Chances
by Jackie Collins
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jackie CollinsEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1991-08-01
ISBN: 0446357170
Number of pages: 816
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Book Reviews of Chances
Book Review: Rags to riches rollercoaster
Summary: 4 Stars
Chances was exactly the right book at the right time for me. I'd been working very hard and needed a break. Happily, the next weekend was sunny and I was able to spend a lot of it out in the garden with my pink yoga mat (same shade as the book cover, incidentally), a pillow, and this book.
Chances starts in 1977, as crime boss Gino Santangelo is on his way back to New York after a period of exile. Daughter Lucky, who has been running the show in his absence, isn't thrilled and a power struggle seems to be in the offing. Meanwhile, socialite Carrie is on her way to Harlem in response to a mysterious message which she thinks relates to the dark secrets in her past. The date is Wednesday, July 13th. Ring any bells? Not for me, so the blackout came as a surprise, throwing the characters' lives into chaos.
The 1977 storyline is intertwined with the backstories, told in flashback, of Gino and Carrie, and finally all three strands come together - with a twist. I enjoyed all three narratives, but got especially absorbed in the story of Carrie, a young black girl sold into prostitution in the 1920s by her abusive family.
Gino, brought up by a series of foster parents, comes from a similarly bleak background. He chooses a criminal career because it offers scope for his ambitions, which his legitimate job as a mechanic doesn't. His early jobs as a getaway driver are risky, but so is working under cars: a friend is nearly killed when the jack holding up the Cadillac he is working on collapses. At twenty Gino is building a bootleg empire. At forty, wealthy, feared and respected, he is building Las Vegas. But he has to pay a terrible price for his success, and in more than one way.
His daughter, Lucky, is probably Jackie Collins's best-known character. She is very much a product of second-wave feminism. Trapped in an elevator during the blackout with Carrie's son Stephen, Lucky corrects him when he addresses her as Miss: it's Miz. Later, at his apartment (after a night spent trapped in the lift), when he suggests she could make them breakfast, she explains that she can't cook. Anyone further from the insecure, self-deprecating, slip-dress-wearing, barefoot, cupcake-baking (but burning the cakes, of course, because she's such a ditz) heroine prancing across the pastel covers of chicklit from here to eternity cannot be imagined. Thank God.
I found that while the book didn't skimp on either sex or violence, these scenes were never gratuitous. They are there to tell the story. And it's a great story. Not perfect: I had to suspend disbelief about Gino masterminding a criminal empire while staying clear of both prostitution and narcotics, and I would have liked more detail to convince me of Carrie's transformation from call girl to society wife - I think it could be done, but not without a major crash course in speech, etiquette, fashion and a lot else.
Bottom line: Chances is an exhilarating rags-to-riches rollercoaster. I'm looking forward to reading the sequels.
Summary of Chances
The book that made Collins one of America's favorite authors sweeps readers from the sophisticated playgrounds of Europe to the glittering gambling palaces of Las Vegas, plunging into the world of the Santangelo crime family. The book introduces street kid Gino Santangelo, who makes it all the way to the top, and his beautiful and daring daughter, Lucky.United States Books
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