My thanks to NetGalley and Farrago Books for a digital review copy of this book.

First published in 1934, Mr Finchley Discovers His England is the first in a series of (I think) three books featuring Mr Finchley, a forty-five-year-old bachelor, who works as a solicitor’s clerk in London. When one of his bosses Mr Bardwell dies, and the office is taken over by his partner Mr Sprake, there comes an unexpected change in Mr Finchley’s life. For the first time since Mr Finchley was employed, he finds himself getting a three-week holiday. So of course, as holidays must usually be, he books himself into a hotel at Margate. But when he is waiting to catch his train, a man asks him to watch his Bentley, which Mr Finchley agrees to do but he falls asleep in the process. When his eyes next open, the car is being driven, away and Mr Finchley finds himself kidnapped. He is unnerved but decides to take the experience as an adventure, one he could have never had in his normal life. From here, he manages to make his escape. And with this starts a holiday completely unlike what Mr Finchley could have ever imagined. Mr Finchley traipses across the country, soaking in nature, meeting interesting people and having a series of unforeseen adventures. He falls in with tramps, artists, travellers, and gypsies, ends up taking jobs at a fair and selling petrol, being mistaken for a vagrant and a lunatic, is almost strangled, plays cricket and even takes to smuggling! His adventures change his life completely, so much so that there is likely to be a change in his everyday life too.

This was such a fun, charming read, with gentle humour and a very likeable set of characters. Something like Three Men in a Boat but without the slapstick. What I really liked about Mr Finchley as a character was how open he was to each new adventure, to each new experience, and how ready he was to enjoy every thing that came his way, irked sometimes (only initially), but never complaining or grumbling much, rather relishing every moment. The people he meets have interesting stories (unlike Mr Finchley’s own which is rather ordinary untill this adventure begins), some sad, some simply unusual, and while not all are honest and straightforward, they certainly are far from the ordinary. I also loved how away from grey London, Mr Finchley gets to really immerse himself in nature, whether it be the birds around, or the sea, or the moors, there is a certain peace about the places he spends time at which transfers itself to the reader as well. My first acquaintance with Mr Finchley and Victor Canning’s work was really delightful. Looking forward to more in the future.

The book was published on 18 April 2019!

Edgar Finchley is a middle-aged, middle class office worker in London who's about to take his first vacation (or Holiday, as the Brits say) to Margate.
But while minding someone's car, Finchley falls fast asleep in the back seat and is suddenly whisked away to a very, very different sort of vacation than he'd planned.
Once he's able to stop worrying about Margate, Finchley relaxes into a wondrous (and sometimes dangerous)) adventure across England.
This is a charming and delightful romp..

Quirky novel first in a long line of books, good read with fun English humour throughtout, i look forward to reading the rest.

This is wryly humorous and very entertaining story.
Mr Finchley has led a hard-working, quiet and respectable life. Up to now, that is. He sets off on his first ever holiday. He’s booked a hotel in Margate, because he’s heard that’s the sort of thing you do for a holiday, but he never gets there. He falls in with an assortment of crooks, who take merciless advantage of him, but this exposure to the wilder side of life has Mr Finchley hooked. Bother Margate, he’s going to go where the wind takes him – on his ‘borrowed’ bicycle. Things never go smoothly for him, but this new Mr Finchley take it all on the chin, and loves every minute of it!
Set in the 1930s this wonderful story whisks us back to a simpler, more innocent time. It’s heartening and fascinating to be immersed in that period – the clothes, prices, food and manners of the time. The writing is superb and the reader is quickly engrossed, chuckling, occasionally tutting (from our modern and far more street-cred and cynical point of view) but always willing Mr Finchley on in his delightful adventures.

Thanks to Farrago Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC of this title.

This book is an old-fashioned story first published in 1939, the first novel by Victor Canning, written when he was just 23 years old. It was OK, but not one I’d want to read again. It just seemed too silly.

Published reviews all praise this book as “innocent”, gentle” and “kind”, which I don’t dispute. But it seems absurd that a 45-year-old man could be as clueless as Mr. Finchley, no matter the era.

The book is basically about Mr Finchley’s three-week adventure, as he sets out for his first-ever holiday. He repeatedly finds himself in trouble—that’s basically the “plot.”

His mishaps seemed as ridiculous as the antics of “Curious George” the monkey in the popular children’s books (which coincidentally first appeared in 1939, only 5 years after this book wax published.) George is a monkey who is always getting into and out of trouble—just as Mr Finchley does.

The descriptions of nature are pastoral and the people hale and hardy, because walking or bicycling from town to town was apparently not unusual between the wars. (Though there were by then also buses and charabancs, automobiles and trucks/lorries.)

It also harkens back to a more patriarchal time when only young women were pretty; once they aged they were “old maids” with “withered dewlaps” (!)—essentially comparing them to cows. THAT is not a time I would want to return to.

I find it interesting that this book paints such an idyllic picture of England when the horrors of World War I were not that long in the past; families everywhere had lost husbands, sons, brothers, fathers, uncles and best mates. And of those who did return, many were maimed, unable to find employment because they were no longer “whole”.

The book seems to be purposely myopic, divorced from reality. The publisher tells us that this book was wildly popular in the 1930s, and I can imagine that’s true; no doubt everyone wanted to forget their hardships and remember a time when life was better and people kinder. No doubt everyone wanted to forget the killing machines that had been invented only 10+ years earlier.

No matter how popular the book once was, I cannot endorse its acquisition by any library. Only the very simple-minded would enjoy it,

Set in 1934, Edgar Finchley is a proper and rather single-minded man, at 45 he’s been the chief clerk at the same solicitor’s firm for years and never taken a holiday. But, changes are coming in the business after his boss’ death, and now with Mr. Sprake in charge, Edgar has been told he MUST take 3 weeks for a holiday. Not entirely sure just what to do with himself, but excited at the prospect with an open calendar and sufficient funds, he’s headed to catch a train. Finding himself with time to spare, he takes the first of many unexpected steps and simply takes a seat on a bench, watching the world go by. Soon after settling himself, he is asked by a man in a Bentley to “mind his car’ as the man has a quick bit of business to attend to, and it appears that Mr. Finchley is trustworthy. Thus begins his three week adventure, wholly unexpected and unscripted…..

Mr. Finchley is soon embroiled in a car chase (without his actual understanding), finding himself meeting and seeing much of the countryside without actually making any real choices as to direction. He’s the ultimate good sport – trying to maintain his certain sort of ‘dignity’ in some of the most unexpected (and new to him) circumstances. Always he remains open and honest, even when those he meets aren’t necessarily so, and while he finds himself at the wrong end of the stick often: including a blackened eye from a gypsy, a conniving maid, inside a circus, even spending time with a group of bagpiping Scots. It almost seems that trouble is bound to happen wherever he goes, and fortunately for us, he’s not particularly stuffy about these events, he’s simply seeking to get on with things and move on after adding yet another ‘tick’ to his boxes of life experienced.

So much action and adventure is packed into this little book, and Mr. Finchley truly does find a sense of the ‘variety’ of characters to be found in “his England”, many of whom he had never thought of, or perhaps even knew of, before his holiday. Originally released in the 1970’s, and set in the 1930’s, Canning was a favorite of many and the language, settings and even the pacing are sure to please fans who like the more ‘classic’ settings and pacing of novels from that era. The language feels somewhat ‘dated’, but clearly accessible in this look back at a gentler time - one that perhaps really wasn’t as the drumbeats of war were sounding in Europe, the story was engaging, entertaining and often dancing around the stereotypical. An amusing read when something totally different, action packed and paced with a relaxed and steady forward march.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-apI/” > <a> I am, Indeed </a>

What a great story! Loved traveling back to pre-WWII England with Mr. Finchley on his vacation. What a wonderful time I had. Lots of eccentric characters and the adventure was well written. I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

This is a charming book capturing a romanticised version of the English countryside and is a welcomed reissue for new readers. From the beginning, Mr. Finchley's holiday adventures begin by him mistakenly getting involved with car thieves and do not stop until the end of the book. In its own gentle way, the action is 'relentless' for the 45-year-old solicitor's clerk and I can not recommend this enough.

This was originally written in 1934 and has been re-released. It’s quite slow but charming and paints an idyllic picture of times gone by.
Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to review it.

This is a creative, well written, fun story about the adventures Mr. Finchley has when he takes his first vacation in years. So much happens to this man and as a result he finds himself in some rather amazing and amusing situations as he travels around England. Each time the reader thinks he is really on his way to his actual destination, the story takes another turn. After a while, Mr. Finchley starts to just roll with the adventures and lets them happen while savoring what he learns along the way. This story, although over the top in the adventures that Mr. Finchley has, made me stop and think and maybe not do so much planning for my next vacation, but rather see where life takes me.

This is pretty funny. It's a bit specific in the type of humor used. I can see why it had wide appeal when first published. If you suspend disbelief the entire read and want something light, you'll probably enjoy it. 3.5 stars.

I really appreciate the copy for review!

Mr Finchley has spent his life in London. Now he is taking his first vacation. Nothing goes like he thinks it will. Though he never winds up where he planned to go he does have many adventures and comes home a changed man. This book takes you on a slow meandering of England. Mr Finchley meets many different people and learns something about himself as well as some hard lessons along the way.

3.5 stars

Charming tale from an earlier time of Mr. Finchley, a staid London office clerk who sets off on a three-week holiday which reveals a totally different side of his personality and character. What begins as a welcome but humdrum planned vacation morphs into an exuberant adventure filled with characters and situations that Mr. Finchley has never dreamed of. He surprises himself by discovering that he has a spontaneous and carefree nature hidden under his conventional outward appearance. Quaint and quietly enjoyable. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in return for my honest review.

"What is a holiday without change and excitement?" Ask Edgar Finchley, esquire.

MR. FINCHLEY DISCOVERS HIS ENGLAND was Victor Canning's first novel and a runaway best seller in 1934; and now, his novels are being re-released. This one, first in a trilogy, is old-fashioned and silly....yes, but filled with the crazy adventures of what was a somewhat wimpy, but proper man now changed as he travels across an atmospheric 1930's countryside experiencing the world from a different perspective.

Mr. Finchley clerks for a solicitor. He is described as a naive, short-bodied, bald-headed man of 45 who smokes a pipe and weighs 155 pounds....with a maid who bosses him around. But Mr. Finchley is a happy camper; he has a new boss who has granted him his first ever vacation....a three week well-earned vacation.

But little does he know as he sits on a bench waiting for his train to begin his holiday that he would end up kidnapped, on the run, evading police, working in a side show....and at a gas station as he travels by bicycle and on foot experiencing all types of tom-foolery that ultimately evaluates and changes his life.

A bit tedious here and there, (for me) but with a cast of many and some fun and interesting times too!

***Arc provided by The Farrago Team via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

This was a fun and humorous read. This book is a re-release from the 1930's, I believe. It is slight mystery with some laugh out loud moments.

Many thanks to netgalley and Farrago for this advanced readers copy.

A gentle story told from an age long since lost where even the villains are kind. A hero that find out more about himself in a tale full of humour and goodwill.
Looking forward to reading the next instalment

View of Post WWI England

A gentle reminder of post WWI England, plot as described by many reviewers. What I'd like to mention is the amazing bits of detail, the encounters with 'gipsies', the encounters with many other people of the road, the nights in the 1930's version of the poor house, the pubs, the walking paths, meeting various eccentric folks, all of which give us an amazing view of post WWI England. From the lofty viewpoint of almost a hundred years after the writing, I also see the hints of the suffering, of the hunchback, of the other people of the road, and of the war veterans now out of place in 'normal' rural society. So, on one hand, an amusing read of an epic journey by Mr Finchley on his first vacation ever at age 45; on the other hand, a poignant reminder of the fact that the life of yesteryear wasn't always so rosy.

Reviewed on Amazon.com

What a fun book! I'm glad I came across this series and am already looking forward to read the others! Great characterization and clever plotting:-)

I found this book to be an interesting read. Mr Finchley was quite a funny character and i could barely put the book down. It was light and refreshing and i would recommend to anyone as a must-read.

On one hand this was exactly what I expected - charming, wry, and quaintly funny in a tongue-in-cheek way reminiscent of classic soft mysteries and adventures from the first half of the 20th century. On the other, it felt a fair deal slower and longer then such books typically run. I don't know if that is so much a result of the page count or the way the adventures kept layering one on top of another with some more developed than others... it made the ride wobble, like Mr Finchley when he first hops onto his bicycle. It was enjoyable, but not enough so to bring me back to another book. At least not at this time.