Carla Blumberg, an archaeologist living in Dornsburg, Austria, is an intriguing character in FORTUNA, written by Vera Zegarac. Although Carla is an accomplished professional in her field, she struggles to deal with her conflicted relationship with her mother, Marlene Blumberg. Marlene has always been a cold and critical person, affecting Carla’s perception of her worthiness. Carla’s best friend from childhood, Uma, grew up with loving parents, the Welkers – the parents Carla never had. Unfortunately, Uma and her husband, Claude, now live in Toulouse, France. Although the friendship is strong, most of the communication between Carla and Uma is now by email. When Carla meets and falls in love with Eric Shottel, a handsome, successful bachelor, it seems her fortunes may have improved. The story continues with many complications and unforeseen events, making this novel an engaging read.

There are several interesting characters in this work; each person is skillfully described. While most of the story occurs in the present time, the added feature of including the histories of Carla’s and Eric’s parents creates a greater understanding of their actions. Many settings, including lovely homes in Dornsburg, and an archaeological dig in Ephesus, are beautifully depicted. Author Vera Zegarac writes an engaging tale in the fictional work, FORTUNA. The reason for this title is fully revealed towards the end of the book, and it is an appropriate statement of Carla’s difficult, and rewarding, life. A lovely story, with a delightful ending!

FORTUNA by Vera Zegarac is an engaging story that explores one woman’s journey to finding true love. When the twenty-seven-year-old archaeologist and professor, Carla Blumberg meets Eric Schottel, a lawyer twelve years her senior, the attraction is mutual and they quickly fall in love. In spite of Carla’s mother being a controlling freak, Carla is hopeful she’s found the love of her life, but things start going awry the moment she discovers she can’t have a baby. Carla knows things can never be the way she’d always wanted. Her marriage slowly deteriorates and escalates into a painful divorce. Follow her story as she develops new friendships, navigates with her ailing mother, experiences loss, finds real love, and ultimately settles with the man of her dreams.

Vera Zegarac injects a deep sense of humanity and pathos into the writing and this immediately awakens the finest sentiments and emotions in readers, compelling them to identify with and care for the characters. Carla’s journey is a difficult one and readers will sympathize with her as she struggles to build a good relationship with her mother. The author introduces the conflict right off the bat and the reader is pulled in by the psychological and emotional intensity of the conflict. I enjoyed the pacing and couldn’t wait to find out what happens to the protagonist. The author has a gift for creating a setting that readers can easily visualize. The writing is great and the dialogues read naturally. FORTUNA is intelligently plotted, intense and absorbing.