In New York City in the 1920s, Benjamin, a Wall Street tycoon, and Helen, the daughter of eccentric aristocrats, are at the top of the social scene. But how did they come by their vast fortune? That’s the question at the center of a 1937 novel, Bonds , that all of the elite of New York has read, based on the tale of financier Andrew Bevel. That’s narrative no . 1 in Bonds . No . 2 is from the perspective of Bevel, displeased with his fictional portrayal within Bonds , who decides to write his own memoir. No 3., a memoir by Ida Partenza, a magazine writer, and no. 4, a diary by Mildred, Bevel’s wife, add to the layers in this story. There are four narratives are all competing for the truth within Trust —and it’s a magnificently constructed literary puzzle about power and American wealth.