Master of the Game is a novel by Sidney Sheldon. It was first published in hardback format in 1982. The novel
has won critical acclaim, debuting at number one on the New York Times Bestseller List; the fifth book by
Sheldon to do so. The plot of the book spans six generations, and is based upon the fictional lives of the Blackwell family. The book follows the life of an entrepreneur, Kate Blackwell, and explores her family, ancestry and life.
Plot summary
The story is separated into seven sections, the
prologue Kate 1982,
Jamie 1883-1906,
Kate and David 1906-1914,
Kruger-Brent Ltd 1914-1945,
Tony 1946-1950,
Eve and Alexandra 1950-1975 and the
epilogue Kate 1982 Prologue Kate 1982 focuses on giving an introduction to Kate, and adding a tone of mystery to the novel. The prologue starts off on Kate Blackwell's ninetieth birthday, as Kate remembers all the year's gone past. It gives a brief overview of her great grandson, and an introduction to Kate, and her thoughts. The prologue ends with Kate surrounded by her family, reflecting the years gone past, and seeing the ghosts of her ancestors.
Jamie 1883-1906 is about Jamie McGregor, Kate's father. Jamie was a poor eighteen year old who left his family in
Scotland, to travel to the diamond field, and search for a better life. He hears rumours of diamonds in Klipdrift, and as a result travels there. When he arrives, he gets cheated out of his money and tortured by a man named Salomon Van Der Merve. As revenge, he steals diamonds from Salomon, and becomes a successful businessman, wiping out Salomon's business. He humiliates Salomon by making his daughter, Margaret, pregnant.
Salomon commits suicide. But, then...read buddy, read the book.
Kate and David 1906-1914 is mainly focused on Kate Blackwell's childhood and early adulthood. After her mother's, Margaret's, death from
cancer, Kate becomes the official head of the
company. A few years after Kate took over the company, David nearly resigns from the company.
Kruger-Brent Ltd 1914-1945 focuses on Kate's ambition to develop her company into a multinational corporation. As
WWIapproaches, Kate decides to help the
Allied Forces, by making ammunitions for the war. Due to the manufacturing of weapons, Kruger-Brent Ltd grew to be one of the biggest businesses in the world. As her company expanded, Kate suddenly fell ill, and was told she was going to have a baby. David dies when one of their mines caves in, so Kate goes into labor prematurely. She gave birth to a son, Tony Blackwell. The next few years follows without tragedy until Tony, who has grown up by then, decides to become a painter. He enrolls in an art school in Paris.
Tony 1946-1950 explains Tony's life as he becomes a
painter. After years of painting, he accepts an offer for a showing of his paintings, and it turns out to be a disaster. Andre d'Usseau, one of the best art critics in the world, comes to the art gallery and, later, reviews how distasteful the paintings were. Tony quits painting, and comes back to working for Kruger-Brent Ltd. Due to a persuasion from his mother, Tony marries the daughter of the head of one of the biggest companies in the world. Kate was soon told by the family doctor, Dr. John Harley, that Marianne can not have children, due to a
berry aneurysm. Kate persuades Marianne to ignore Dr. Harley's advice. Afterwards, Marianne becomes pregnant and refuses an
abortion. And then,.....something happens!!!
Eve and AlONG> is about the lives of Kate's granddaughters, Eve and Alexandra. Due to a selfish belief that she should be the only heir to the Blackwell fortune, Eve makes many attempts to kill Alexandra. Kate confronts Eve and disinherits her after Kate found out about Eve's attempts of murder. After the disinheritance, Eve, with the help of George Mellis (a disinherited member of a food company, a fortune seeker and a sadistic woman-beater), develops a plan to get the Blackwell fortune. She introduces George to Alexandra, with Alexandra unknowing of the reason of Eve's disinheritance. Alexandra and George get married soon afterwards. Eve forces George to have an affair with her and, goading him one time too many, George beats Eve within an inch of her life. She is treated by Dr. John Harley and the brilliant plastic surgeon Keith Webster. John Harley forces George to see a psychiatrist or else he'll report the beating to the police and recommends Peter Templeton to treat him. Templeton calls his old friend,
detective, Nick Pappas, to run a background check on Mellis, to see if he is the heir to a company, as he stated. Pappas confirms that Mellis got disinherited. Forgiving Eve, Kate puts her back into her will. Since George is no longer an asset, because he still wants to kill Alexandra, Eve decides to kill George. After her husband's death, Alexandria marries......well,read on and find out.
Epilogue Kate 1982 focuses mainly on the life of Kate's family. Although approaching death, Kate is still determined to pass the company's hands to someone in her family. This section preludes to the prologue, at Kate's 90th birthday. It gives a brief overview, over the living members of her family. Kate tries to manipulate her great-grandson as he did virtually everyone in her life. Robert is a gifted musician, so she offers to introduce him to
Zubin Mehta.