GOD IS AN ENGLISHMAN

by R. F. Delderfield ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1970

. . . and so, not surprisingly is Adam Swann, whose road haulage business in the 1850's and '60's is a veritable temple to exemplary management, integrity and industry. Swann, no trumpeter for mere military conquering, left soldiering, and on the capital realized from a Ranee's jeweled necklace found on an Indian battlefield, buys a few vehicles and sets them rolling in the interests of growth and progress. But there are ruts in the ways of the merchantman. His marriage to spirited child-woman Henrietta, runaway from the dictates of her coarse mill-owner father who, literally, talks a different language (""Ah thowt that'd bowl thee over"") has hot ups and chilly downs until she matures into a competent executive. The unmarried girl who loves him, Edith, with freckled arms and a head for business, muses him some disquiet until she marries a thief she had reclaimed for her very own. Swann's partner dribbles away the profits and Swarm himself nearly loses his life on a train in which novelist Dickens was also travelling (""Good God, it's him! It's Dickens!""). But in spite of setbacks and intermittent depressions about the lot of child laborers, all ends happily. Play fair and the world plays along. But with all the countinghouse detail, even Delderfield's loyal customers may be jogged to sleep before the final depot.

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1970

ISBN: 1402218214

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1970

Categories: FICTION