What exactly happened in the end? Spoiler...

This answer contains spoilers… (view spoiler)[I finished this book yesterday and spent the night mulling over the ending. Here's my thoughts on what it means:

1) Alexander/Alex/Sasha are the same person - there is one timeline in Book 1, it splits into two simultaneous timelines from Book 2 through Book 6, then reunites as one timeline again in Book 7. The clues are in the Chapter "Titles" - Alexander refers to one timeline, and Alex and Sasha (both nicknames or diminutives for Alexander) are two timelines - Alex being in America and Sasha in Britain. I considered whether it was two men, but it's just too coincidental for them to have mothers with the same name, the same school friend, etc., plus Alexander/Alex/Sasha always acts in a way that is consistent with one character. Two different people, even identical twins, will not have the exact same personalities, principles, and beliefs.

2) The timelines split at the point of the coin flip - maybe it's a magic coin?? Ha ha. :) This is the element of chance introduced into Alexander's life. I believe Archer calls them Alex and Sasha merely for the convenience of the reader - if he called them both Alexander, you would be totally confused about who was who. The different names was really just to keep track of them, but they are both the same person.

3) The timelines rejoin because Alex and Sasha are too close together in space and time. I don't read a lot of science fiction, but I imagine it's something like time travel, where you can't interact with your past or future self. Once Alex and Sasha are on track to be in the same place at the same time (landing in Saint Petersburg), the 'universe' interferes to prevent it. I don't know if we can tell which one dies in the plane crash. This is where I think an opportunity was missed, which was to have both Alex and Sasha returning to Saint Petersburg intending to be president. The fact that Alex is returning for his uncle's funeral makes the ending more confusing, as the person who dies notes that "he hadn't realized how far Vladimir would go to ensure he had no serious rivals for the presidency" - implying that this is Sasha. But then when Alexander lands, he gives Sasha's speech. Hmmmmm. If both had been returning for the purposes of being president, and both were writing speeches on the plane, this would have made more sense to me.

4) I believe that whichever version of Alexander survived to arrive in Saint Petersburg did eventually also die, because Vladimir says he would not announce his candidacy "until after I've delivered the eulogy at the funeral of my old school friend." Since we know Vladimir Putin does become President, the implication is that Alexander/Alex/Sasha is killed.

5) The message I have taken away from the book is that chance is not what dictates what your life becomes, as whether he went to America or England, Alexander/Alex/Sasha has a remarkably similar life path and ends up dying in the same place in the same year (maybe even the same day or week). I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Jeffrey Archer doesn't believe in coincidence or luck, but rather believes that your life path is largely due to hard work and character. This would also align with his other books, where it is the smart and hard-working man who succeeds, despite some bumps along the way (usually a beautiful scheming woman in a boardroom!). :)

This is obviously my own interpretation and I have no inkling whether it's what Mr. Archer intended (feel free to call me to confirm/refute, Mr. Archer!). ;) Despite having some criticisms of how it wrapped up, I took away a clear message from the story, and I did really like the concept.

(hide spoiler)]

This question contains spoilers… (view spoiler)[What exactly happened in the end? Spoiler alert. I can't figure it out. (hide spoiler)]

About Goodreads Q&A

This question contains spoilers… (view spoiler)