The Fortune Seller - by Rachel Kapelke-Dale (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"Sophisticated with just the right dose of sinister, this coming-of-age story doesn't shy from the grisly power dynamics of privilege." --Library Journal

When it comes to seeing the future--do you really want to know?

Middle-class Rosie Macalister has worked for years to fit in with her wealthy friends on the Yale equestrian team. But when she comes back from her junior year abroad with newfound confidence, she finds that the group has been infiltrated by a mysterious intruder: Annelise Tattinger.

A talented tarot reader and a brilliant rider, the enigmatic Annelise is unlike anyone Rosie has ever met. But when one of their friends notices money disappearing from her bank account, Annelise's place in the circle is thrown into question. As the girls turn against each other, the group's unspoken tensions and assumptions lead to devastating consequences.

It's only after graduation, when Rosie begins a job at a Manhattan hedge fund, that she uncovers Annelise's true identity--and how her place in their elite Yale set was no accident. Is it too late for Rosie to put right what went wrong, or does everyone's luck run out at some point? Set in the heady days of the early aughts, The Fortune Seller is a haunting examination of class, ambition, and the desires that shape our lives.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Fortune Seller

"This dark page-turner has excellent storytelling (strange deaths! class warfare!), characters you'll love to hate, and fascinating insights into the twists and turns of friendship." --Real Simple

"Kapelke-Dale skillfully blends class concerns, character development, and a menacing atmosphere, emerging with an intoxicating mystery that defies easy categorization. Readers will be tempted to devour it in a single sitting." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Sophisticated with just the right dose of sinister, this coming-of-age story doesn't shy from the grisly power dynamics of privilege." --Library Journal

"This book combines so many things I enjoy...who doesn't want to read about horse girls and fortune tellers? Delightful." --CrimeReads

"Brimming with competitions, rivalries amid friendships, and secrets within lies...Fans of Kapelke-Dale's signature twisty suspense will be riveted." --Booklist

"Propulsive and engrossing, The Fortune Seller deftly examines the ways in which our lives are shaped by luck and by fate, illustrating the sometimes grizzly consequences of tempting either. Rachel Kapelke-Dale has (once again) captured the complexities of female friendship, ambition, and privilege with razor-sharp insight and sparkling prose, all set in the evocative worlds of equestrian competitions, dark academia, and the New York elite. Tarot cards offer hints at what's to come in each chapter, but this story kept me on my toes throughout; I absolutely devoured it." --Genevieve Wheeler, author of Adelaide

"Kapelke-Dale is fluent in the double-edged language of female friendship. I ripped through The Fortune Seller, her captivating, fast-paced novel about upper-crust, ride-or-die housemates at Yale whose petty cruelties take a sinister turn. A refreshing look at girl power and identity, longing and belonging, and fate and free will, The Fortune Seller reveals the dark impulses that fuel our most intense, intoxicating relationships." --Jillian Medoff, author of When We Were Bright and Beautiful

"Delicious and addicting, The Fortune Seller is the book of my occult horse-girl dreams. Ambition, excess, equestrians-all filtered through the tarot and the question of fate versus luck. Kapelke-Dale has constructed a glittering tale of sacrifice and privilege. I guarantee you will not be able to put it down." --Julia Fine, author of Maddalena and the Dark

"The Fortune Seller is pure magic. A juicy campus novel suffused with complex friendship dynamics and an insider-outsider story of one woman's struggle to fit in with her high-flying peers, Kapelke-Dale weaves suspense with sharp prose for a read that's both fast-paced and thought-provoking. The novel's tarot cards may illuminate the future, but this much is clear: I'd follow Kapelke-Dale anywhere." --Avery Carpenter Forrey, author of Social Engagement

About the Author