“Fates and Furies” is a literary fiction novel by Lauren Groff which follows the marriage, love, and trials of Lotto and Mathilde Satterwhite. Lotto and Mathilde first meet in college. Following the death of their father, Lotto and his little sister Rachel are raised by their mother, Antoinette, and by their paternal aunt, Sallie. Mathilde is raised by her uncle in America after her parents abandon her following an accident where, at four years old, she opened a door to allow her toddler brother to leave the bedroom he was napping in, only to fall down the stairs, break his neck, and die. Lotto befriends twins Chollie and Gwennie, and a gay Asian boy named Michael, all of whom get Lotto into drugs. Mathilde deals with her issues by shutting others out.

In college, reeling from the overdose death of Gwennie, Lotto decides to commit suicide but stops when he sees Mathilde. Instead, he asks her to marry him, determined to completely change his life for her. Mathilde, who barely knows of Lotto, agrees to marry him. They quickly fall in love and do very well at marriage. This surprises their friends, who believe it will only be a matter of time before they are divorced. They are all proven wrong as the marriage grows stronger over time. Antoinette, however, is furious that her son would marry without her knowledge. She and Mathilde are instantly set against one another. Antoinette believes that Mathilde is only interested in the family fortune, and also knows that Mathilde’s aunt has mafia connections, so she offers Mathilde money to leave Lotto. Mathilde refuses.

Mathilde goes on to inspire Lotto to become a playwright when his acting career never pans out. Lotto composes numerous plays, the first of which are produced with financial backing from Mathilde’s uncle when Mathilde threatens to our her uncle’s illegal art collection. The plays ultimately speak for themselves, and Lotto thrives. She and Lotto purchase a home in the country beyond New York. Just as things seem perfect, Chollie appears with news that a gallery owner named Ariel had a sexual affair with Mathilde for four years while she was in college, part of the time during which she was dating Lotto. Lotto is stunned by this and the near-simultaneous death of his mother. He dies of a broken heart at 46 years of age not long after.

Mathilde is devastated. Chollie confronts her, explaining that he had sought revenge against her for taking his friendship with Lotto away by marriage, and by not being good enough for Lotto due to her affair, and when she refused to give Lotto children. Mathilde’s relationship with Ariel was one of business. She gave him sex for college tuition money. Mathilde seeks revenge by hiring a private investigator to uncover evidence of Chollie’s own affairs, causing his wife to leave him. She also prepares to expose his investment firm as a Ponzi scheme. However, the discovery that Gwennie did not die of an overdose but rather committed suicide from depression after giving birth to Lotto’s son when she was seventeen, after being paid hush money by Antoinette, causes Mathilde to reverse course. Rather than destroying what remains of Chollie, she puts him in touch with Lotto’s illegitimate son.