In the late 1940s in Hartford Connecticut a set of twins is parted at birth. Nat Cartwright goes home with his parents a schoolteacher & an insurance salesman. But his twin brother is to begin his days as Fletcher Andrew Davenport the only son of a multi-millionaire & his society wife. During the years that follow the two brothers grow up unaware of each other's existence. Nat leaves college at the University of Connecticut to serve in Vietnam. He returns a war hero he finishes school & becomes a successful banker. Fletcher meanwhile has graduated from Yale University & distinguishes himself as a criminal defence lawyer before he is elected to the Senate. Even when Nat & Fletcher fall in love with the same girl they still don't meet. They continue on their separate paths until one has to defend the other for a murder he did not commit. But the final confrontation comes when Nat & Fletcher are selected to stand against each other for governor of the state. ' There's a touch of the magician about Jeffrey Archer' Mail on Sunday