Bookerella

Here's the June 2025 choice for Bookerella: 

The Fortunate Ones by Ed Tarkington

Next meeting: tba 

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?
If you have any questions, please contact Rhonda Suurd at rjsuurd@rogers.com