Entitlement review: Money-minded madness makes Rumaan Alam's latest go round

Hindustan Times

20-05-2025

Money, race, familial bonds and the bustle of New York City have been at the heart of author Rumaan Alam's work from the get go. These themes feature as heavily in his 2016 debut novel Rich and Pretty and his runaway hit Leave the World Behind, as they do in his latest. Entitlement follows a young woman in the glitzy New York of 2014 - one where Instagram hasn't yet fully taken over, but still draws lines in the sand between the haves and the have-nots.
We meet the protagonist, Brooke (described by one character as 'Black, gorgeous, serious, [and] passionate') in the middle of her commute to a swanky new job. At first, we get the sense that she's driven and optimistic about potentially being given the chance to do some good in the world. But as the story progresses, we find that it is a facade - she is in fact just a bored thirty-something who feels adrift.
But an undeniable fact quickly comes to the fore: she is a striver. Working with Arthur Jaffee, her 80-year-old billionaire boss who wants to give away all his wealth, Brooke gets a taste of what incredible amounts of money can get you. Once she decides she deserves more in life, ethics and morals get tossed out of the question almost immediately.
Categorised as psychological fiction, Entitlement succeeds in putting the reader in the protagonist's shoes. The narration, however, jumps between different characters' perspectives in the middle of most scenes. It's a bold writing choice, one that makes the experience either deeply insightful or deeply frustrating for the reader. The last few chapters read like a full-blown thriller as Brooke's mental decline snowballs from burning bridges to remorseless corporate fraud. But one can't help but wish we knew more about the characters apart from their opinions of Brooke and her derision towards their lack of ambition.
The writing is sharp throughout (a plot hole or two notwithstanding) and incisive social commentary is where Alam shines and he's got a point to make with this book. The author uses a biased narrator to put into sharp relief for the reader disparities in the world that the characters can't (or refuse to) see. Surprisingly enough, it's the unlikeable characters that make this book work. Despite staggering greed and increasingly unhinged actions, we can't help but sympathise with Brooke.
Even with sprinklings of corporate jargon, Entitlement humanises its heroes without sanitising or glorifying them, which is exactly why it stays with you, long after you turn the last page.
Title: Entitlement
Author: Rumaan Alam
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Price: ₹596