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The Umbrella Men
A witty and acerbic novel for our times about corporate greed, the hubris of bankers, contradictions of the clean energy economy and their unintended consequences on everyday people. Finance, environmentalism, rare-earth mining and human frailties collide in a complex of flawed motives. We follow Peter Mount, the self-made Chief Executive of a London-based rare-earth mining company as he and his business are buffeted by crisis-torn Royal Bank of Scotland and by his own actions, real and imagined. Meanwhile in Oregon, Amy Tate and her group of local environmental activists do their contradictory part to undermine a component of the green economy, unwittingly super-charged by the Chinese state. The repercussions of events in pristine Oregon are felt in the corporate and financial corridors of New York and London with drastic consequences. This is a deeply involving novel about the current workings of capitalism, miscommunication, causes and unexpected effects, love and survival.
454 pages, Hardcover
Published April 4, 2019
84 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 24, 2019
After reading a lot of claustrophobic, navel-gazing books, it is refreshing to pick up The Umbrella Men -- Rich, immersive novel of the type that really isn't seen much these days. Helpful that there is a cast of characters and their locations at the front, a glossary, at the back. With so much detail (at times, maybe too much for the casual reader), this is a mature novel that truly hops the globe. Keith Carter, with his background in investment banking, presents his debut novel using rare earth minerals and their mining as the mcguffin. (At the risk of sounding like a movie trailer:) From the Boardrooms of London to the Gilded skyscrapers of New York, settling finally at the pristine foot of Mt. Hood in Oregon !!!! But what makes this book so readable and likeable are the well formed characters whose lives are disrupted personally and professionally by machinations of those in power.
October 7, 2019
This is a novel with a difference….it’s the tale of people, greed and consequences.
Peter is the CEO of a small mining company, his wife Ivy spends money they do not have, all based on his shares in the company….
“Oddly, considering her soft left wing views, Ivy was an enthusiastic, free spending, brand-name snob”
There’s, Amy used to work for an investment bank, but seeing what money does to people, left and moved to a cabin in Oregon.
Hoxie, is a Yale educated, Native American man, living on a reservation and a trustee of a conservation society.
There’s a mix of different backgrounds, economic and political and in the locations of London, New York and Oregon.
While this is fiction, it does give a lot of details about the financial markets, mining for rare minerals and the effect both of these had on the world economy and the crash of 2008. A story of easy credit, money and sheer greed with the impact this had on people from all backgrounds, which we are still feeling the effects of now. Written with a sharp wit, an interesting and thought provoking read.
Thank you to Anne Cater and Random Things Tours for the opportunity to participate in this blog tour, for the promotional materials and a free copy of the book. This is my honest, unbiased review.
Peter is the CEO of a small mining company, his wife Ivy spends money they do not have, all based on his shares in the company….
“Oddly, considering her soft left wing views, Ivy was an enthusiastic, free spending, brand-name snob”
There’s, Amy used to work for an investment bank, but seeing what money does to people, left and moved to a cabin in Oregon.
Hoxie, is a Yale educated, Native American man, living on a reservation and a trustee of a conservation society.
There’s a mix of different backgrounds, economic and political and in the locations of London, New York and Oregon.
While this is fiction, it does give a lot of details about the financial markets, mining for rare minerals and the effect both of these had on the world economy and the crash of 2008. A story of easy credit, money and sheer greed with the impact this had on people from all backgrounds, which we are still feeling the effects of now. Written with a sharp wit, an interesting and thought provoking read.
Thank you to Anne Cater and Random Things Tours for the opportunity to participate in this blog tour, for the promotional materials and a free copy of the book. This is my honest, unbiased review.
April 2, 2019
I wonder if the book illustrator was thinking of Magritte or the Thomas Crown affair when coming up with the cover for this one. In some ways this book is a bit of both, surrealist and a caper. This book reminds me a bit of the Oracle or Golden State. A book about our world and the drawbacks of our corporate culture but in a novel. I found this quick read interesting and thought-provoking. I would recommend this for anyone who is a bit fed up with our state-of-affairs in our country but is tired of reading the same old news reports.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
September 4, 2023
The Umbrella Men is not what you'd expect - it's a novel with many layers, a story of a corruption, selfish greed, over-spending, flippancy regarding the impacts of one moment in time on future generations - and it's incredible to think that the impacts are still being felt by us - and will be by our children - in years to come. I knew little of the rare-earth mineral mines before I read this, a little of the financial crash of the late 1990s, but now understand more about both, which is unusual for a fiction book! I'd highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading a novel that is witty and exposing of human nature!
January 23, 2021
Although the mere whiff of banking and finance normally sends me running for the garlic and crucifix, I was totally spellbound by the twists and turns of this fantastic book. It's quite a feat to explain the background to the 2008 financial crash in such a riveting read. At first glance, it might seem a bit daunting: firstly, it is quite a long tome; secondly, it opens with a reference page listing the book's generous helping of characters; thirdly, it mentions financial products - the mere mention of which normally turns me blue with cold. But none of the above should put you off diving headlong into this brilliantly written, gripping book.
The story is woven together with groups of characters based in 5-6 different locations - hence the helpful reminder list at the start. Yet, such is the writer's art that I only needed to refer back to it once or twice at the most, which considering the numbers of characters involved is quite impressive. This is totally a credit to the writer's skill rather than my powers of concentration. The characters are so distinctive and well-drawn that remembering the details of different pieces of the plot jigsaw soon becomes easy.
Although the story ostensibly begins in 2006 and ends in 2009, in so many ways it also encompasses the 10-20 years leading up to it, epitomising the changes unleashed on the unsuspecting general public in the US and UK by government love affairs with the deregulation of financial markets and the ensuing carte blanche for unbridled greed. Having lived through the era preceding the events in the book, it brought back so many memories of the incremental changes in life that built up into the financial crash of 2008. It took me back to the days when hardly anyone I knew owned a house; and then almost imperceptibly everyone became obsessed with mortgages and kitchen suites.
One of the most impressive attributes of the book is the author's ability to get across such vivid characters without reams of explanation. After just a few pages with each one, you somehow feel as if you have met the type many times before. In fact, this book is a masterpiece of succinct writing - I doubt there is one unnecessary word in it. From the altruistic endeavours of the gentle raggle-taggle characters of the Trail 26 Conservation Society to the ruthless, amoral scheming of the movers and shakers of the financial world, like Jay Andersen, every piece of this book's jigsaw is a delight to read.
My favourite character was the ever-exasperated Peter Mount and I found it impossible to decide whether or not I sympathised with his plight. The sombre realisation of his young daughter's anguish is perfectly counterpoised by the comedy of his spats with the sanctimonious Odile Callow.
There is a handy explainer of some of the financial arrangements at the end of the book. I found it quite interesting to read, but it certainly wasn't a prerequisite for understanding the story. I can't recommend this book enough.
The story is woven together with groups of characters based in 5-6 different locations - hence the helpful reminder list at the start. Yet, such is the writer's art that I only needed to refer back to it once or twice at the most, which considering the numbers of characters involved is quite impressive. This is totally a credit to the writer's skill rather than my powers of concentration. The characters are so distinctive and well-drawn that remembering the details of different pieces of the plot jigsaw soon becomes easy.
Although the story ostensibly begins in 2006 and ends in 2009, in so many ways it also encompasses the 10-20 years leading up to it, epitomising the changes unleashed on the unsuspecting general public in the US and UK by government love affairs with the deregulation of financial markets and the ensuing carte blanche for unbridled greed. Having lived through the era preceding the events in the book, it brought back so many memories of the incremental changes in life that built up into the financial crash of 2008. It took me back to the days when hardly anyone I knew owned a house; and then almost imperceptibly everyone became obsessed with mortgages and kitchen suites.
One of the most impressive attributes of the book is the author's ability to get across such vivid characters without reams of explanation. After just a few pages with each one, you somehow feel as if you have met the type many times before. In fact, this book is a masterpiece of succinct writing - I doubt there is one unnecessary word in it. From the altruistic endeavours of the gentle raggle-taggle characters of the Trail 26 Conservation Society to the ruthless, amoral scheming of the movers and shakers of the financial world, like Jay Andersen, every piece of this book's jigsaw is a delight to read.
My favourite character was the ever-exasperated Peter Mount and I found it impossible to decide whether or not I sympathised with his plight. The sombre realisation of his young daughter's anguish is perfectly counterpoised by the comedy of his spats with the sanctimonious Odile Callow.
There is a handy explainer of some of the financial arrangements at the end of the book. I found it quite interesting to read, but it certainly wasn't a prerequisite for understanding the story. I can't recommend this book enough.
March 29, 2019
I do not know what drew me to this book in the first place, but I am really glad something did. If one reads as many books as I do in the time that I have, a pattern emerges. This relates to the type of books and stories that become some sort of standard. This book shook that standard at its root.
The narrative in this tale reads like a non-fiction report of situations in multiple places around the globe with tenuous but ultimately important connections to each other. More than the core story which revolves around rare-earth mineral mines, or excessive lending to people the fascinating part were the conversations. There were a lot of humours statements hidden beneath seemingly simple narration.
'Not just pleased with himself in general, which he generally was, but pleased with himself in particular'
The above was one statement that I found funny and managed to highlight, there were obviously more. The people introduced to us are extremely selfish(as well as corrupt in some form) in varying degrees but it was not hard to read about them because of something positive in the telling of the tale, which in itself is a rarity because most books that are kind of aggressive with regards to money and related motives tend to put me off. Reading about lives with focus on their financial dealings and dependencies is not something that I ever thought I would be comfortable doing because of my limited attention span for such topics but I not only read this one but enjoyed the experience! I just wish the book could have been smaller, maybe split into two parts for my own personal satisfaction.
I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a diverting read with interesting writing.
The narrative in this tale reads like a non-fiction report of situations in multiple places around the globe with tenuous but ultimately important connections to each other. More than the core story which revolves around rare-earth mineral mines, or excessive lending to people the fascinating part were the conversations. There were a lot of humours statements hidden beneath seemingly simple narration.
'Not just pleased with himself in general, which he generally was, but pleased with himself in particular'
The above was one statement that I found funny and managed to highlight, there were obviously more. The people introduced to us are extremely selfish(as well as corrupt in some form) in varying degrees but it was not hard to read about them because of something positive in the telling of the tale, which in itself is a rarity because most books that are kind of aggressive with regards to money and related motives tend to put me off. Reading about lives with focus on their financial dealings and dependencies is not something that I ever thought I would be comfortable doing because of my limited attention span for such topics but I not only read this one but enjoyed the experience! I just wish the book could have been smaller, maybe split into two parts for my own personal satisfaction.
I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a diverting read with interesting writing.
April 17, 2019
This book was not what I was expecting for some reason, but it was refreshingly good. The author has a unique style which I enjoyed, along with the globe trotting. Also an interesting take on corporate culture and society. I always look for well written characters and dialog, and this fit the bill. Mr Carter is a talented writer and I look forward to more. Recommended.
Thanks very much for the ARC for review!
Thanks very much for the ARC for review!
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August 21, 2020In The Umbrella Men, Keith Carter directs various characters in a plot to act out the financial crisis of 2008. The author specifically wants to highlight the role played by RBS, Royal Bank of Scotland, in a process that might be described as financial vandalism, wrecking things by financing them, but there are plenty of other actors who get it in the neck as well in the fusillade of the author’s invention.
The Umbrella Men brings fictional characters into real-life scenarios. This is, of course, the basis of most historical fiction, which often goes as far as putting invented words into once real, living mouths. Keith Carter avoids this trap. Key actors in the financial crash, such as Sir Fred Goodwin of RBS, or the members of the Middle Eastern consortium who refinanced Barclays, appear occasionally in name only, but not as protagonists. This allows the author carte blanche to invent people who can act out his scenario. And this he does, and that is precisely what they do they do.
The Umbrella Men is the kind of book that ought to be described as plot led, in that if the “what happened” were to be removed, there would not be a lot left. Strangely, in this case, we also know the plot before we start, if we have been even mildly conscious at any time in the last decade. So what might there be left to say? Quite a lot it seems, certainly enough to run to more than 400 pages in the electronica version.
Nothing of the book’s plot will be revealed here, except that it deals with the 2008 financial crisis. This is merely an introductory description of the scenario. Characters names will also be omitted, because long before the end, it’s merely the roles enacted by these people - there are more relevant and accurate words - that flesh out the authors plot.
There is a London resident director and part owner of a company called Rareterre. He is married. They are living beyond their means and they have a family. The company mines, or did mine, rare earths and has been operating in Oregon. Their facility there has been dormant for a while after a drop in the prices of their products. They succumb to a financing deal from RBS to bring the mine back to life. There’s a disaffected financier from New York who ditches her boyfriend and heads for a simple new life in Oregon, of all places. She joins an environmental group and meets in indigenous American, who has been pursuing his own personal campaign against certain corporate interests in the area. Their relationship develops improbably around a mutual interest in stopping, you may have guessed, rare earth mining.
And there’s the bankers, not only RBS but predominately them, a financial speculator outfit called B&B, who is also interested in consuming main meals, Italian girls in gymnasia, numerous boyfriends, estranged and current, mental break ups, bogus contracts, takeovers, market crashes and, of course, the Chinese, who effectively create a takeaway, pun intended.
The Umbrella Men is structured, if that be the word, like a box set of episodes from a TV drama. Each chapter contains an author-driven polemic, followed by numerous scene and location changes, so that these characters can issue dialogue, best described as strings of clichés to illustrate and justify what we were told that the start. The book thus sounds and feels more like TV drama as it progresses. The Umbrella Men will enthral readers who adore such TV dramas.
But these people do not live, except to live out the plot, in that task they accomplish quite effectively. There are a few dilemmas, almost no contradictions, and, basically, very little conflict. The pieces move around and the game is completed. By then, this reader was left wondering whether this should have been a novel at all.
And, by the way, we know that Sir Fred Goodwin will survive at the end, though he seems to have achieved a suitable anonymity by then.
The Umbrella Men brings fictional characters into real-life scenarios. This is, of course, the basis of most historical fiction, which often goes as far as putting invented words into once real, living mouths. Keith Carter avoids this trap. Key actors in the financial crash, such as Sir Fred Goodwin of RBS, or the members of the Middle Eastern consortium who refinanced Barclays, appear occasionally in name only, but not as protagonists. This allows the author carte blanche to invent people who can act out his scenario. And this he does, and that is precisely what they do they do.
The Umbrella Men is the kind of book that ought to be described as plot led, in that if the “what happened” were to be removed, there would not be a lot left. Strangely, in this case, we also know the plot before we start, if we have been even mildly conscious at any time in the last decade. So what might there be left to say? Quite a lot it seems, certainly enough to run to more than 400 pages in the electronica version.
Nothing of the book’s plot will be revealed here, except that it deals with the 2008 financial crisis. This is merely an introductory description of the scenario. Characters names will also be omitted, because long before the end, it’s merely the roles enacted by these people - there are more relevant and accurate words - that flesh out the authors plot.
There is a London resident director and part owner of a company called Rareterre. He is married. They are living beyond their means and they have a family. The company mines, or did mine, rare earths and has been operating in Oregon. Their facility there has been dormant for a while after a drop in the prices of their products. They succumb to a financing deal from RBS to bring the mine back to life. There’s a disaffected financier from New York who ditches her boyfriend and heads for a simple new life in Oregon, of all places. She joins an environmental group and meets in indigenous American, who has been pursuing his own personal campaign against certain corporate interests in the area. Their relationship develops improbably around a mutual interest in stopping, you may have guessed, rare earth mining.
And there’s the bankers, not only RBS but predominately them, a financial speculator outfit called B&B, who is also interested in consuming main meals, Italian girls in gymnasia, numerous boyfriends, estranged and current, mental break ups, bogus contracts, takeovers, market crashes and, of course, the Chinese, who effectively create a takeaway, pun intended.
The Umbrella Men is structured, if that be the word, like a box set of episodes from a TV drama. Each chapter contains an author-driven polemic, followed by numerous scene and location changes, so that these characters can issue dialogue, best described as strings of clichés to illustrate and justify what we were told that the start. The book thus sounds and feels more like TV drama as it progresses. The Umbrella Men will enthral readers who adore such TV dramas.
But these people do not live, except to live out the plot, in that task they accomplish quite effectively. There are a few dilemmas, almost no contradictions, and, basically, very little conflict. The pieces move around and the game is completed. By then, this reader was left wondering whether this should have been a novel at all.
And, by the way, we know that Sir Fred Goodwin will survive at the end, though he seems to have achieved a suitable anonymity by then.
November 3, 2019
The Umbrella Men features a sometimes bewildering cast of characters: businessmen in UK; investment bankers in UK and US; environmentalists in Oregon; analysts, lawyers; Chinese politicians; and Italian ex-pats in London. There are love stories; and stories that might be love stories but aren't. Family dramas. And above all, the circumstances surrounding the banking crisis of the 2000s which hurt many people very badly. Although the bankers seemed to come out of it okay.
Keith Carter has a background in this sort of environment and his research is obviously very thorough. All the facts are presented to the readers as the story progresses. And that's my main criticism of the book. It's an interesting story with some real bad guys, and some maybe bad guys, and some innocent bystanders who get caught up in things against their will. There was just a little too much background material presented for my taste. But for someone interested in the topic, it's a great grounding in a shameful period in recent history.
Keith Carter has a background in this sort of environment and his research is obviously very thorough. All the facts are presented to the readers as the story progresses. And that's my main criticism of the book. It's an interesting story with some real bad guys, and some maybe bad guys, and some innocent bystanders who get caught up in things against their will. There was just a little too much background material presented for my taste. But for someone interested in the topic, it's a great grounding in a shameful period in recent history.
October 11, 2020
I really enjoyed this book! It was extremely witty, which I really wasn’t expecting! It talks about business especially how the competitors try to get on each other nerves. Writing style was pretty great! I really liked how the author has managed to describe every single character with such a realistic touch that it literally left me in awe! But I still got kind of confused from time to time because of the uncountable number of characters like in every single chapter, there was a new character so that was making it kinda hard to cope up with but as it’s a novel about all kind of businesses and cooperates so I think it was essential to feature the characters from every class.
Tbh, this book was kind of intimidating me with its size and also because it isn’t the usual genre for me but it really proved me wrong! It doesn’t only talks about the business aspect but also about the background and the struggles of different classes of people.
All in all, it was really an impressive novel especially if you’re a business student then it’s definitely for you!
Tbh, this book was kind of intimidating me with its size and also because it isn’t the usual genre for me but it really proved me wrong! It doesn’t only talks about the business aspect but also about the background and the struggles of different classes of people.
All in all, it was really an impressive novel especially if you’re a business student then it’s definitely for you!
June 25, 2020
Reading it in parts during two distant time chunks, I thoroughly enjoyed it as a reader who wanted to learn more about the the big credit crunch of 2008.
Structured mainly as the fictional story of an international small-to-medium-sized mining company in rare-earth minerals business trapped with the greed of the finance sector and capitalism, politics, environmentalism and human traits, the author with a background in economics and banking successfully draws an absorbing picture of the non-fictional events during the financial crisis in his forthright novel. It was also a learning experience for me to know more about rare-earth elements, their importance to hi-tech and green energy sectors while having detrimental effects on the environment.
Thanks inboundbooks for the complimentary copy in exchange to an unbiased objective view...
Structured mainly as the fictional story of an international small-to-medium-sized mining company in rare-earth minerals business trapped with the greed of the finance sector and capitalism, politics, environmentalism and human traits, the author with a background in economics and banking successfully draws an absorbing picture of the non-fictional events during the financial crisis in his forthright novel. It was also a learning experience for me to know more about rare-earth elements, their importance to hi-tech and green energy sectors while having detrimental effects on the environment.
Thanks inboundbooks for the complimentary copy in exchange to an unbiased objective view...
October 13, 2020
This interesting and witty book looks at things from a different point of view and makes you think. We are fast forgetting the last financial crisis – the one caused in 2007 by the banking industry going rogue: The Umbrella Men looks at it from the perspective of a victim – but, unusually, a corporate one. We are all keen on renewable energy – this book gently asks us to consider its environmental costs as well as the benefits. We hold marital fidelity as a high standard – the author invites us, in an ingenious way, to contemplate how fragile this can be.
It is highly entertaining - at times it felt like watching an absorbing box-set. I warmly recommend you read The Umbrella Men.
It is highly entertaining - at times it felt like watching an absorbing box-set. I warmly recommend you read The Umbrella Men.
June 27, 2024
Delighted a friend recommended this book. A great debut novel. Rich characterisation drew me into the story and kept me hooked. The lead characters are all believably flawed. This is not a simple story of good triumphing over evil and heroes vanquishing their enemies. This story is much richer. The backdrop is the 2007-2008 banking crisis and the world of rare earth mining - topics about which the author is clearly very well informed. However, for me the joy of the book is the wryly amusing writing style. Yes, it is an attack on greed and flawed banking systems, but it is much more than that - it is a very entertaining read which has left me looking forward to reading his next novel.
January 12, 2025
Not for me - gave up after 3 chapters.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews