“ Never seek the wind in the field, it’s useless to try and find what is gone” Jeffery Archer
About the Book
The first is the son who doesn’t belong to the family and the other welcomed and born into wealth on a silver platter.In Jeffrey Archer’s Kane and Abel, the spotlight was stolen by the two powerful protagonists. A story of struggling before coming face to face with greatness and the other using wits and logic to acquire what has been set in place.
The first page was dominated by the baby being birthed by a woman. Her identity remained undisclosed closed but she couldn’t live long enough to hold him in her arms. In Slonim, Poland he was brought into the world on April 18th, 1906. Taken in by a family having barely enough to fend for themselves. Wladek Koskiewicz’s the one nippled Polish boy became an adopted member of the Koskiewiczs quickly. A family of animal trappers.
On the very same day, miles away a young man welcomed his heir. Without hesitation, he was named William Kawell Kane after his father. The book got its name from a famous story about brothers in the biblical book of Genesis.
Kane and Abel had nothing in common except their date of birth. The beauty of the book was Jeffrey Archer showing how human fate can be intertwined regardless of the circumstances, class differences, or countries.
The plot revolved around both men and their journey in life.Kane wanted nothing else but to be like his father, the prominent successful banker Richard Kane. As fate would have it, Richard died when the boy was still young in a tragic crash of steamship “Titanic” during its Voyage from England to New York City. As the only child, he inherited his father’s fortune including the bank Kane & Cabot. Although, he didn’t have a father figure he excelled marvelously at school and the early part of his life. It is a little wonder that the boy grew up to be more successful than his father. With his mother dying after suffering a miscarriage, he throws her new husband Vitorio out of the Kane estate. Having excelled and graduated from St Paul’s school, he enroll at Havard College and did remarkably well. Enough to be capable enough of running his late father’s business.
In parallel, Wladek starts his young life prone to illnesses and diseases not common to children. His death was expected but never came. Helena, his adopted mother took care of him wholeheartedly and defended him vigorously. While her efforts were recognized, another caught the eyes of this little child. For his sister’s dedication and sacrifices to his well-being, she earned an important spot in his heart. It was no surprise that when the Baron came over, requesting that Wladek came to live with him the boy demanded his sister Florentyna came along too. His purpose was simple, to provide intellectual competition for Leon, the Baron’s son not long after, World War 1 began. Poland was overthrown by Germany and its soldiers. The Germans invaded the castle killing the Baron and his son Leon. Florentyna also dies in the hands of the Russian soldiers. Wladek in despair buried the most important people in his life. Surprisingly, before the death of the Baron, he bestows his power to Wladek. There, it was revealed that the Baron had one nipple too. Unknowingly, he was the Baron’s other son sharing the one nipple trait.
Wladek was transported to Siberia which he uses as an opportunity to flee to Turkey. Two politicians from Britain save him from death upon seeing the Baron’s silver band on his wrist. He is taken to the Polish consulate and later emigrated to the United States. Wladek Koskiewicz became Abel Rosnovski.
Misconceptions, miscommunication, and wrong judgments earned Kane an enemy. A benefactor turned a foe. The rift between both parties didn’t stop their growth in the business world. Kane dominated in stocks and Abel in chains. Abel secures a job as a waiter at the Hotel plaza and bags a degree in economics at Columbia University. He was quickly promoted to the manager of a hotel named Richmond. When the owner of the hotel commits suicide, he is left with the ownership just like Kane was left with his family fortune after the death of his father.
Abel learns that the owner fell Into depression after Kane & Cabot refused to provide support for the business. There, he pledges to avenge his death. Abel didn’t back down and chose to continue with the management of the hotel. Just as it was about to crumble, an anonymous patron supports him. Kane gets married and bears a son and a daughter naming them Lucy, Virginia, and Richard. While Abel has one child whom he named Florentyna, after his sister.
Despite their contrasting worlds, the two encounter multiple times without any of being any wiser. One would think that the story of Kane and Abel ended after the success stories but the heirs of both men just began their wonderful tale. Humorously Florentyna and Kane’s son falls in love and decides to get married ignorant of their father’s feud. When the two men realize, they try to stop the wedding to no avail. On the other hand, Kane foils Abel’s chance of becoming the U. S ambassador to Poland by discrediting him. In response, Abel gains the necessary stocks in Kane’s back and throws him out of leadership. They go back and forth with their squabbles and hatred.
In the 1960s, when Florentyna opens her boutique business they both attend and acknowledge each other from afar. It could be seen there that both parties were ready to let things go. Sadly, Kane dies before meeting his daughter-in-law and grandchild.
As a final plot twist, Abel finds out that Kane was the anonymous backer of his business. His enemy turned out to be his benefactor. Devasted, he absolves his guilt by reconciling with his daughter and her husband. When he dies, his grandson was gifted his silver band and he left his estate to Florentyna. Kane and Abel depart from its biblical meaning and frames itself into a modern story diving deep into human intentions, thoughts, and class mobility.
Jeffrey Archer’s optimism could be seen when he writes about the successful marriage of their children and their shared stake in their grandson’s name. There is an opening for goodness in an unstable world.
The book “ Kane and Abel” was produced as a series under the Kane and Abel series in 1979. The first book under its series was “ Shall we tell the president” where Abel’s daughter Florentyna was the protagonist. However, it was revised in 1986 and some of the characters were changed in order to be part of the Kane and Abel series. The third book under the series is “ The Prodigal daughter”. Some part of Kane and Abel’s story was written about as a flashback in the other books.
Some would argue that Kane and Abel would have been a better story if the author did not make them arch enemies but rather partners. That would have been too predictable and Jeffrey Archer is anything but predictable.
The book was the pathway for Jeffery Archer into the spotlight and remains his most popular work till date. It has sold over 33 million copies worldwide and is now on its 84th reprint. During its 30th anniversary, the author himself comments on the success of the book.
About the Author
Jeffrey Howard Archer {A member of the House of Lord’s of the United Kingdom} is one of the worldwide best-selling authors. Baron Archer is a novelist and a former politician. Before his career as a writer, he was a member of the parliament. He attended Brasenose College, Wellington school, and the University of Oxford. Married to Mary Doreen Weeden, they have two children, James Archer and William Harold Archer. The author was born on the 15th of April, 1940 in Holloway, London.
Jeffrey became the deputy to the Conservative party in 1985-1986. Sadly, he didn’t seek re-election after a scandal that almost left him bankrupt. He was forced to resign after a newspaper company accused him of paying money to a prostitute. Although, in 1987 he won a court case vindicating him and a large amount of money was paid as damages the harm had already been done. That was the end not of the fall of his political career. He was made a life peer in 1922 but had to resign In 1999 when news broke out that he had lied in his libel case. Jeffrey was sentenced to imprisonment from 2001-2003 ending his political career completely.
His breakthrough as an author came in 1974 when he wrote his first book “ Not a penny more, Not a penny less.” The book was written to avoid bankruptcy and picked up by Deborah Owens the literary agent. Published first in the U.S and eventually in Britain two years later. In 1980, the adaptation of the book was aired on BBC television.
That was the beginning of his stardom and financial recovery. “ Kane and Abel” happened to be his best-selling book worldwide. Most of his works are edited by Richard Cohen the Olympic fencing gold medalist. Archer has also written three stage plays.
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Some critics have described Archer’s work to be unsatisfactory but that is not the case. His books are nothing short of perfection. The style of writing of the author is recognizable. Without reading other books in the series one can easily understand the plot. Jeffrey’s success story through his writing is incredible, especially for someone who was once convicted. He had won the heart of a lot of book lovers from his hidden quotes buried in sentences.
Four of his novels were made into movies: Bridget Jone’s diary, Not a penny more not a penny less, Everest, and False impression. His most recent book is titled “ Nothing Ventured”
Here’s a list of all his published books
– A twist in tale
– A matter of honor
– The Kane and Abel series
– Twelve red herrings
– Not a penny more, not a penny less
– First Among equals
-Honour among thieves
-A prisoner of birth
– To cut a long story short
– Sons of fortune
-False impression
-Paths of glory
-A quiver full of arrows
-The eleventh commandments
-As the crow flies
-The fourth estate
-The gospel according to Judas
-Cat o’nine tales
-Heads you win
-Tell tales
-Clifton chronicles
-And Thereby hangs a tale
-William warvick series
The genres of his books are, Comedy, indie, spoken word, alternative.
“ Fortune favors the brave”
– Jeffrey Archer
By: Miss_Elated03
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