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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
The latest from acclaimed Canadian writer Richards (Nights Below Station Street; Mercy Among the Children) offers an uneven but beautifully mournful portrait of life in the unforgiving landscape of postwar New Brunswick. Mary Jameson, the widow of a lumber magnate, hopes to stymie the prophecy she receives from a fortune-teller—that her oldest son will be powerful and her younger son will bring glory upon the family, but they will be the end of the family. When Will Jameson, the brash older brother, suffers a fatal logging accident, and Owen, the intellectual younger son, returns a wounded hero from WWII, it seems the prophecy may come true. Owen assumes leadership of the family business, but faced with stiff competition, he sends men to fell timber deep in hazardous terrain. Logging troubles, combined with Owen's military service with Reggie Glidden, Will's best friend, and a romantic entanglement with Reggie's wife, touches off a devastating sequence of events. The book's most resonant moments spring from Richards's account of Jameson's loggers. Though undercut in places by a thick colloquialism, Richards's work at its best approaches the poetic nuances of Greek tragedy. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Unknown Binding edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Unknown Binding edition.
From Booklist
A multifaceted novel by an award-winning Canadian writer, this work begins at a slow pace, both illustrating and reflecting on the petty cruelties of human beings toward each other. Like a Shakespearean tragedy, it builds momentum as the deceptions and lies weave a tangled web that finally captures most of the major players in a crushingly tragic outcome. A prophecy at the beginning of the novel takes on a life of its own, leading the reader to ask what might have happened if the "prophetess" had said nothing. Richards clearly demonstrates the vicissitudes of life, how heroes are created, how quickly they can topple from their pedestals, how the scorned can be reviled and then revered. At the same time, situated during and after World War II, in Richards' usual New Brunswick setting in the Miramichi region, he gives us a firsthand view of the brutal life of courageous men in the final years of the lumber industry before mechanization changed an entire way of life. A must-have for Canadian collections in U.S. libraries. Maureen O'Connor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Unknown Binding edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Unknown Binding edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good story, poorly written,
By David Hatherly (Victoria BC) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Friends of Meager Fortune (Hardcover)
The Friends of Meager Fortune has a good overall plot, which will keep you interested if you can get past the first 200 pages. The first half is, well, boring and has insufficient plot development. There are such long descriptions of the difficulties in New Brunswick forestry it makes you want to shout, "Ok, I get it!" The sentence structure is frequently awkward and slows the reader.That said, the story gets better in the latter sections and Richards does a great job of describing the end of an era of manual forestry. The final scene on the last logging day is riveting.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing characters and a fast, galloping, twisting plot,
By Tom A.T.O. Squisher (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Friends of Meager Fortune (Paperback)
I could not put this book down. The plot keeps moving and twisting and creates much anticipation in the reader for what lies around the next turn - sometimes bordering on urgency and desperation. The characters are well-developed and realistic. You will really experience deep emotional reactions, whether to the peril and plight of the brave and innocent, or to the insults and injuries wreaked by the cowardly and wicked. Even the horses in the story are characters and heroes. This story is richly woven of so many different threads - survival in the wilderness and brutal weather; the small town rumor-mill; human jealousy, envy and pettiness; a case of mistaken identity; an innocent man wrongly accused; courtroom drama; family ties, loyalty and treachery. Truly one of the greatest novels I have ever read. Please do yourself a favour and read one of the most unforgettable stories ever written.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Rather Amazing Book,
This review is from: The Friends of Meager Fortune (Hardcover)
This book is sad - and infuriating. How can people be so shallow; how can things stack up so badly for such good people. Richards, once again, has his heroes misjudged by those who should know them best. This book, although at times awkward to read, is a strong story of revenge and spite. It reminded me a little of Jude the Obscure for some reason. Mr. Richards is an excellent writer.
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