The History of Mr Polly by H G Wells

[Janet]

THE HISTORY OF MR POLLY by H G WELLS

 

 

The History of Mr Polly by H G Wells

 

The ‘blurb’

Alfred Polly, bankrupt gentlemen’s outfitter, hates the whole scheme of things. Head full of half-digested chivalry, body wracked by dyspepsia, he recalls both the boisterous dramas of youth and the dreadful restrictions of a dull marriage - and so resolves to kill himself. Unexpected events bring him instead to a new heroic life and, at last, a chance of happiness.

 

Mr Polly is a weak man. He drifts from job to job, but when his father dies, he inherits a good sum of money. At his father’s funeral, he meets some female cousins and starts visiting them. He begins a ‘sort of’ courtship with one of them, but eventually proposes to her sister, Miriam. He uses his inheritance to buy a gentleman’s outfitters - but life is dull and he and Miriam are not happy.

 

After fifteen years trapped in a loveless marriage, and a failure in business, Mr Polly sits on a style on a hill overlooking the town and contemplates his life. He decides to end it all in a way that will mean his wife, Miriam, gets the insurance money.

 

However he fluffs the suicide attempt and inadvertently ends up as a hero. He leaves Miriam and lives happily for some time working as a ‘pot man’ in a pub in Kent. Eventually his conscience gets the better of him, and he returns to Fishbourne to see how Miriam has fared - will she be pleased to see him?

 

It took me a long time to get into this book. I found the first few chapters rather slow-going, but after a faltering start, I really enjoyed it. I haven’t read any other of Wells’ other novels but would like to read Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul, on which the musical Half-a-Sixpence is based at some stage.

Edited April 7, 2010 by Janet
Noticed a typo!

[Raven]

Interesting, I've been meaning to give this a go for quite a while as I really like the John Mills film version (and H.G. Wells!).

 

It's always puzzled me why Waterstones have this in the science fiction section . . .

[Janet]

Do they! How bizarre. I suppose they think that's where people who want to read his work will head but it's about as far removed from Sci-fi as one could get!

[Raven]

^ A new genre, Non-Science Fact!

[Vladd]

I remember studying this book for O level English Lit. I also seem to remember the BBC production with Andrew Sachs in the role back in 1980.