Although largely forgotten now, Thomas Costain was an enormously popular
novelist in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Most of his books were historical
novels ranging in period from the 1500s to the 1900s. His most popular
books were "The Black Rose," "The Silver Chalice," "The Moneyman" (my
favorite), and "The Tontine." If you like historical novels, I strongly
recommend any of these. A tontine was a once-popular
lottery/insurance/retirement plan in which a group of people pooled a sum of
money which was then turned over to a money manager to invest. The money
was invested, re-invested, and re-invested until only one of the original
members of the tontine was still alive. That person received all the money
that had accumulated. And, yes, "The Tontine" in two volumes was a popular
Book-of-the-Month Club selection. wrote in message
oups.com...
When scouting, I always run across The Tontine and it sets my hair on
edge. What is is about and why was it such a best seller? Maybe a
Book Club freebie for joining?