A witty, globally-scoped exposé of corporate greed and environmentalism told through an absorbing character-rich tale.
Set during the 2008-banking crisis, Peter Mount is the CEO of a small London mining company, a role he likens to “being the ringmaster of a small circus.” His wife of 24 years is a Cambridge zoology graduate, whose predilection for holidays in “expensive resorts in distant locations” and life’s finer, pricier things are not quite sustained by Peter’s income. Then we meet Amy, a New Yorker with a former sizeable carbon footprint who’s “transformed into a dedicated, environmental activist” when the idyll of her retreat in rural Oregon is disrupted by the racket of mining trucks working a few kilometres away from her property.
Astute on the personal, environmental and financial butterfly effects of capitalism, this expansive novel is packed with surprises and reveals the complex and often contradictory interplay between human and economic forces.
Razor-sharp wit meets the stark reality of our era in The Umbrella Men, a novel that cuts through the noise to expose corporate greed, the hubris of bankers, contradictions of the clean energy economy and their unintended consequences on everyday people. Meet Peter Mount, the tenacious self-made CEO of a London-based rare-earth mining empire, whose marriage and family fortunes are rocked by the bankruptcy of Royal Bank of Scotland and the repercussions of his own decisions. Across the Atlantic in Oregon, Amy Tate and her league of local environmental crusaders unwittingly set off a chain reaction that threatens the green economy. How were they to know that their actions would be turbocharged by global powers, particularly the mighty hand of China? As the ripples reach the epicenters of power in New York and London, the fallout is nothing short of cataclysmic. The Umbrella Men is a clever and gripping story of ambition, capitalism, and the unpredictable aftermath of our choices.
Keith Carter was born in Scotland to a Dutch mother and British father. He read Economics at Cambridge, taking a First in 1981 when he was elected a Scholar - too late to enjoy the privilege of walking on the grass. He worked as an investment banker before going straight and running a small pharmaceutical company. He is now a writer and business consultant and lives in East London with his daughters. He enjoys travel,politics and economics, reading and writing, music, sailing of all kinds and meals with family and friends. Keith suffered a spinal cord injury in March 2018 and since rides a wheelchair.
