Winning the Lottery: Blessing or Curse?
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Winning the Lottery: Blessing or Curse?
Ridgewood, NJ – Life would be so perfect and carefree with immeasurable wealth…right? You Never Know (Wheatmark, Inc.) is an extraordinary novel by Lilian Duval that questions our assumptions about money and power. The story contrasts two families that are friends; one suffers great tragedy and struggles financially, while the other has enjoyed an affluent lifestyle. Everything changes when one decides to buy a lottery ticket.
Having struggled through his young life with a condescending father, alcoholic mother, and an artistically gifted younger brother, Tobias Hillyer’s life changes forever during a Christmas visit home when a tragic automobile accident leaves both of his parents dead and his younger brother Simeon seriously injured. Tobias, always one to do the right thing, abandons his dreams of finishing college to take care of his brain-damaged sibling. He works a low-paying job, marries his brother’s psychiatric nurse, and tries to settle into the middle class.
On the other hand, Martin, his college roommate, seems to have everything going his way. He finishes college, marries well, and lands a high-paying job with Lehman Brothers in New York. In spite of their differences in incomes, the two families stay in touch.
When Tobias buys a lottery ticket on a whim – and wins – he believes his problems are finally over. Strangely, as the roles are reversed, Tobias and his wife now get to live out their fantasies and Martin now faces bankruptcy.
As problems arise and life gets more difficult and less predictable for Tobias, who nearly loses everything he holds most dear while trying to get his head around this staggering amount of money, it is Simeon who surfaces as the unexpected hero by realizing his own happiness and success as a result of his own efforts. As “Simmy” sets out on his own personal life journey, he leaves the family with a gift that brings them full circle and grants Tobias inner peace.
You Never Know is more a story of triumph than defeat, and what stems from one winning ticket makes for an exciting and surprising read filled with unexpected twists and turns to the very end, proving that while chance can change lives in a split second, results can last a lifetime.
While Lilian Duval implies in her novel that her characters may have been affected by the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center Towers in 2001, she and her husband are actual survivors of this attack and know first-hand how this experience forever changed their lives.
For more information on Lilian Duval and her extraordinary novel, please visit her website at: www.lilianduval.com.
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