Brian Kindall

Fortuna and the Scapegrace is the second book in Brian Kindall’s The Epic of Didier Rain series, following the excellent Delivering Virtue. But unlike its literary predecessor which takes place in the Wild West of the 1850s, this adventure shoves out into the South Seas where Didier Rain takes on different personas in an effort to start a new life. It’s an excellent adventure story with several plot twists that raise the stakes for our lucky protagonist as he wonders if his current course in life is a series of unfortunate coincidences, a sinister game played by unruly gods, or simply his destiny as foretold by a fortune teller.

Didier Rain wakes up dazed and confused on a clipper ship after being drugged by a sensual fortune teller, where he assumes the funny moniker of Hoper Newfangle. He befriends a young pastor named Adamiah Linklater who confesses to know nothing of the Bible. Newfangle becomes his tutor in all things biblical, all the while growing infatuated with the pastor’s beautiful bride who is waiting for Linklater to land on a remote atoll so he can marry her, then lead their bizarre sect of Christian outliers. Newfangle (Didier Rain, of course, as his new persona) also assumes the role of protector of a gentle yet wily goat he lovingly names Angeline, a kind gesture that we readers surely assume will right the wrong of Didier not naming the amiable goat in the first book, Delivering Virtue. But after a night of overindulging raspberry cordial with Linklater while the ship tosses in the rough sea through a storm, Newfangle wakes up on the beach of the destined South Sea island, where the bride wrongly assumes Newfangle is actually Linklater, having not seen him in person since they were both children and also, he’s wearing her childhood locket around his neck.

This novel has several plot twists, almost too many to count, while the magical realism and pitch-perfect language of the period elevates this story above similar rote adventures from classic texts. I found myself laughing out loud to the predicaments Didier Rain found himself in—either as the bumbling persona of Hoper Newfangle or later as prophetic groom Adamiah Linklater—and his ruminations about how the course of his life unfolds adds a much-needed reprieve from some of the unsavory characters he encounters.

When comparing the two books in the series, which I’m sure most readers will do, I found myself slightly preferring the first book to the second, mostly because the absence of the innocent titular character Virtue and the amiable horses Puck and Brownie, along with the unnamed yet helpful goat that comprised Didier Rain’s caravan, provided a much-needed ballast of joviality for Didier’s proclivity for boorishness. Without this group of amusing and innocent characters to balance him and his penchant for bad decision-making, Didier is a little less likeable by himself during this adventure. That being said, I still enjoyed this mind-bending, wayward adventure and marveled at the sheer talent that is Brian Kindall’s wordsmithing. Highly recommended!… (more)

This novel of literary fiction is a ribald and adventurous mixture of humor, magical realism, Old West historical fact, and dream-like self-reflection. It’s quite difficult to categorize this book. But author Brian Kindall skillfully unspools a literary tale worth reading. There’s a reason it was selected as a Finalist for Literary Fiction in the 2015 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards.

Didier Rain—the unruly yet kind protagonist—is hired to deliver a baby named Virtue to a Mormon prophet, who has been chosen as his future bride. (!!!) Rain’s proclivities for alcohol and sex are dashed when he is instructed to not partake in these dalliences during the long trip. He is accompanied by two horses—Brownie and Puck—and a helpful goat that remains sadly unnamed. At first, the animals are imagined by Rain to speak, but then are gradually personified into full-blown characters. Virtue miraculously grows into a young woman during the trip, this unusually magical transformation rendered as a normal occurrence. The group enlists an abandoned Native American woman named Turtle Dove and encounter a variety of miscreants and curious onlookers during their trek. Rains exploits are both comical and unexpected. His proclivity to give into his unrelenting carnal desires or poetic indulgences reveals to his thoughtful introspection, which is mined more fruitfully with his backstory.

The narration is pitch-perfect to the period of the 1850s while Rain’s observations, inquisitiveness, and creative indulgences are mesmerizing. He quickly grows close to Virtue the baby while he cares for her on the rough trip as well as to his animal cohorts, which endears him to the reader. I found myself laughing out loud a few times at the predicaments Rain fumbles into and wasn’t surprised at the magical elements that liberally occurred throughout, as Brian Kindall masterfully revealed these elements in the most seemingly natural of ways. As Rain reveals his past to his cohorts as well as to the reader, his cynicism becomes justified. He has an unsavory past, yet his abhorrent history gives way to his loving care for the young woman Virtue as well as the animals under his watch.

Go buy this book right now! You’ll be glad you did. Highly recommended! The sequel to this novel, Fortuna and the Scapegrace, is on my to-read list.… (more)