Five Fortunes

By Beth Gutcheon

Book Overview

"She has absolutely perfect pitch when it comes to capturing the voices of these remarkable women. This seems to me to be the quintessential American woman's tale. I loved it." -- Anne Rivers Siddons Five Fortunes, the funny and hope-filled new novel from acclaimed author Beth Gutcheon, is about a year in the life of five remarkable women, each of whom saves her own life by trying to do the right thing for somebody else. Rae Strouse is a lively octogenarian with an ailing husband. Carter Bond is a private investigator trying to give up smoking. Amy and Jill Burrows are a mother and teenage daughter traveling together, bearing a secret weight of baggage between them. Laura Lopez, reeling from the death of her politician husband, needs a new set of dreams. They are about to meet at a fabled health spa called The Cloisters, known affectionately to its devotees as Fat Chance. Gutcheon weaves a large-hearted tale of five vivid and memorable women who know where they've been but have no idea where they're going. In the luxury boot-camp atmosphere of The Cloisters, where doctors, lawyers, spoiled housewives, movie stars and captains of industry are stripped of makeup and jewelry and the other social markers that keep people from really seeing each other, surprising friendships can be made, with surprising consequences. In this year of their lives, these five women learn that it is both true and untrue that we make our own luck. Though the worlds they inhabit are as real as tomorrow's newspaper stories, constantly reminding them how closely linked are rich and poor, fortune and misfortune, there is also a magic to the tale that causes it to resonate long after the book is finished. Beth Gutcheon is the critically acclaimed author of four novels, The New Girls, Still Missing, Domestic Pleasures and Saying Grace. She is the writer of several film scripts, including the Academy Award nominee The Children of Theatre Street. She lives in New York City.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060176792
• ISBN13: 9780060176792
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: William Morrow
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.3" x 6.1"

Customer Reviews

Couldn't put it down

I gave this book to my mother for mother's day and had 1/3 of it read before she left with it, it was so engrossing. The story was wonderful, made me want to go to the Cloisters which is the health spa/fat farm where the 5 main characters meet. It is a story of life and love, and overcoming things that occur in your life. Each character has to deal with a life altering occurence. They meet at the Cloisters, for one week, and then go their very separate ways. Each one finds a little something of herself while at the spa. The book follows them throughout the next year of their life. During this year, each woman seems to go through some sort of life altering experience, and through something they gained from their friendship at the spa they are able to face their experiences and triumph. THere are quite a few secondary characters, and about halfway through it made me wish I had written them down as a "scorecard" to keep track of who was whom. Had to page back from time to time to figure out some reference. Overall an extremely enjoyable read, one that would be a good book club book as it will generate great discussion. One pet peeve, they describe the 18 yr old as being enormous, and she is only 180lbs. I realize to some this is enormous, but to me it is not. To each his own, I guess.

What a delight!

I took to this book after having read several of author Amy Tan's work. It was about five women who meet at a spa and how their lives became tangled. I laughed, cried, and was astonished at events and mysteries of these women while their friendships grew. This was a great little read during vacation!!

Wonderfully-crafted story

My mom handed me this book and said, "Here, you have to read this." Skeptical, I opened the first page and couldn't put it down until the end. Gutcheon crafts a wonderful, thought-proviking story of 5 different women and the trials and tribulations of their lives.

Wonderful Book

I loved this book, from the first page I was hooked. I didn't have a problem following the rich character development, and I think the author tied the women together with a rich mix of generational and social backgrounds. I recommend it to all my friends.

GREAT SUMMER READING!

Loved the characters, loved the story line. LOVED IT! I finished the book over the weekend while the laundry piled up!!! Oh well! Treat yourself to some new friends ... Laurie, Rae, Jill, Amy and Carter. What a group! Rae is a wonderful older woman who I'd love for a mother-in-law! Jill and Amy have the usual mother/daughter relationship but you are able to watch it mature and grow. What every mother hopes for ... to be friends with her teen-age daughter. Carter is the immortal 'girl most likely to not ....' She turns out to be a real friend to Jill at the lowest point in her life. And Laurie ... who could not like Laurie. She just lost her husband, has 5 kids and is burned out. Wow! Does she come a long way! Take a chance and read this book ... it won't disappoint you!