Rich Again is the story of the Kent family. Jack, the patriarch, is a self-made man. He lost his first wife - and first love - in an accident just before they were set to adopt their second child. The first child, daughter Claudia, was very young when her mother died. Jack remarried a woman who was also self-made, but he didn’t realize it. Innocence gave birth to Jack’s second child, and also deeply resented Claudia’s place in their lives. Emily, the child of Jack and Innocence, is a spoiled little girl who can’t seem to grow up.
The book goes back and forth between time periods and between characters, making it a bit difficult to follow. I can’t think of more unlikeable characters and, in the case of Ethan and Mark, more unbelievable. Ethan and Mark show up later in the book, and it will spoil the surprise for you if I tell you any more about them now, but I will tell you this: I can’t imagine anyone liking them.
Claudia is sort of the heroine of the story, though wishy-washy and meek - without any truly positive traits at all. Emily is a self-absorbed party girl, Innocence the hardnosed, self-centered bitch, and Jack a cold businessman. None of the characters have depth or any other facets – they are quite uni-dimensional.
The story itself is implausible, and Maxted doesn’t do a good job of creating the suspension of disbelief. I know, for example, that werewolves and other supernatural creatures do not actually exist, yet Patricia Briggs does an excellent job of creating a world so believable that I forget that fact. Maxted doesn’t accomplish that with this book. The subplot of a vendetta feels forced rather than frightening, hard to believe that a family could be nearly destroyed by one man.
If you’re already a fan of Anna Maxted, you might as well read Rich Again. It isn’t a terrible book, just not a particularly good one. It also isn’t funny, as some of her other books are.
If you are not already a fan, please begin with Running in Heels or Getting Over It - both are much better examples of her writing.