Do Choices Really Make Us Who We Are?



Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for a copy of The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin.  This novel is her second.  The first is The American Heiress.   The author opens with a letter about her fascination with Sisi or Elizabeth the Empress of Austria which the author makes comparisons to Princess Diana.  There are also other characters such as Charlotte Baird, her brother Fred and his fiancée Augusta Crewe, and Bay Middleton.  What is a fortune hunter?

Synopsis: 

Charlotte Baird is busy developing her pictures.  She is a photographer much to the chagrin of her brother Fred.  She is also an heiress of her mother’s Lennox Fortune.  But why is this so important?  It might be because of who she might meet.  Bay Middleton is a friend of Fred Baird.  He has just been brushed aside by his most recent lover.  Bay is also asked to be the pilot for the deposed queen of Naples.  He refuses but he might get another offer that he can’t refuse from the Empress of Austria Sisi.   What does Bay truly desire?  How can he persue both relationships with Sisi and Charlotte?

My Thoughts: 

I liked this novel.  I loved how the author made the characters so realistic.  I felt that I could relate to Charlotte, Bay, Sisi, and some of the other characters.  This story is set in England in the late 1870s.   It focuses on a real relationship between Bay and Sisi.  The novel does not mention go over how long this relationship lasted. There is a post script of what eventually happens to Charlotte and Bay.

The most interesting question is there are people really bad?  Do we always have to agree with that particular person?  Bay is the fortune hunter in this novel.  He has some interesting choices to make between two women.  Of course in England with the royalty and the wealthy upper class reputation is everything including whether a person has a title.  I liked the fact that Bay and Charlotte didn’t let this ultimately stop them from living their lives.

My least favorite part of the novel is how it dragged in parts.  Still an enjoyable read and worth checking out!  

Rating: 
4/5
Please visit Daisy on her Facebook Page, Twitter, and Her Website.

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