Who isn't???!!! Have you ever thought,how different it'd have been had you been born a couple of seconds before in a completely different hospital??? We always can choose our Destiny,but what we choose is, more often than not,dependent on the people we meet and the way we're brought up!!So that just sums up why i think we're all 'Prisoners of our birth'!!
But,only one's in ma mind right now...And that's Danny Cartwright!!Rings a bell??? If it doesn't,it is the lead character in the book i just completed-'A Prisoner of Birth' by Jeffrey Archer.I have read only one other work of Archer ,namely 'First Among Equals'.It wasn't my genre of interest,but still,i liked it for Archer's narration.Ever since I read about the book's(PoB) release,sometime last year in the papers,i wanted to read this particular work of Archer.And the author himself said that the book could be taken for a modern day 'Count Of Monte Cristo'!Now that's some book i'll never forget in my life(leave alone Edmond Dantes) because it was the first book i ever read(Because it was in my Non detail portions;)). And indeed,i found that most of the plot did match!!
The story starts with Danny being convicted for the murder of Bernie,his best buddy and his lover's only brother!He is put in Belmarsh,the prison,and gets himself acquainted with Nick('Sir Nickholas') and Big Al,his cell mates!!Danny's appeal is rejected even though his lawyer Mr.Alex Redmayne tries his best. The actual murderers,a group of three close friends,escape this time and they start to relax a bit....But there was one thing Nick and Danny had in common,Looks..Most of them in the prison mistook them to be brothers.Suddenly the plot gathers speed as Nick is killed(again due to being mistaken for Danny) before six weeks of his release date.With some assistance from Al with the medical files,Danny walks free as Sir Nicholas while most of his family and friends are still mourning 'his' death.He sees to it that what Nicholas inherited from his grandfather, is safe from the hands of his cunning uncle. He then turns his mind to one thing,'REVENGE'.He plans his every move,but still ends up being on trial again,as everyone realise who he actually is.Once again it is Spencer Craig,the actual killer of Bernie,who makes sure that Danny doesn't succed in getting his revenge with aid from his two other musketeers .Then comes my favorite part of the book,'Redemption'.It actually reminded me why i once was,obsessed with 'John Grisham'.Not only is Danny cleared of his current trial,the old trial is revised again,only for the story to end,how it must!
