The Fortunate Ones

By: Ed Tarkington

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews

The perfect listen for fans of The White Lotus or Succession

“As a novelist, Tarkington is the real deal. I can’t wait to see this story reach a wide audience.”—Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife

When Charlie Boykin was young, he thought his life with his single mother on the working-class side of Nashville was perfectly fine. But when his mother arranges for him to be admitted as a scholarship student to an elite private school, he is suddenly introduced to what the world can feel like to someone cushioned by money. That world, he discovers, is an almost irresistible place where one can bend—and break—rules and still end up untarnished. As he gets drawn into a friendship with a charismatic upperclassman, Archer Creigh, and an affluent family that treats him like an adopted son, Charlie quickly adapts to life in the upper echelons of Nashville society. Under their charming and alcohol-soaked spell, how can he not relax and enjoy it all—the lack of anxiety over money, the easy summers spent poolside at perfectly appointed mansions, the lavish parties, the freedom to make mistakes knowing that everything can be glossed over or fixed?

But over time, Charlie is increasingly pulled into covering for Archer’s constant deceits and his casual bigotry. At what point will the attraction of wealth and prestige wear off enough for Charlie to take a stand—and will he?

For fans of Wiley Cash, Ann Patchett, and Pat Conroy, The Fortunate Ones is an immersive, elegantly written story that conveys both the seductiveness of this world and the corruption of the people who see their ascent to the top as their birthright.

©2021 Ed Tarkington (P)2022 Algonquin Books

Critic reviews

“Ed Tarkington’s wonderful second novel, The Fortunate Ones, feels like a fresh and remarkably sure-footed take on The Great Gatsby, examining the complex costs of attempting to transcend or exchange your given class for a more gilded one. Tarkington’s understanding of the human heart and mind is deep, wise and uncommonly empathetic. As a novelist, he is the real deal. I can’t wait to see this story reach a wide audience, and to see what he does next.”—Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife and Love and Ruin

“There's a sharpness to Ed Tarkington's view of the world, an exacting truthfulness of how things work, but he marries it to such an open-hearted and resonant humanity in his writing that it's hard not to place him easily in the company of Pat Conroy and Alice McDermott. In The Fortunate Ones, Tarkington examines privilege and friendship with that same incredible perspective, and he helps us see the difficulties of trying to hold onto yourself even as you want so badly to be transformed. An amazing, thought-provoking novel by one of our most generous writers.”—Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here

“The Fortunate Ones has echoes of Gatsby . . . Tarkington [is] a talented and compassionate writer . . . [and] aspects of The Fortunate Ones echo a slew of classic novels, including As I Lay Dying, A Separate Peace, The Moviegoer, and Big Fish . . . Tarkington’s insight into the meaning of home rings true.”—The Washington Post

Quite good!

Catnip for Donna Tartt fans! Really enjoyed the narrator as well! Two thumbs way up!!

Southern Saga

“The truth is hidden, but nothing is more beautiful than the truth.”

I love a good ole #SouthernSaga and this one did not disappoint.
This was my second book by Ed Tarkington and it was just as memorable. The author clearly knows his setting, people and community. He writes from both the male & female viewpoint with authenticity and believability. Loved the narration 🎧

Southern novela

I very much enjoyed the flow of the story line and the vivid descriptions of Nashville and wealth. It felt like a movie the whole time !

Nothing new, but enjoyable

Yes, this is story that has been told before in various permutations, but the writing is good and the characters were complex enough to be interesting. There is an underlying message about the nature of politics, so if you’re burned out on that topic, best not to read this one.

Disappointed

I really wanted to like this book. The basic plot has great potential, but all of the characters are so one dimensional that it was impossible to engage. The author continuously told you things and showed you nothing. At the end of the book, you knew very little about any of the characters’ motivation.