Fortune [Paperback]

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.“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 tlsy