Kane and
abel is a 1979 novel by British author Jeffrey Archer. The title and story is a play on the Biblical brothers, Kane and Abel. The book tells the stories of two men born worlds apart. They have nothing in common except the same date of birth (April 18, 1906) and a zeal to succeed in life. William Lowell Kane is a wealthy and powerful Boston Brahmin while Abel Rosnovski (originally named Wladek Koskiewicz) is a Pole born into desperate poverty who eventually emigrates to the United States. William follows the steps of his father, Richard to become a successful banker. When William was a child, Richard died in the Titanic disaster, leaving William fatherless. His mother marries Henry Osborne, who turns out to be interested in gambling and women. William hates Henry and spends most of the time at Harvard and at his best friend Mathew Lester''s home. William dreams of becoming the chairman of Lester''s
bank one day. Henry spends every last penny of Kane''s mother''s money on the pretext of speculation, while she dies in a miscarriage. Kane throws Henry out of home. Wladek Koskiewicz is born in a forest and raised by a trapper family. When he grows up and is found to have exceptional intelligence, Baron Rosnovski asks him to become a companion to his son Leon so Wladek might prove to be a competition to him. Wladek agrees to go to the Baron''s castle on the condition that he can bring along his elder sister Florentyna. Soon enough the World War I breaks out and German attack Poland and capture the Baron, his staff and son in his castle. Leon dies by the hand of a soldier. Before dying, the Baron hands him his silver band of authority and Wladek realises that the Baron was his father when he finds that like him the Baron too had a missing nipple. Florentyna is also raped and killed in front of young Wladek''s eyes by Russian soldiers. Wladek was then moved to Siberia from where he manages to escape to Turkey after facing many hardships. There, he is nearly loses his hands (a common punishment in the Middle East) for stealing food but he is rescued by two foreign diplomats. They transfer him to the Polish embassy from where with their help, he migrates to America and assumes the name Abel Rosnovski. He starts his life as a waiter in the
Hotel Plaza. While Abel is working there, Davis Leroy, owner of the Richmond group of hotels, is impressed by his work and appoints him manager and Abel converts the ill-managed hotel to a profit making one. During this time of the Great Depression, the hotel needs a backer and Davis, unable to find one, commits suicide and leaves everything to Abel. Before committing suicide, Davis mentions that Kane & Cabot was the one who didn''t support him. Abel thus plans for revenge and considers Kane as his arch rival. The bank gets him an anonymous backer. Abel assumes it to be David Maxton, owner of Stevens'' hotel. During this time, Abel makes a lifelong friend George and marries Zaphia, both from Poland. Abel changes the name of the hotel from Richmond to Baron and builds up a successful hotel chain. By joining hands with Henry Osborne, who had by now entered politics, Abel plans to ruin Kane and his bank. Abel begets a daughter, named Florentyna in memory of his dead sister while Kane has a son, Richard. Meanwhile Kane''s bank and Lester''s bank merge and a provision is made that anyone who has a share of 8% can summon board meetings. Abel tries desperately to obtain 8% of the bank''s stock but Kane manages to thwart his attempts. During this time, Kane and Abel meet on many occasions and their mutual hatred only multiplies on each occasion. On one instance, Abel even saves Kane''s life. Florentyna Rosnovski and Richard Kane happen to meet and fall in love without knowing about the rivalry between their fathers. They get married amid vehement protests from their fathers and start a chain of boutique stores named Florentyna''s. Finally, Abel manages to obtain enough shKane from power. Kane decides to forgive his son and daughter-in-law and expresses his wish to meet them. He dies before he is able to see them and his grandson, William Abel Kane. Abel then comes to know that his backer was not David Maxton, but William Kane. Filled with remorse, he reconciles with his daughter and son-in-law. Abel died soon after, and bequeathed everything to his daughter Florentyna, except his silver band of authority, which he leaves to his grandson, William Abel Kane. It is only in the last sentence of the book that we learn that Florentyna and Richard gave their son the middle name ''Abel''. Also check out the book :- As the crow flies The prodigal Daughter by jeffrey archer they both are in one only But will be posted separaltely by me. Thanks for reading.
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