Other People's Money

Other People's Money
by Justin Cartwright
Bloomsbury (e-book)

Not to be confused with the fairly unfunny Danny Devito vehicle (or not entirely), Other People's Money takes a fairly unfunny swipe at the recent financial crisis, grazing the surface without inflicting any wounds. At the centre is the private bank, Tubal & Co. Founded in 1671, it has made the family of Trevelyan-Tubal wealthy: the latest in a long line of CEOs, Sir Harry Trevelyan-Tubal has homes in London, Tuscany and Antibes, enough servants to make a Caesar envious, priceless works of art, and a wife young enough to be his great-grand-daughter. She, true to the cliche, is having an affair. Sadly, times have moved on but not Sir Harry. Nor has Cartwright, who resorts to more cliches that gather no moss. Sir Harry, ailing in mind and body after a stroke, forces his wimpy son, Julian, to take up the reins. Julian, who prefers to spend more time with his family, flogs off the failing business to a tediously familiar American banker, Cy Mannheim. The real setting of this novel is P.G. Wodehouse-land, only with fewer laughs and much less charm. Buy Adam Haslett's far superior Union Atlantic instead.