Women in Politics (Shall We Tell the President? - Jeffrey Archer)

Member Name: curious_tan

Product:	Shall We Tell the President? - Jeffrey Archer
Date:	30/06/06 (907 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A story that gives us a glimpse of women in politics

Disadvantages: none

After reading Archer's "Sons of Fortune", I was convinced that he is a very good story teller (but not a practising politician), so I decided to embark my journey of collecting his works from his first topseller novel, "Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less" to the recent one, "False Impression". "Shall We Tell the President" is my second grab of Mr. Archer's works and proved his talent in writing.

Briefly, the novel is the sequel of "Kane and Abel" and "The Prodigal Daughter". The story revolved in the life of Abel's daugher - Florentyna Kane, her political career mostly during the time she became the first woman President of the United States. Her appointment was brought by the sudden death of the elected President, since she was already serving as top Senator of the country. Unfortunately, the FBI learn of a plot to kill her, and only five people know all the details, (but four of them died already), except one of the top FBI agents, Mark Andrews. Mr Andrews knows everything - that a senator is also involved in the plot. He has 6 days to prevent the assasination of the President. With the support of his colleague, he is determine to find the assasin. Did Mr Andrews decided to tell the President about it, during or after the plot? Or the assasin successfully did his job? Well, find it out by yourself!

The book is a stand alone story but to learn more about her personal/family background, I suggest to read first "Kane and Abel", then "The Prodigal Daughter" before reading the former. Eventhough it is a sequel of the two novels, the story (Shall we tell the President) bears a different style where Mr Archer proved his understanding about US politics,legal enforcement and crime investigation, despite the fact that he is a Englishman.

I also found out recently after visiting a second-hand book store that there is another version of the book. Mr Archer wrote this version in 1977.Instead of the sequel of the previous novels, the story revolved in the assasination of the US President, Mr Edward Kennedy. Unfortunately, I have the copy but I havent read it yet. Eventhough, i did not read the first version, still I prefer the second version because of its connection to the two novels. As a brief background, "Kane and Abel" is a story people came from opposite sides of the world and crossed their paths to build a fortune. Abel is a Polish immigrant and struggled to be a successful businessman in the US. He was able to survive and raised a family (only one daughter) despite the threats of war and politics. His daughter, Florentyna grew up as a beautiful, talented, smart and intelligent lady, the 'love' of Abel's life.. The upbringing of Florentyna is the premise of "The Prodigal Daughter". It is a magnificent story of ambition, love and politics, a continuation of the battle between Kane and Abel, and at the same the ambition of Florentyna to become the highest leader of the land!

In summary, the story(ies) gave me a basic understanding why the family is the key factor for us to be somebody in the society. For better or for worse, our family members and true friends are the last people who will be there to console or greet us for what we have done! I also believe that if you have a strong determination to achieve something in life or you stand with your decision, then it will lead to something that you will never regret in the future. No matter what is your role in the society/community, your sincerity and commitment will always count most. Again, as the saying goes..."honesty is the best policy"... in politics! Lastly, reading the book was a worthwhile undertaking considering that I dont have any background on politics! Well, I had a chance to work with politicians, but luckily not really exposed to all sort of graft and corruption or even to major political concerns.

Archer was able to illustrate the value of the family, friendship, equality, and individual dedication to whatever role you are potraying in life! Life is full of surprises, challenges and risks, even being the highest figure in the land! And of course, everyone has the same rights and opportunities in life, either you have XX or XY chromosomes!

I think, the story will repeats itself or this will come true in the very near future in the United States if Mrs. Hillary Clinton runs for President in the next election.

Summary: Wether you like it or not, politics always changed people lives...