Mr Finchley Discovers His England

This is another one of those delightful British series written between the 1930s and the 1950s and brought back by Farrago Books for our reading pleasure. When we meet Mr Finchley he is a dull, boring, unmarried clerk, 45 years old, and has never taken a holiday. His boss tells him to go and have some fun and forget about work for two or three weeks. Sounds odd to him, but he’s game and makes reservation at the seaside. That’s the plan, but so much for plans.

Each chapter is another adventure for Mr Finchley. In the beginning he agrees to watch a gentleman’s car for a moment and will then take his train to the seaside. Instead, he falls asleep in the back seat and is kidnapped when the car is stolen. Time and again he manages to show more extract himself from an unexpected and often unpleasant circumstance only to find himself throw right back into another unbelievable encounter. At first he is quite upset that he is missing out on his seaside vacation, but soon he discovers that the likes the outdoors and all the challenges he faces. It becomes a matter of personal pride for him to be able to “see it through” and “make the best of it.” Along the way he meets thieves, gypsies, a nobleman, a lunatic who just happens to look exactly like him, and smugglers. He is chased by people and animals and is caught in the heat and the cold and the rain.

The writing is superb and entertaining as only writing from this time period can be. Descriptions of the countryside, the animals, the people are rich, full and elegant. Each chapter is its own pleasing little story and the book presents a picture of an England that is either forgotten or was never known by those of us reading this today, customs and traditions and mores and language that are unfamiliar but comfortable all the same.

The longer we know Mr Finchley the more we like him. He isn’t really stuffy and rigid and prissy, but merely a man of his time and station who discovers many things about people and places – and himself – that he never knew. And is having a rollicking good time while on his journey of discoveries. Some of his escapades are a little frightening and some are laugh-out-loud funny; all are wonderful.

Thanks to Farrago Books for making Mr Finchley Discovers His England available again. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it without hesitation. All opinions are my own. show less

For decades Mr Finchley has worked as a solicitor's clerk, and has never had a vacation. When the firm is sold, Finchley's enlightened new boss gives him three weeks off. Plump, bald, forty-five year old Mr Finchley, a man intimidated by his landlady, decides to go to Margate, an unadventurous seaside resort, but on the way he is inadvertently kidnapped by gangsters, and his exciting holiday begins. Mr Finchley travels around England on foot, by bicycle, by train and bus, and even in a smuggler's boat. He makes friends with the people who take to the roads: gipsies, itinerant workers, a travelling vicar, an artist, an escaped lunatic. He sleeps by the side of the road, in barns, in tents and even in a mansion. The naive and trusting Mr show more Finchley gets along with everyone.

This cheerful, gently humorous, optimistic little book was a best seller in England in 1934. show less

'Call it,' answered Mr Finchley, raising his glass, 'what you like. In the last few weeks I've become so used to odd things and strange happenings that I begin to feel that soon I shall find I can't live without 'em. Tell me, Captain Platt, did you ever feel that you couldn't live without adventure; that if luck or fortune jerked you from a comfortable existence by a weird accident into a life of thrills and fears you would want to go on living the new life for ever . . . ' Mr Finchley stopped, overcome by self-consciousness.

Mr Finchley has not had a holiday in years, but when a new head clerk takes over at the law firm he is given three whole weeks off. After falling asleep in the back seat of a car that he is looking after for its show more owner, his hopes for a quiet holiday pottering about at Margate are foiled and he spends the next three weeks walking and cycling through the south-west of England, meeting artists, eccentric aristocrats, gypsies, tramps, smugglers, and criminals and getting into several fights! By the time he gets home, he is a changed man.

Written during the 1930s, this was the first novel by Victor Canning. I acquired it via Book mooch after hearing an adaptation of the third and final book in this endearing series, "Mr Finchley Takes the Road". I found it quite similar in theme to "This Book Will Change Your Life", as both feature protagonists who are stuck in a rut, and how they are changed by being shaken out of their routine and forced to interact with the sort of people they never normally meet. show less

Charming seems to a word that floats around this book (series) and it’s certainly that. Although different, this story set in the 1930s reminded me of A Diary of a Nobody in that it’s a telling of one man’s story. When Mr Finchley takes an unexpected holiday, he certainly didn’t foresee the adventures he was about to face. Comedic disasters might be a term one could use for this, as Finchley falls naively into one potential mishap after another yet seems lifted up by having them to a type of man he never thought he could be. My enjoyment was probably enhanced by knowing where the places he visits are situated.

Mr. Finchley Discovers His England tells the story of how Mr. Finchley discovered himself while on traveling like a will-o-the-wisp through England. Edgar Finchley is an established bachelor clerk whose life has been structured around work and responsibility. But with a new manager, suddenly he has a three-week vacation, the first in ten years. He plans to go to Margate, but on the way there, he agrees to watch a brand new car for someone, gets bored, and falls asleep in the back seat. He wakes up when the wild driving dumps him on the floor only to discover the driver is a thief who has stolen the car.

From there he gets into one situation after another, some dangerous and others simply hilarious. I mean he actually gets chased by a show more bull. Along the way, he meets several rascals and scoundrels, enough to make me think of the picaresque Lazarillo de Tormes and Gil Blas. You can’t really call this a picaresque novel, though, since Finchley is not a rogue, not at all. He’s naive, gallant, charitable, and honest. Perhaps Pilgrim’s Progress is a better comparison, and this pilgrim redeems himself by becoming less fussy, a more sympathetic person.

I enjoyed Mr. Finchley Discovers His England very much. His adventures are delightful and although there are moments of danger and risk, readers know by the number of pages left in the book that Mr. Finchley will be fine. The book is full of humor and misadventure. The only thing that seems a bit obtrusive is occasional authorial noting that Finchleys’ indigestion was not bothering him, that he was getting a tan, and that his hair was bleaching in the sun. This is the physical manifestation of the personal transformation he goes through, discovering that he is not an old fuddy-duddy after all.

Mr. Finchley Discovers His England will be released on April 18th. I received an e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.

Mr. Finchley Discovers His England at Farrago Books
Victor Canning appreciation site

★★★★
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2019/04/14/9781788421614/ show less

Mr. Finchley, head clerk in a solicitors office is single, 45, and has never had a holiday. Until now. Mr. Finchley is going to holiday in Margate, or so he believes. Innocently passing a bit of time sunning on a bench before lunch & catching his train leads to Mr. Finchley unwittingly being involved in a high speed police chase and being taken hostage among other adventures.

What a delightful change of reading pace. Mr. Finchley's adventures and era almost convinces me I was born too late. It's hard to find books and writing like this unless you look to the past and mores the pity.
Before you know it you're immersed in Mr. Finchley's world and the colorful characters he encounters on his first holiday. The bar is set high and show more successive holidays are bound to be a bit of a let down after these escapades.
MR. FINCHLEY FINDS HIS ENGLAND is a lovely, calming escapist read that did me a wealth of good. If you need a humorous change of pace, literally, give Mr. Finchley a go.

I received a digital copy from the publisher via NetGalley, all views and opinions expressed are my own. show less

An odd book, made up of one madcap adventure after another. Highly episodic. The characters mostly feel like caricatures, except Mr Finchley himself has a bit more realness to him. Although he is *just* naive enough to keep landing in some bizarre situations, he's intelligent enough to deal with them.

This is a book you have to be in the right mood for. It's not quite my cup of tea, but you might enjoy it if you like the sounds of a book that's somewhere in the ballpark of PG Wodehouse but with occasional forays into more profound thought.