Peepal Tree Press for sending me this ARC.
April 13, 2022
Shortlist for the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction and as featured on the Republic of Consciousness Prize book club
'Tito said you were a boxer in the army.'
`Yes I was. You fall down, get back up again.'
Eddie took his hands off the steering wheel to light a cigarette. `You have to believe you can win.'
`Is that what you want, Eddie, to win?'
Eddie glanced at Ada, shifted the gear stick.
`Maybe. We all like to feel we can achieve something. That we have a choice in the way our lives turn out.'
Fortune by Amanda Smyth is the latest novel from the Republic of Consciousness book club, featuring novels from the UK's finest small presses.
Fortune is from Peepal Tree Press, publishers of the multi-award featured The Mermaid of Black Conch, and who aim "to bring you the very best of international writing from the Caribbean, its diasporas and the UK."
The novel is set in 1920s Trinidad, at the US economy was starting to falter, but the rise of the motor car meant an increasing need for oil, which was gradually displacing cocoa as the "crop" of choice in the country. But extracting oil was a dangerous business, and the novel was inspired by a real-life accident in 1928, as she has explained:
The author has used as her historical source the book Eight East Indian Immigrants: Gokool, Soodeen, Sookoo, Capildeo, Beccani, Ruknaddeen, Valiama, Bunsee by Anthony de Verteuil, but P.E.T. O’Connor retells the incident as well in his memoir Some
Trinidad Yesterdays, as retold in Black Gold:
Fortune centres around four key characters, Sonny Chatterjee, who owns a failing cocao plantation, Eddie, who has returned to the island after prospecting in the US, Tito Fernandez, a local businessman, ostensibly successful, with a chain of stores in Trinidad and Barbados, but who has recently lost a lot of money in the US stock market, and Tito's younger wife Ada. The novel opens from Eddie's perspective:
As he walked along the edge of the cane fields, his face poured with sweat, his feet were hot and swollen in his cracked boots. Cicadas were clacking and droning, a loud, unnatural, mechanical sound, as if something mighty was about to explode. And the thought came to him: none of this mattered, the heat, his thirst, the broken-down truck; what mattered was his meeting this morning with Sonny Chatterjee. He could hardly believe what he’d seen.
Over the years, rumours of black puddles appearing on the land had drawn oil men to Sonny Chatterjee’s estate. Buried deep in South Trinidad, Kushi was a cocoa plantation of fifty acres; it had belonged in the Chatterjee family since 1905. Seen pooling at the foot of a tree, swirling on the skin of the Godineau river, there was talk of oil running free like honey along the path to Sonny’s door. But Sonny Chatterjee had a reputation as a difficult and ignorant man. So far, no one had persuaded him to let them test the land, let alone drill on it.
The story that follows, one of love (and lust), ambition (and greed) has a perhaps inevitable conclusion given the novel's inspiration, but remains compelling throughout.
One minor grumble for me is that the novel's narrative pov does flit into various minor characters, rather than staying with the main ones (a personal bugbear) and the story is, by my normal taste, more conventional than my usual fare.
But Smyth's most impressive achievement is how she manages to both write a technically detailed, and well-researched, account of oil exploration, within a lyrically written and sensuous novel, the nature of the island itself another key character, as she has explained:
Worthwhile if more conventional that my usual fare. 3.5 stars
'Tito said you were a boxer in the army.'
`Yes I was. You fall down, get back up again.'
Eddie took his hands off the steering wheel to light a cigarette. `You have to believe you can win.'
`Is that what you want, Eddie, to win?'
Eddie glanced at Ada, shifted the gear stick.
`Maybe. We all like to feel we can achieve something. That we have a choice in the way our lives turn out.'
Fortune by Amanda Smyth is the latest novel from the Republic of Consciousness book club, featuring novels from the UK's finest small presses.
Fortune is from Peepal Tree Press, publishers of the multi-award featured The Mermaid of Black Conch, and who aim "to bring you the very best of international writing from the Caribbean, its diasporas and the UK."
The novel is set in 1920s Trinidad, at the US economy was starting to falter, but the rise of the motor car meant an increasing need for oil, which was gradually displacing cocoa as the "crop" of choice in the country. But extracting oil was a dangerous business, and the novel was inspired by a real-life accident in 1928, as she has explained:
When I began my third novel, I knew only that I wanted to write about an explosion. I began researching the 7/7 London bombings in 2005 and was sketching out multiple narratives about causality, fate, destiny. But then my mother pointed me towards the Dome Fire in Trinidad in 1928, where many people lost their lives in an explosion. I immediately started work on Fortune.
The author has used as her historical source the book Eight East Indian Immigrants: Gokool, Soodeen, Sookoo, Capildeo, Beccani, Ruknaddeen, Valiama, Bunsee by Anthony de Verteuil, but P.E.T. O’Connor retells the incident as well in his memoir Some
Trinidad Yesterdays, as retold in Black Gold:
“The Dome fire started with the obstinacy of an old Indian land owner. He owned a ten-acre block in the middle of the rich Apex field at Fyzabad. He had once had a dispute with the Company and although the Company had successfully drilled all around him, he had stubbornly refused to lease his land to them.
Eventually, a small local company was formed to drill the area and a young Trinidad driller was
persuaded to undertake the drilling for a share in the venture. His name was Bob Wade. He somehow assembled a drilling rig to drill the first well. All went well; the well was successfully completed and ‘came in’ with a large flow. Everything seemed to be well under control and Bob Wade left for the club to celebrate his good fortune. As darkness fell, however, a small leak developed in one of the control valves and within hours the well was out of control, spouting oil and gas into the air. The whole surrounding area was covered with oil and the air saturated with gas. The owner and his entire family rushed to the scene, rejoicing no doubt in the thought that they had struck it rich. Bob Wade hurried back from Port of Spain in an attempt to cap the well when the whole area exploded. What remained of Bob Wade was found in his car. He had apparently tried to start his engine so as to focus his headlights on the well head and this had sparked the holocaust. The whole Indian family perished and several workmen.
Fortune centres around four key characters, Sonny Chatterjee, who owns a failing cocao plantation, Eddie, who has returned to the island after prospecting in the US, Tito Fernandez, a local businessman, ostensibly successful, with a chain of stores in Trinidad and Barbados, but who has recently lost a lot of money in the US stock market, and Tito's younger wife Ada. The novel opens from Eddie's perspective:
As he walked along the edge of the cane fields, his face poured with sweat, his feet were hot and swollen in his cracked boots. Cicadas were clacking and droning, a loud, unnatural, mechanical sound, as if something mighty was about to explode. And the thought came to him: none of this mattered, the heat, his thirst, the broken-down truck; what mattered was his meeting this morning with Sonny Chatterjee. He could hardly believe what he’d seen.
Over the years, rumours of black puddles appearing on the land had drawn oil men to Sonny Chatterjee’s estate. Buried deep in South Trinidad, Kushi was a cocoa plantation of fifty acres; it had belonged in the Chatterjee family since 1905. Seen pooling at the foot of a tree, swirling on the skin of the Godineau river, there was talk of oil running free like honey along the path to Sonny’s door. But Sonny Chatterjee had a reputation as a difficult and ignorant man. So far, no one had persuaded him to let them test the land, let alone drill on it.
The story that follows, one of love (and lust), ambition (and greed) has a perhaps inevitable conclusion given the novel's inspiration, but remains compelling throughout.
One minor grumble for me is that the novel's narrative pov does flit into various minor characters, rather than staying with the main ones (a personal bugbear) and the story is, by my normal taste, more conventional than my usual fare.
But Smyth's most impressive achievement is how she manages to both write a technically detailed, and well-researched, account of oil exploration, within a lyrically written and sensuous novel, the nature of the island itself another key character, as she has explained:
I saw the landscape as another character. The land is a canvas on which their longings play and are mirrored back to them. The characters see it differently, but the earth couldn't care less. A minor character, Scottish, finds Trinidad terrifying. She sees danger everywhere–people drown, swept into a whirlpool by the waters by a river on the coast, in African bees, in flying galvanise during a storm that slits off a neck of a local. She sees it as a place to die.
Ada feels trapped in Trinidad at times. The way everyone has eyes on everyone else. But the landscape liberates her. She takes Eddie to the Bamboo Cathedral and feels the benediction of a church; the sea breeze frees her.
Eddie sees the land as a means to fill his pockets, oil, gold, and he will do anything to get it, but the land will have none of it. It will do what it wants regardless of human wants and desires.
Sonny feels a guilty loyalty to his father’s land being drilled for oil. When the silk cotton tree is cut down, he cries as offerings to the spirits are scattered.
Tito talks about loving Trinidad. I know Trinis like that–they are never going anywhere. You go away to come back, but he is not that different from Eddie. He, too, wants to plunder the land.
Worthwhile if more conventional that my usual fare. 3.5 stars
May 1, 2022
This is a solid piece of storytelling written in clear and unobtrusive prose, but I can't help being a little disappointed that it's not more literarily exciting and emotionally absorbing.
Set in Trinidad in the 1920s, one strand is based on what seems like substantial historical research on early findings of oil on the island and the consequent drilling operations and influx of oil wealth that ensues. The meticulous descriptions of the nascent industry feel accurate and bed the book down in a necessary way. I say that because I struggled to find much sense of history here: the 1920s don't feel significantly different from much later in the century: yes, there are mentions of the Wall Street crash, and cars are a novelty luxury item but that's more or less it.
Against this background plays out a dramatic story of forbidden love, complete with all the usual milestones (instant attraction, struggles against it, secret rendezvous, a climactic end) which never really comes to life - both protagonists are a series of qualities: he is handsome, restless, attractive to women; she is beautiful, bored, tied to a jealous husband. Despite the allocation to them of rather manipulated back-stories - his wanderlust and lack of attachment, her lost parent and fear of the water - they never struck me as rounded characters with lives of their own. And the final conflagration is indicated well ahead of the ending so no surprises there.
It's interesting to read a book about Trinidad which isn't centrally about race and it's striking to see the general acceptance of what we would call multiculturalism. So I'm not sorry I read this but it was slow going as I never disliked it but also couldn't find much positive enthusiasm or the ability to lose myself in it: so yes, solid is the word I'd use, competent - I'd just hoped for more.
Set in Trinidad in the 1920s, one strand is based on what seems like substantial historical research on early findings of oil on the island and the consequent drilling operations and influx of oil wealth that ensues. The meticulous descriptions of the nascent industry feel accurate and bed the book down in a necessary way. I say that because I struggled to find much sense of history here: the 1920s don't feel significantly different from much later in the century: yes, there are mentions of the Wall Street crash, and cars are a novelty luxury item but that's more or less it.
Against this background plays out a dramatic story of forbidden love, complete with all the usual milestones (instant attraction, struggles against it, secret rendezvous, a climactic end) which never really comes to life - both protagonists are a series of qualities: he is handsome, restless, attractive to women; she is beautiful, bored, tied to a jealous husband. Despite the allocation to them of rather manipulated back-stories - his wanderlust and lack of attachment, her lost parent and fear of the water - they never struck me as rounded characters with lives of their own. And the final conflagration is indicated well ahead of the ending so no surprises there.
It's interesting to read a book about Trinidad which isn't centrally about race and it's striking to see the general acceptance of what we would call multiculturalism. So I'm not sorry I read this but it was slow going as I never disliked it but also couldn't find much positive enthusiasm or the ability to lose myself in it: so yes, solid is the word I'd use, competent - I'd just hoped for more.
July 22, 2021
Amanda Smyth’s Fortune focuses on a topic of Caribbean history that escaped me completely and that the oil rush in Trinidad. During the 1850s oil was discovered in Trinidad, however during the 1920s companies from around the world began to move in and that is the setting of the book.
Sonny Chatterjee is a down on his luck cocoa farmer. His crops have died and his family is destitute. However, his farming land is literally a bed of oil, with it emerging when he moves the soil. This grabs the interest of a few companies and after much debate, begin drilling.
As a historical document Fortune is interesting. Disease, explosions, exploitation, the environmental destruction and tropical storms feature. Since the novel is based on true events it’s quite an eye opener to see the hardships and deceit these businessmen went through in order to satisfy their greed. If you thought the film There Will be Blood brutal, think again. The amount of pain these characters go through is immense.
There’s also a love story plot in Fortune. Usually if this type of plotline enters a story, I don’t like it as it can over complicate but here it’s done well and adds another dimension to the characters; that although making money is on there mind, love can factor in as well.
The cast of characters are distinguishable: The illiterate Sonny Chatterjee, the ambitious Eddie Wade, the savvy Tito Fernandez. All are well written and despite their hidden motives, one can’t help liking them. Due to the characters we do get a snapshot of the multicultural melting pot Trinidad was at that time, something I did not realise until I read the book.
Fortune is a tight, well paced, novel. I learnt some things in the process. I think novels should focus on the lesser known areas of history and Fortune hits that want nicely.
Sonny Chatterjee is a down on his luck cocoa farmer. His crops have died and his family is destitute. However, his farming land is literally a bed of oil, with it emerging when he moves the soil. This grabs the interest of a few companies and after much debate, begin drilling.
As a historical document Fortune is interesting. Disease, explosions, exploitation, the environmental destruction and tropical storms feature. Since the novel is based on true events it’s quite an eye opener to see the hardships and deceit these businessmen went through in order to satisfy their greed. If you thought the film There Will be Blood brutal, think again. The amount of pain these characters go through is immense.
There’s also a love story plot in Fortune. Usually if this type of plotline enters a story, I don’t like it as it can over complicate but here it’s done well and adds another dimension to the characters; that although making money is on there mind, love can factor in as well.
The cast of characters are distinguishable: The illiterate Sonny Chatterjee, the ambitious Eddie Wade, the savvy Tito Fernandez. All are well written and despite their hidden motives, one can’t help liking them. Due to the characters we do get a snapshot of the multicultural melting pot Trinidad was at that time, something I did not realise until I read the book.
Fortune is a tight, well paced, novel. I learnt some things in the process. I think novels should focus on the lesser known areas of history and Fortune hits that want nicely.
August 22, 2021
Immensely enjoyable novel: a gripping story set in the 1920s oil boom in Trinidad, beautifully written with fresh, sensuous imagery throughout (eg p1: 'the whole hill was roasting like a side of meat'). It bursts with life, the characters, right down to the minor ones, are individual and real, their ambitions and greed and desires and ennui recognisable and engaging. In the details of food, animals (snakes and howler monkeys), weather, the sea etc. you get a good full flavour of Trinidad. A strong plot has you (me) page-turning through the night. Highly recommended.
Disclosure: Amanda is a friend (we're in the same writers' group), and a great writer (this is her third novel).
Disclosure: Amanda is a friend (we're in the same writers' group), and a great writer (this is her third novel).
June 17, 2022
A well-written and intriguing read, exploring power and ambition and hope and love.
August 29, 2021
I received this book via the excellent Republic of Consciousness Book Club which features books from the UK’s small presses, this one coming from Peepal Tree Press which concentrates on the very best of international writing from the Caribbean, its diasporas and the UK.
The book blurb on the back cover tells us that this story is based on true events in Trinidad. Of course, as soon as I read that I headed over to Google to see what happened. I would actually suggest to anyone considering reading this book that you don’t do that because I found that knowing where it was heading somewhat spoiled the book and I think I’d prefer to have read it not knowing. That said, the dramatic conclusion is a rather obvious one, so I think I might have guessed what was going to happen.
There are three, maybe four, main characters in Fortune and the story revolves around these people. Eddie Wade is an oilman who is convinced there is oil close to the surface under land owned by Sonny Chatterjee (Sonny is my “maybe character” because he doesn’t feature as much as the other three). Tito Fernanadez is the man Eddie meets in fortuitous fashion and who provides funds for Eddie. And Ada Fernandez is Tito’s wife.
You don’t have to work very hard to guess what will happen to the oil drilling business or what will happen when Eddie and Tito’s business relationship means Eddie gets to know Ada.
But maybe it doesn’t matter that the two main stories being told have somewhat obvious endings. The book is well written and tells a good story. It would make a great movie. And I enjoyed the view of Trinidad it gives and what I learned about the island in the process of reading.
This is a solid 3 star book for me, where 3 stars means I enjoyed the experience of reading the book but I never found myself getting really excited about reading it.
The book blurb on the back cover tells us that this story is based on true events in Trinidad. Of course, as soon as I read that I headed over to Google to see what happened. I would actually suggest to anyone considering reading this book that you don’t do that because I found that knowing where it was heading somewhat spoiled the book and I think I’d prefer to have read it not knowing. That said, the dramatic conclusion is a rather obvious one, so I think I might have guessed what was going to happen.
There are three, maybe four, main characters in Fortune and the story revolves around these people. Eddie Wade is an oilman who is convinced there is oil close to the surface under land owned by Sonny Chatterjee (Sonny is my “maybe character” because he doesn’t feature as much as the other three). Tito Fernanadez is the man Eddie meets in fortuitous fashion and who provides funds for Eddie. And Ada Fernandez is Tito’s wife.
You don’t have to work very hard to guess what will happen to the oil drilling business or what will happen when Eddie and Tito’s business relationship means Eddie gets to know Ada.
But maybe it doesn’t matter that the two main stories being told have somewhat obvious endings. The book is well written and tells a good story. It would make a great movie. And I enjoyed the view of Trinidad it gives and what I learned about the island in the process of reading.
This is a solid 3 star book for me, where 3 stars means I enjoyed the experience of reading the book but I never found myself getting really excited about reading it.
September 15, 2021
Note to self- MUST read locally more!
I loved reading about my little island of Trinidad in the 20s
I loved reading about my little island of Trinidad in the 20s
September 20, 2021
This book was chosen for September for my Book Club's read. I am SO very happy that it was chosen. This book was a solid 5 stars!
As a Trinidadian, I really enjoyed seeing what my country would have looked like in the 1920s when oil was just starting to be a big deal in our country.
I believe the author did a fantastic job of recreating that world for the readers, of the time, the culture, the different social and cultural groups that exist in our diaspora. This is one of the best representations of Trinidadian culture, language and experience that I have had with a local book so far and I absolutely loved it.
The story was interesting and actually took me down a path that I wasn't expecting. I loved everything about it.
As a Trinidadian, I really enjoyed seeing what my country would have looked like in the 1920s when oil was just starting to be a big deal in our country.
I believe the author did a fantastic job of recreating that world for the readers, of the time, the culture, the different social and cultural groups that exist in our diaspora. This is one of the best representations of Trinidadian culture, language and experience that I have had with a local book so far and I absolutely loved it.
The story was interesting and actually took me down a path that I wasn't expecting. I loved everything about it.
April 19, 2022
Fortune, in the many senses of the word, is a recurring theme of the book. The most obvious is the chance meeting between Eddie and Tito that opens the book. It brings about a partnership that offers the possibility for both of them to make a fortune through exploiting the oil reserves to be found beneath the soil of Trinidad. For Tito, it offers the opportunity to address his precarious financial situation, one which he has kept hidden from his wife, Ada, and wider society who see only a cigar-smoking, luxury loving man of the world. For Eddie, an instinctive risk-taker, it appeals to his ambitious nature. ‘In Trinidad you can be the first, a pioneer.’
The cocoa trees on Sonny Chatterjee’s estate are dying and though he is reluctant to allow drilling for oil on his land – he has repeatedly resisted offers from a large oil corporation – he wonders if perhaps this is the opportunity he has been waiting for. ‘What if, through meeting Eddie, his luck had changed?… What if he could show her [his wife, Sita] is was her good fortune to be married to him?’
Tito is keen to include Eddie in his social circle which eventually leads to Eddie being introduced to Tito’s family. You sense the immediate attraction between Ada, disillusioned with her relationship with Tito and her life in general, and Eddie, starstruck by the beautiful, bewitching Ada. For Eddie, Ada is ‘a woman who could make people stop what they are doing to look at her’. Eddie, with his energy and film star looks, is like no-one Ada’s ever met before. ‘It seemed to Ada he could have fallen out of the sky.’
However, there’s also a sense of foreboding as their relationship seems reckless on both their parts: Ada, because it threatens her marriage, and Eddie, because it threatens his lucrative business partnership with Tito. I felt there was a real The Great Gatsby vibe to the triangular relationship. Drawn together by a seemingly irresistible force, the risk of discovery is a game of chance that Ada in particular seems willing to play. The author injects a real sense of eroticism into the descriptions of their sexual encounters. ‘He searched her body like a thief, looking for something.’
Of course, drilling for oil is a risky venture – a game of chance – and not without its dangers as is demonstrated when a small act, provoked by an act of betrayal, has unintended consequences. ‘The little things you do sometimes change your destiny.’
Based on real events, Fortune is a fascinating glimpse into an aspect of Trinidad’s history that was completely new to me. It’s a skilfully crafted story that explores how strong emotions – passion, despair, ambition – can make people risk everything.
The cocoa trees on Sonny Chatterjee’s estate are dying and though he is reluctant to allow drilling for oil on his land – he has repeatedly resisted offers from a large oil corporation – he wonders if perhaps this is the opportunity he has been waiting for. ‘What if, through meeting Eddie, his luck had changed?… What if he could show her [his wife, Sita] is was her good fortune to be married to him?’
Tito is keen to include Eddie in his social circle which eventually leads to Eddie being introduced to Tito’s family. You sense the immediate attraction between Ada, disillusioned with her relationship with Tito and her life in general, and Eddie, starstruck by the beautiful, bewitching Ada. For Eddie, Ada is ‘a woman who could make people stop what they are doing to look at her’. Eddie, with his energy and film star looks, is like no-one Ada’s ever met before. ‘It seemed to Ada he could have fallen out of the sky.’
However, there’s also a sense of foreboding as their relationship seems reckless on both their parts: Ada, because it threatens her marriage, and Eddie, because it threatens his lucrative business partnership with Tito. I felt there was a real The Great Gatsby vibe to the triangular relationship. Drawn together by a seemingly irresistible force, the risk of discovery is a game of chance that Ada in particular seems willing to play. The author injects a real sense of eroticism into the descriptions of their sexual encounters. ‘He searched her body like a thief, looking for something.’
Of course, drilling for oil is a risky venture – a game of chance – and not without its dangers as is demonstrated when a small act, provoked by an act of betrayal, has unintended consequences. ‘The little things you do sometimes change your destiny.’
Based on real events, Fortune is a fascinating glimpse into an aspect of Trinidad’s history that was completely new to me. It’s a skilfully crafted story that explores how strong emotions – passion, despair, ambition – can make people risk everything.
July 22, 2021
Yes, as the blurb warns us, the stuff of Greek tragedy. The characters live for me, the locations are vivid and the atmosphere of the 1920s oil-rush is palpable. I loved it.
August 13, 2021
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 makes you feel sympathy for even the less appealing characters in the face of their thrill and apprehension for the future of 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. And there’s also a passionate 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!
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 makes you feel sympathy for even the less appealing characters in the face of their thrill and apprehension for the future of 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. And there’s also a passionate 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!
Read
May 2, 2022Like the black oil that oozes up through the earth, the distinctive snobberies of class and race permeate everything in this story set in 1920s Trinidad. You can almost smell the mud and sweat and oil and the heady blossoms in this fine, gripping, sensual novel.
The slow burn of the attraction between oil prospector Eddie and Ada, the wife of Eddie's business partner Tito, is superbly done. The plot is meticulously wound so that Eddie, Ada and Tito's tale of illicit passion and its consequences converges with one about the nerve-wrackingly difficult and perilous job of drilling for oil and bringing in new wells. (The research, incidentally, is lightly worn and unobtrusive.) The two main strands of the novel intersect to devastating effect in the dramatic denouement.
The writing of this natural storyteller is excellent, often lyrical, in a way that conveys the sights, sounds and smells of the country. The land itself seems, appropriately, a central character. 1920s Trinidad is at a point of inflection: intrepid amateur oilmen chasing the black gold are about to be supplanted by the international corporations. All this is beautifully caught in Fortune. Its themes, though - of ambition, greed, passion, revenge and fate - are universal. Highly recommended.
Full disclosure: Amanda and I are members of the same writers' group.
The slow burn of the attraction between oil prospector Eddie and Ada, the wife of Eddie's business partner Tito, is superbly done. The plot is meticulously wound so that Eddie, Ada and Tito's tale of illicit passion and its consequences converges with one about the nerve-wrackingly difficult and perilous job of drilling for oil and bringing in new wells. (The research, incidentally, is lightly worn and unobtrusive.) The two main strands of the novel intersect to devastating effect in the dramatic denouement.
The writing of this natural storyteller is excellent, often lyrical, in a way that conveys the sights, sounds and smells of the country. The land itself seems, appropriately, a central character. 1920s Trinidad is at a point of inflection: intrepid amateur oilmen chasing the black gold are about to be supplanted by the international corporations. All this is beautifully caught in Fortune. Its themes, though - of ambition, greed, passion, revenge and fate - are universal. Highly recommended.
Full disclosure: Amanda and I are members of the same writers' group.
August 14, 2021
This is a beautiful heart-rending novel. It's a love story and a portrait of raw ambition. It captures the guts and heat of the oil boom in 1920s Trinidad. The prose is wonderful, prize-winning, and reflects the lush landscapes as well as the intensity of everyone's desire––whether that be for love or status or fortune.
July 25, 2021
While the focus of Fortune is oil, readers will realise this is also a novel about migration, relationships, love, greed, deception and taking risks. It will require re-reading for the sheer beauty of the language and the need to ponder symbolic anecdotes that readers might overlook on that first read because it is easy to be swept up in the plot.
Confessions contrast with secrets. Prophecies, including one by a Hopi Indian in Arizona, foreshadow the future. Calming descriptions of the setting juxtaposed with plot-driven tension enhance conflicts. Only in the end is it possible to see the brilliant structure of the novel, which pairs off characters with their conflicts: tradition vs progress, rebellion vs conformity, luck vs fate.
By the end of the book, anecdotes which form indelible images in the readers’ mind merge like frames in a movie. Fortune is much more than a pivotal historical moment capturing the demise of the cocoa industry and the rise of oil. It is a harrowing vision of environmental disaster, cultural erosion and personal demise. In many ways, it is a classic man-against-nature story, but most of all it is the story of relationships.
Confessions contrast with secrets. Prophecies, including one by a Hopi Indian in Arizona, foreshadow the future. Calming descriptions of the setting juxtaposed with plot-driven tension enhance conflicts. Only in the end is it possible to see the brilliant structure of the novel, which pairs off characters with their conflicts: tradition vs progress, rebellion vs conformity, luck vs fate.
By the end of the book, anecdotes which form indelible images in the readers’ mind merge like frames in a movie. Fortune is much more than a pivotal historical moment capturing the demise of the cocoa industry and the rise of oil. It is a harrowing vision of environmental disaster, cultural erosion and personal demise. In many ways, it is a classic man-against-nature story, but most of all it is the story of relationships.
July 23, 2021
It is a great feat for an author to pen down an entire book based on true events. I can say without any reservations that Fortune by Amanda Smyth is an incredibly impactful and stunning addition to Carribean literature.
Set against the backdrop of 1920s Trinidad, Fortune takes us on a ride through the oilfields in the US. The story begins as Eddie's truck breaks down and he is fortuitously offered help by Tito who further strikes a business deal with Eddie. Eddie moved back home in hopes of drilling Sonny Chatterjee's cocoa estate and he is elated when Sonny gives him the go-ahead. The three men who seek to rise enter into a partnership and their families connect with each other. Soon, their lives start to merge. How can this end well?
All of them have a certain motive and eventually they only want to build their fortune. Eddie wants to make his own living in Trinidad. Tito is losing money and tries his luck by funding Eddie's project. Sonny's estate which is destined to be farmed for cocoa is failing and he eventually gives in to Eddie's pleas of drilling his estate for oil. Fortune showcases diversity within diversity and unearths the events surrounding the oil-rush. It is an extremely honest and fascinating account of how the oil business affects their personal lives.
Each page is immersed with a hint of melancholy - such is the beauty of Smyth's prose. She paints the journey of every character without any filters which leaves the reader in awe of her brilliant characterisation and vivid storytelling skills. What takes Fortune above the other historical fiction books is its exploration of love and ambition in addition to the reverberating consequences of the oil-rush in Trinidad and Tobago. Between its pages, you'll find the images of love. You'll find the portrayal of greed. You'll find the power of money. Most importantly, at the crux of this book you'll find people yearning to get what they want even if it means burning all the bridges along the way.
I was immediately drawn to Smyth's words and her work left me utterly devastated. Fortune is definitely one of the finest Carribean novels that I have read and I urge you to pick it up. An enlightening, heart-breaking and quietly arresting title. Massive thank you to ED PR and Peepal Tree Press for the gifted copy! Fortune by Amanda Smyth is out now, published by Peepal Tree Press priced £10.99 in Paperback Original.
Set against the backdrop of 1920s Trinidad, Fortune takes us on a ride through the oilfields in the US. The story begins as Eddie's truck breaks down and he is fortuitously offered help by Tito who further strikes a business deal with Eddie. Eddie moved back home in hopes of drilling Sonny Chatterjee's cocoa estate and he is elated when Sonny gives him the go-ahead. The three men who seek to rise enter into a partnership and their families connect with each other. Soon, their lives start to merge. How can this end well?
All of them have a certain motive and eventually they only want to build their fortune. Eddie wants to make his own living in Trinidad. Tito is losing money and tries his luck by funding Eddie's project. Sonny's estate which is destined to be farmed for cocoa is failing and he eventually gives in to Eddie's pleas of drilling his estate for oil. Fortune showcases diversity within diversity and unearths the events surrounding the oil-rush. It is an extremely honest and fascinating account of how the oil business affects their personal lives.
Each page is immersed with a hint of melancholy - such is the beauty of Smyth's prose. She paints the journey of every character without any filters which leaves the reader in awe of her brilliant characterisation and vivid storytelling skills. What takes Fortune above the other historical fiction books is its exploration of love and ambition in addition to the reverberating consequences of the oil-rush in Trinidad and Tobago. Between its pages, you'll find the images of love. You'll find the portrayal of greed. You'll find the power of money. Most importantly, at the crux of this book you'll find people yearning to get what they want even if it means burning all the bridges along the way.
I was immediately drawn to Smyth's words and her work left me utterly devastated. Fortune is definitely one of the finest Carribean novels that I have read and I urge you to pick it up. An enlightening, heart-breaking and quietly arresting title. Massive thank you to ED PR and Peepal Tree Press for the gifted copy! Fortune by Amanda Smyth is out now, published by Peepal Tree Press priced £10.99 in Paperback Original.
June 14, 2021
‘Fortune’ is a fast-paced and compelling historical fiction set against the oil rush which occurred in Trinidad in the 1920s.
Inspired by real characters and events, it tells the story of a diverse set individuals drawn together by the unifying goal of playing their luck to get what they want! Be it oil, money, power or love - each of the central characters is running their own game of chance and sailing rather too close to the wind for victory to be sustainable.
Eddie Wade is the novel’s charismatic protagonist, a maverick American with a sixth sense for detecting and exploiting oil reserves on a shoestring budget. With financial backing from local businessman Tito and his beautiful wife Ada, they begin to dig for ‘Black Gold’ on Kushi, a failing Cocoa estate which is the ancestral home of Sonny Chatterjee and his family. The narrative follows their respective journeys from hope to riches, and watches on as the dangers of the oil business seep into their personal and family lives. The prose is incredibly rich and emotive in documenting the beautiful landscape and people of Trinidad. Superficially the men are running this show. However, the subtlety and brilliance of Smyth’s writing demonstrates that the women are the real powerhouse characters in the novel. Premonitions and omens play a powerful role throughout the narrative, and it is the women who can sense danger coming. Grace (Eddie’s housekeeper), and Sita (Sonny’s wife), both caution that bad omens bring bad outcomes, but their warnings go unheeded. Smyth builds intensity in the novel so beautifully – as the oil flows you feel the relentless pull, swept downstream towards peril.
The book contains subtle commentaries on the immense wealth derived from colonialism via the exploitation of other people, as well as our relentless over consumption of fossil fuels. It highlights the devastation (both environmental and human), of the unsustainable misuse of natural resources. It’s a sensational read!
Inspired by real characters and events, it tells the story of a diverse set individuals drawn together by the unifying goal of playing their luck to get what they want! Be it oil, money, power or love - each of the central characters is running their own game of chance and sailing rather too close to the wind for victory to be sustainable.
Eddie Wade is the novel’s charismatic protagonist, a maverick American with a sixth sense for detecting and exploiting oil reserves on a shoestring budget. With financial backing from local businessman Tito and his beautiful wife Ada, they begin to dig for ‘Black Gold’ on Kushi, a failing Cocoa estate which is the ancestral home of Sonny Chatterjee and his family. The narrative follows their respective journeys from hope to riches, and watches on as the dangers of the oil business seep into their personal and family lives. The prose is incredibly rich and emotive in documenting the beautiful landscape and people of Trinidad. Superficially the men are running this show. However, the subtlety and brilliance of Smyth’s writing demonstrates that the women are the real powerhouse characters in the novel. Premonitions and omens play a powerful role throughout the narrative, and it is the women who can sense danger coming. Grace (Eddie’s housekeeper), and Sita (Sonny’s wife), both caution that bad omens bring bad outcomes, but their warnings go unheeded. Smyth builds intensity in the novel so beautifully – as the oil flows you feel the relentless pull, swept downstream towards peril.
The book contains subtle commentaries on the immense wealth derived from colonialism via the exploitation of other people, as well as our relentless over consumption of fossil fuels. It highlights the devastation (both environmental and human), of the unsustainable misuse of natural resources. It’s a sensational read!
December 5, 2022
Fantastic read. The pacing of the story was expertly done, the author's ability to write vivid characters was superb, and the story itself was riveting. The fact that it was built around an actual event was so intriguing to me. I've never read anything about Trinidad set in this era, but I was able to picture so many parts of the city she described because a lot of it is preserved in photographs or still standing today. I haven't read a book that captured my imagination like this in a long time. I was transported. One of the best books I read this year.
July 25, 2021
Enter another time and another place, Trinadad at the turn of the 20th century, oil was on everyone's lips. We all have Eddie in us, a prospector, looking for his fortune. Ada and Tito become part of the triangle which will consume them all. I couldn't put this down and read it over 2 days. Steinbeck-esque this is destined to be a classic.
July 2, 2021
1920’s Trinidad. Eddie Wade is an ambitious man who has a sixth sense for all things oil. Tired of working for others he has dreams to drill his own well. On a trip to visit Sonny Chatterjee, a failing cocoa farmer who’s land is rich in oil, Eddie’s truck breaks down. As luck would have it Tito Fernandez, a local businessman gives Eddie a lift to town and a strong friendship is formed between the two men and Eddie receives the financial backing that he desperately needs. Sonny has been reluctant to lease his land as the drilling will disrupt his family but also his family’s ancestral land. His heart is in the cocoa trees and the land but because he wants a better life for his family a business deal is eventually struck between Eddie, Tito and Sonny. Upon meeting Ada, Tito’s beautiful young wife, Eddie and Ada are instantly attracted to each other. Loyal to Tito’s friendship Eddie tries to fight the attraction but he can’t help how his heart feels. What follows are many highs and desperate lows of love, ambition and fortune that can either be the making or the breaking of these men.
This captivating novel is based on true events that happened during the oil rush in 1920’s Trinidad. The warm, rich descriptive style absorbs you into the narrative that is full of kind hearted, hard working and passionate people. It’s entwined with hopes, dreams, love, history, culture, illness and superstitions. Amanda Smyths way with words reminds me of my favourite Robert James Waller books, it’s like an experience or a song, it gets into you. It was an adventure that had me mesmerised and I could nearly feel the stifling heat coming off the pages! Each character was so well developed and brought depth and a unique energy, especially the female characters that brought a quiet strength and intuitive knowledge.
I will definitely be reading and adding Amanda’s previous books to my collection!
Many thanks to @amandasmythstories
@peepaltreepress
and @ed.pr for the gifted copy of the book
#Fortune
#AmandaSmyth
#PeepalTreePress
#Caribbeanreads
This captivating novel is based on true events that happened during the oil rush in 1920’s Trinidad. The warm, rich descriptive style absorbs you into the narrative that is full of kind hearted, hard working and passionate people. It’s entwined with hopes, dreams, love, history, culture, illness and superstitions. Amanda Smyths way with words reminds me of my favourite Robert James Waller books, it’s like an experience or a song, it gets into you. It was an adventure that had me mesmerised and I could nearly feel the stifling heat coming off the pages! Each character was so well developed and brought depth and a unique energy, especially the female characters that brought a quiet strength and intuitive knowledge.
I will definitely be reading and adding Amanda’s previous books to my collection!
Many thanks to @amandasmythstories
@peepaltreepress
and @ed.pr for the gifted copy of the book
#Fortune
#AmandaSmyth
#PeepalTreePress
#Caribbeanreads
July 9, 2021
This is in a incredible story which takes the reader back to the 1920’s in Trinidad.
Eddie Wades truck breaks down and the offer of help from Tito Fernandez is the beginning of the journey involving money, greed and illicit relationships.
Tito’s money is dwindling and sees an opportunity to invest in the oil business and utilising Eddie’s expertise they persuade the owner Sonny Chatterjee of the Kushi estate which has a failing cocoa business to let them use the land to drill for oil.
Eddie and Tito develop a strong friendship as well as business relationship along the way.
Without saying to much, there is a love element to the story but instead of detracting from the actual story, it added to the characters development perfectly.
It felt a little dangerous at times which added a little suspense to the story as well but eloquently done at the same time
The build up the conclusion was tragic and emotional especially knowing that the story is based on a true story but the writing and plot throughout was flawless and came alive with strong authentic and vivid characters especially the charismatic Eddie and Ada whose beauty radiated from the pages.
I loved the history and culture of this fictional story which was based on a true events. I felt I learnt so much whilst reading this beautifully told story,
even the technical process of the oil drilling was not over complicated and easily understood and made interesting. I Love it when finishing a book I want to learn more about the history and events from the story always a strong indicator of a fascinating story.
A story of ambition and love embroiled in the oil industry which will have you enthralled from the first page right to the end.
4.5 stars
Eddie Wades truck breaks down and the offer of help from Tito Fernandez is the beginning of the journey involving money, greed and illicit relationships.
Tito’s money is dwindling and sees an opportunity to invest in the oil business and utilising Eddie’s expertise they persuade the owner Sonny Chatterjee of the Kushi estate which has a failing cocoa business to let them use the land to drill for oil.
Eddie and Tito develop a strong friendship as well as business relationship along the way.
Without saying to much, there is a love element to the story but instead of detracting from the actual story, it added to the characters development perfectly.
It felt a little dangerous at times which added a little suspense to the story as well but eloquently done at the same time
The build up the conclusion was tragic and emotional especially knowing that the story is based on a true story but the writing and plot throughout was flawless and came alive with strong authentic and vivid characters especially the charismatic Eddie and Ada whose beauty radiated from the pages.
I loved the history and culture of this fictional story which was based on a true events. I felt I learnt so much whilst reading this beautifully told story,
even the technical process of the oil drilling was not over complicated and easily understood and made interesting. I Love it when finishing a book I want to learn more about the history and events from the story always a strong indicator of a fascinating story.
A story of ambition and love embroiled in the oil industry which will have you enthralled from the first page right to the end.
4.5 stars
June 7, 2021
Set in Trinidad in the 1920s, Fortune takes us on a journey of oil discovery and an unlikely partnership forged between Eddie Wade and Tito Fernandez. With Eddie's knowledge and expertise and Tito's funding, they are able to convince Sonny Chatterjee of the potential wealth he owns and forge an agreement to drill on his estate. Sonny's reluctance is understandable but his failing cocoa estate and impending poverty are driving factors to his eventual acquiescence. Added into the cast of characters is Tito's wife, Ada, with whom Eddie finds an undeniable attraction but which could prove detrimental to all involved.
The author tells a beautiful story with her character descriptions being so vibrant and rich. Snippets of each individual's upbringing are woven into the novel which draw you into their history and allow you to appreciate and empathize with their choices and decisions. Her descriptions of Trinidad are beautifully historic and create a vivid portrait of what life was in this era. Even her recounting of oil drilling was told in a way that allowed you to appreciate the process without being overwhelmed with technicalities.
The novel's blurb describes this book as being about love, money, greed and ambition and Amanda Smyth most definitely delivered!
The author tells a beautiful story with her character descriptions being so vibrant and rich. Snippets of each individual's upbringing are woven into the novel which draw you into their history and allow you to appreciate and empathize with their choices and decisions. Her descriptions of Trinidad are beautifully historic and create a vivid portrait of what life was in this era. Even her recounting of oil drilling was told in a way that allowed you to appreciate the process without being overwhelmed with technicalities.
The novel's blurb describes this book as being about love, money, greed and ambition and Amanda Smyth most definitely delivered!
May 15, 2023
I enjoyed this read though not thoroughly….Some parts of the novel I found to be a snore fest while other parts hooked me and kept me to the edge of my seat. I guess after seeing bookstagramers boast of this piece I had extremely high hopes…too high hopes. It was a good book nonetheless.
November 27, 2023
This is a tragic story which has strong resonances with the archetypal Greek myth of humans ‘flying too high and over-reaching themselves’ as in the story of Bellerophon flying on Pegasus up to Mount Olympus, the home of the gods, thus incurring the anger of the gods with his hubris.
In this novel by Amanda Smyth, set in 1920s Trinidad during the discovery of rich oil-fields, sexual deception, greed and betrayal, miscommunication, unforgiveness and fear of the truth, all work together to bring about an outcome of disastrous proportions.
Within the story, the author shows how the oil drilling expert Eddie and the investor Tito are bound together by the compulsion to always get more, unable to stop their addiction to money, only to finally pay the price for violating the spirits of the land. The catalyst for their downfall is Tito’s beautiful wife Ada. The story acts as a metaphor for uncontrolled desire and the inevitable outcome if we fail to put the wellbeing of our environment before our greed for immediate gratification and material gain.
I loved the characters of Sonny and Sita Chatterjee, who own the land which Eddie and Tito want to exploit to drill for oil: and they are the ones to be initially very dubious and unwilling, and also the first to get ‘the bad feeling’ close to the end of the novel – exacerbated by the felling of the sacred and highly-revered silk cotton tree.
The atmosphere of Trinidad is conveyed in such a rich way that it engages all the reader’s senses: the flora and fauna, the climate, the culture, the complexities of the human society and the contrast between rich and poor.
A highly absorbing novel which draws you through to the shocking outcome with a relentless pace.
In this novel by Amanda Smyth, set in 1920s Trinidad during the discovery of rich oil-fields, sexual deception, greed and betrayal, miscommunication, unforgiveness and fear of the truth, all work together to bring about an outcome of disastrous proportions.
Within the story, the author shows how the oil drilling expert Eddie and the investor Tito are bound together by the compulsion to always get more, unable to stop their addiction to money, only to finally pay the price for violating the spirits of the land. The catalyst for their downfall is Tito’s beautiful wife Ada. The story acts as a metaphor for uncontrolled desire and the inevitable outcome if we fail to put the wellbeing of our environment before our greed for immediate gratification and material gain.
I loved the characters of Sonny and Sita Chatterjee, who own the land which Eddie and Tito want to exploit to drill for oil: and they are the ones to be initially very dubious and unwilling, and also the first to get ‘the bad feeling’ close to the end of the novel – exacerbated by the felling of the sacred and highly-revered silk cotton tree.
The atmosphere of Trinidad is conveyed in such a rich way that it engages all the reader’s senses: the flora and fauna, the climate, the culture, the complexities of the human society and the contrast between rich and poor.
A highly absorbing novel which draws you through to the shocking outcome with a relentless pace.
July 5, 2021
Living is an act of courage.
Fortune by Amanda Smyth is a vividly descriptive, absorbing novel set in Trinidad during the Oil Rush days of the 1920s. Eddie Wade, recently returned from the US oilfields, sets his future fortune on Sonny Chatterjee’s cocoa estate, Kushi. The cocoa and sugar industries are in difficulties and there is a new product that is literally swamping the land – oil – Black Gold.
The race is on to sink the wells, but Eddie and his partners, Tito and Sonny, face stiff competition from the mighty Apex Oil Services. Charles Macleod, Apex Manager, is only a field away, watching, drilling, itching to take on the bubbling reserves that Kushi offers. In the midst of the rush for Black Gold, can Eddie’s passion for Tito’s wife, Ada, outweigh his love for oil and riches?
Based on true events, the 1928 Dome Fire, this beautifully written story is a feast on all the senses. We fall under the hypnotic spell of the main characters and are lulled along by the heady narrative, as sweet and seductive as the surrounding landscape and rolling seas. As Marigold and Orange petals float down on to scenes of love, ambition and betrayal, we observe futures that are destined to collide and watch as lives and living becomes as dangerous and as explosive as the gushing oil wells that will make or break the relationships and dreams of those around them.
Fortune is a truly enthralling read with a heart-stopping climax that lingers in the reader’s soul long after the last word is read on the final page.
Fortune by Amanda Smyth is a vividly descriptive, absorbing novel set in Trinidad during the Oil Rush days of the 1920s. Eddie Wade, recently returned from the US oilfields, sets his future fortune on Sonny Chatterjee’s cocoa estate, Kushi. The cocoa and sugar industries are in difficulties and there is a new product that is literally swamping the land – oil – Black Gold.
The race is on to sink the wells, but Eddie and his partners, Tito and Sonny, face stiff competition from the mighty Apex Oil Services. Charles Macleod, Apex Manager, is only a field away, watching, drilling, itching to take on the bubbling reserves that Kushi offers. In the midst of the rush for Black Gold, can Eddie’s passion for Tito’s wife, Ada, outweigh his love for oil and riches?
Based on true events, the 1928 Dome Fire, this beautifully written story is a feast on all the senses. We fall under the hypnotic spell of the main characters and are lulled along by the heady narrative, as sweet and seductive as the surrounding landscape and rolling seas. As Marigold and Orange petals float down on to scenes of love, ambition and betrayal, we observe futures that are destined to collide and watch as lives and living becomes as dangerous and as explosive as the gushing oil wells that will make or break the relationships and dreams of those around them.
Fortune is a truly enthralling read with a heart-stopping climax that lingers in the reader’s soul long after the last word is read on the final page.
July 9, 2023
Trinidad circa 1930
This is the tale of the start of the oil industry in Trinidad. It is a fictionalized account of a major event in Trinidad’s history. A well-researched and descriptive account of life in the upper crust of society – landowners, businessmen, and oil entrepreneurs. It follows a period of time for the main characters in the story, their personal situations, and interpersonal interactions.
I enjoyed the story and the vivid descriptions, but at times it left me a bit flat and confused. There is a long slow buildup to the key relationships and major events that define the exciting and suspenseful latter part of the novel.
One thing that struck me with the story is that race was never mentioned and never played a part in the story. Trinidad of the day would have been a mix of blacks, those with Indian heritage, and white Americans. I’m sure the characters in the story covered the range of backgrounds, but you would have to guess and stretch to ascertain the races of the individuals. There seemed to be no racial tensions or race issues in the story. I’m not sure if that was intentional by the author, or if that was, in fact, the state of affairs in those days.
This is the tale of the start of the oil industry in Trinidad. It is a fictionalized account of a major event in Trinidad’s history. A well-researched and descriptive account of life in the upper crust of society – landowners, businessmen, and oil entrepreneurs. It follows a period of time for the main characters in the story, their personal situations, and interpersonal interactions.
I enjoyed the story and the vivid descriptions, but at times it left me a bit flat and confused. There is a long slow buildup to the key relationships and major events that define the exciting and suspenseful latter part of the novel.
One thing that struck me with the story is that race was never mentioned and never played a part in the story. Trinidad of the day would have been a mix of blacks, those with Indian heritage, and white Americans. I’m sure the characters in the story covered the range of backgrounds, but you would have to guess and stretch to ascertain the races of the individuals. There seemed to be no racial tensions or race issues in the story. I’m not sure if that was intentional by the author, or if that was, in fact, the state of affairs in those days.
November 16, 2022
“…How different things look when you’ve come through them.”
Eddie Wade returns from the U.S. to Trinidad to cash in on the oil-rush with his sights set on Kushi. A failing cocoa estate owned by Sonny Chatterjee. As luck has it, he runs into businessman and investor, Tito Fernandez and the three enter a business agreement. One that ties the three men together in ways unknown. When Ada Fernandez (Tito’s wife) is added to the equation, can Eddie resist temptation or let his fortune fall.
The plot twist in this book took me out. While I’m here thinking, ‘oh this is just a book about oil in Trinidad, nothing too entertaining’.
I was humbled, the twists and drama Smyth threw into this book hit me for six. I am in awe and still shocked at how this novel turned out.
Oil was indeed a major topic, but the drama. Oh my gosh, the drama, whew, the drama, pushed this novel to another level. I was here for all the drama.
Especially the way, the ending almost took me out.
Most definitely a must read.
Eddie Wade returns from the U.S. to Trinidad to cash in on the oil-rush with his sights set on Kushi. A failing cocoa estate owned by Sonny Chatterjee. As luck has it, he runs into businessman and investor, Tito Fernandez and the three enter a business agreement. One that ties the three men together in ways unknown. When Ada Fernandez (Tito’s wife) is added to the equation, can Eddie resist temptation or let his fortune fall.
The plot twist in this book took me out. While I’m here thinking, ‘oh this is just a book about oil in Trinidad, nothing too entertaining’.
I was humbled, the twists and drama Smyth threw into this book hit me for six. I am in awe and still shocked at how this novel turned out.
Oil was indeed a major topic, but the drama. Oh my gosh, the drama, whew, the drama, pushed this novel to another level. I was here for all the drama.
Especially the way, the ending almost took me out.
Most definitely a must read.
February 4, 2023
This is the second book I have read by Amanda Smyth, and I am excited that I will meet her at the Iceland Writers Retreat in April! This is another book set in Trinidad, and again it resonates with me because of the familiarity of the place-names and landscape (places I have been to and roads I have driven on). This book is particularly well done because of the way she writes historical fiction, making Trinidad of the 1920s come alive, in the days of the oil-rush, writing about the early days of oil drilling in an accessible and understandable way without anything overly technical. It is party based on a true story (involving a driller named Bobby Wade - and in her book Amanda Smyth has focused on a driller named Eddie Wade). She has also woven in a love triangle into the story; all in all, this is a page turner and I would recommend it to anyone, whether you have been to Trinidad or not.
August 4, 2021
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...
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...
November 23, 2021
Such a wonderful read. Ms Smyth's descriptions of Trinidad are so lyrical it feels like being there. Set between the two world wars this is a story about love and oil. When Eddie was a young man he left Trinidad to work in oil fields in America. Now in his 30's he's back hoping to find oil on Sonny Chatterjee's farm. When older man Tito offers to back him his dream looks set to become real. But Tito has financial troubles of his own and is hoping finding oil will help recoup his losses. When Eddie meets Ada, Tito's much younger wife, there's an instant attraction which leads to an affair that will have tragic consequences for all. Wonderfully descriptive writing brought this read alive.
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