The Darlings

Absolutely LOVED The Darlings!!

The Darlings is an incredible book - my favorite read in years!! I cannot recommend it enough. The characters were rich and complex. The narrative was wonderful; once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

The Darlings is a very timely story about the rich and powerful

The Darlings is a very timely story about the rich and powerful at the height of a financial crisis. The upper crust have their problems too as they are impacted with loss, scandal and politics. It’s a different slant on the type of suffering of the super wealthy versus the suffering of the “little guy”. This is a terrifying story of affluence gone wrong and the downward spiral that it causes to all attached parties. This isn’t for the faint of heart.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I read this novel expecting it to be a take on the Bernie Madoff

I read this novel expecting it to be a take on the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. To a certain extent it was, being about a family whose work and family lives were entangled in a financial scandal. Carter Darling employed both of his sons-in-laws, one of whom was just along for the ride and one, Paul, who just came aboard after losing his job as an attorney at the beginning of the recession.

Not many of the wealthy characters are very likable in this book, except for Paul and Merrill. Although Carter came from a working-class background, he was now one of the 1%ers. He spoiled his wife and daughters, and lived a lifestyle to which most people cannot relate.

While reading this book, I thought that there were too many tangential characters. They didn't seem to be moving the story along, I didn't know why they were there. By the end of the story, Alger had put all of the pieces of the puzzle together so cleverly I had to admire her skill. Every character leads to something important.

I also enjoyed her descriptions of characters, like this one:
"Theresa Frankel was a middle-aged woman who looked as though she resided permanently at the intersection of boredom and disinterest."
One sentence and you knew immediately who Teresa was.

The Darlings is a well-crafted story, and even if you don't like most of the characters, you'll want to see where this story is going. And Alger throws in a twist at the end that is a game-changer.

I am not sure how I felt about this book. It marginally kept my

I am not sure how I felt about this book. It marginally kept my interest, but I found the characters shallow, unlikable, and not clearly delineated or developed. At times I had to back-check through the chapters to remind myself of various character relationships. At times, it seemed overly wordy and certain plot lines seemed unnecessary and did nothing to advance the plot line. . Towards the end of the book, I found it easier to quickly scan whole paragraphs, rather than plow through irrelevant details and descriptions. I had no curiosity about how the book concluded ,but for some reason persevered to the end. I do think the author has talent , but can not whole-heartedly recommend this book.

The Darlings is a very interesting read, and a look into the hig

The Darlings is a very interesting read, and a look into the high society of New York. We learn about hedge funds and derivatives and the latest fashions. The author's work experience gives her the background into the legal and investment issues, I don't know about her position in society! One might think Madoff in reading this novel, but it would be a short-sighted thought, as the story is really on its won without Madoff.

Check it out

The Darlings by Christina Alger is about a family, a husband and wife and their two daughters and their husbands. The father and his two sons-in-law work for the Delphic Hedge Fund, a fund of funds which the father owns. The novel is set in the post September, 2008 world of New York financial institutions with flashbacks to the era pre-Lehman collapse. Even after the 2008 collapse of the markets, the Darlings live a very affluent, even opulent, life style. By page sixty-two, a Bernie Madoff type character with whom Delphic has invested jumps off the Tappan Zee Bridge, and the Darlings’ world falls into chaos.
The rest of the novel concerns the effects the financial collapse of Delphic has on each of the family members.

Good Read

Read a review of The Darlings and it sounded good. I really enjoyed it and found it hard to put down. Reminiscent of the Bernie Madoff story. Great ending!

Recommended

Fast read; interesting take on the bank crisis of a few years back and the mindset of the people who were committing the crimes.

Really great read!

Once I picked it up I couldnt put it down... loved the intricate family structure and the depths it went into to develop the characters and the thick plot.

cannot recommend

A waste of my time, did not care about these people, hard to keep track of who was who. Read to about half way point, then gave up, was very disappointed, and once again, can not alway depemd on reviews.

0 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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