Review: "Kane and Able" by Jeffrey Archer

"She only stopped screaming when she died." How can you turn away from an opening line such as that? I couldn't. And once I'd started reading, I found it very hard to put the book down. In matter of fact, even though this one is a very thick volume, I finished the story in three days.

Kane and Able is the story of two boys, each born into two very different worlds, and raised in very different ways. One is born illegitimately in the woods in Poland and is taken in by an extremely poor family. One is born to a prominent, well-to-do couple in America and has his whole life planned out for him. The only thing that these two babies have in common is the date of their birth.

The story follows their lives, through personal tragedies (all relevant to early and mid-1900's history) and triumphs. We see the passing of familiar characters, the addition of more, and the stories that surround them and entangle the main characters. Through various circumstances, we find our main characters, Kane and Able, cross swords, unknowingly cross paths, carry animosity for each other, and ultimately find the truth that life is more than vendettas and pride.

Seeing two people with such different lives dealing with some of the same sorts of tragedies was nearly mesmerizing at times. Jeffrey Archer also did a brilliant job of showing how the world around these two changed, and how those changes either worked their way into their lives, or merely skimmed the surface while barely creating ripples.

I would definitely recommend this book. Though it's not necessarily for the faint of heart (it does deal very plainly with issues related to war, including death and vicious abuse, suicide during the Great Depression, etc.), and it's size can be daunting (I'm not joking when I said it was large), I believe that it's so well written and executed that it shouldn't be missed. In fact, I just found out that there's a sequel, and I'm happily adding it (The Prodigal Daughter) to my list of "To Be Read" books.