The fortunate ones

Ed Tarkington, 1973-

Book - 2021

"When young Charlie Boykin gains entry into the wealthy society of the most exclusive part of Nashville, he falls under its spell. But he soon learns what he'd have to give up in return in this novel that asks why we envy and worship a class of people that so often exhibits the worst excesses"--Provided by publisher.

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FICTION/Tarkingt Ed
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Subjects
Genres
Bildungsromans
Published
Chapel Hill, North Carolina : Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill 2021.
Language
English
Main Author
Ed Tarkington, 1973- (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
308 pages ; 24 cm
ISBN
9781616206802
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Charlie Boykin doesn't really question why he is suddenly lifted from his dangerous East Nashville public school to receive a need-based scholarship at Yeatman, an exclusive boarding school. Nor does he think too much about how easily he becomes close to the glamorous student, Arch Creigh, assigned to show him around. Charlie is quickly infatuated with Arch and his rarefied life among Nashville's elite--and with Arch's girlfriend, Vanessa. Even as the cracks begin to show--the drinking and nastiness of Vanessa's mother, Vanessa's twin brother Jamie's sullenness, the frequent absences of their father from home--Arch becomes so important to Charlie that he calls him brother. But when the real reason for Charlie's sudden elevation comes out, he runs away in disgust. It takes a devastating loss to bring him back into Arch's orbit, as Arch becomes a rising political star. This time there is no escaping until deeply buried secrets bubble to the surface. Delicious with drawn-out tension and intrigue, The Fortunate Ones is an atmospheric triumph.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Tarkington's spirited coming-of-age story (after Only Love Can Break Your Heart) focuses on class differences and the fraught bond between two boys in 1980s Tennessee. After fatherless Charlie Boykin, who lives on the wrong side of East Nashville with his cocktail waitress mother, wins a scholarship to a private school, he becomes ensconced in the upper crust society of posh neighboring town Belle Meade. Befriended by golden boy and fellow freshman Arch Creigh, also fatherless, Charlie is introduced to a world of privilege and is soon caught up in a love triangle with Arch's girlfriend, Vanessa. Charlie never feels truly at home among his wealthy peers, though his friendship with Arch continues through college and beyond, when he helps Arch with his political career after Arch marries Vanessa. Tarkington frames the story with middle-aged Charlie's present-day narration, in which he learns that Arch, now a U.S. senator, has died by suicide. While there's no shortage of melodrama, the author skillfully unpacks Charlie's uneasy feelings about helping Arch, who abandoned his principles for political gain, and Charlie's reaction to learning the truth behind why he was offered the scholarship. Tarkington's strong story of loyalty and the corruption of privilege transcends the familiar set-up. (Jan.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A hefty political page-turner about what it means to have money and how we fall in love with it. Tarkington begins his pungent political drama with an epigraph from Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men, announcing his lofty intentions before the novel proper has even begun. By turns sprawling and intimate, the book looks at the blessing and curse of Southern noblesse oblige through the eyes of those who have and those who don't. Arch Creigh got his leg up from a new-money uncle, and he sees his future in the realm of Republican politics in his native Nashville. His boyhood friend, also the story's narrator, is Charlie Boykin, a conscientious poor kid with a young, pretty mom and only a few scruples about accepting a helping hand. Tarkington is a gifted storyteller, largely because he knows how to let his finely developed characters do the heavy lifting. Money isn't all that separates the novel's nouveau riche from its reluctant strivers. There's also the matter of idealism, always an iffy prospect in politics; and authenticity, which grows elusive as fine living and friends in high places seduce and destroy what lies in their paths. Charlie, who didn't grow up with money, essentially falls in love with what and whom it represents, including Arch's wife, Vanessa. Tarkington weaves in some scandal--an affair, an abortion, and enough secrets to keep readers guessing. But he's not just prompting the next page turn. The novel is concerned with what lies beneath both the best intentions and worst impulses. There's a tantalizingly thin line between love and desire here. Mistaking one for the other is easy. It's also catastrophic. An impressive literary balancing act that entertains as it enriches. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.