What do you think?
Rate this book
Mr Finchley #1
Mr Finchley Discovers His England
Mr Edgar Finchley, unmarried clerk, aged 45, is told to take a holiday for the first time in his life. He decides to go to the seaside. But Fate has other plans in store…
From his abduction by a cheerful crook, to his smuggling escapade off the south coast, the timid but plucky Mr Finchley is plunged into a series of the most astonishing and extraordinary adventures.
His rural adventure takes him gradually westward through the English countryside and back, via a smuggling yacht, to London.
This gentle comedy trilogy was a runaway bestseller on first publication in the 1930s and retains a timeless appeal today. It has been dramatized twice for BBC Radio, with the 1990 series regularly repeated.
From his abduction by a cheerful crook, to his smuggling escapade off the south coast, the timid but plucky Mr Finchley is plunged into a series of the most astonishing and extraordinary adventures.
His rural adventure takes him gradually westward through the English countryside and back, via a smuggling yacht, to London.
This gentle comedy trilogy was a runaway bestseller on first publication in the 1930s and retains a timeless appeal today. It has been dramatized twice for BBC Radio, with the 1990 series regularly repeated.
8 pages, Audiobook
First published January 1, 1934
680 people are currently reading
754 people want to read
About the author
Victor Canning
163 books59 followersVictor Canning was a prolific writer of novels and thrillers who flourished in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, but whose reputation has faded since his death in 1986. He was personally reticent, writing no memoirs and giving relatively few newspaper interviews.
Canning was born in Plymouth, Devon, the eldest child of a coach builder, Fred Canning, and his wife May, née Goold. During World War I his father served as an ambulance driver in France and Flanders, while he with his two sisters went to live in the village of Calstock ten miles north of Plymouth, where his uncle Cecil Goold worked for the railways and later became station master. After the war the family returned to Plymouth. In the mid 1920s they moved to Oxford where his father had found work, and Victor attended the Oxford Central School. Here he was encouraged to stay on at school and go to university by a classical scholar, Dr. Henderson, but the family could not afford it and instead Victor went to work as a clerk in the education office at age 16.
Within three years he had started selling short stories to boys’ magazines and in 1934, his first novel. Mr. Finchley Discovers his England, was accepted by Hodder and Stoughton and became a runaway best seller. He gave up his job and started writing full time, producing thirteen more novels in the next six years under three different names. Lord Rothermere engaged him to write for the Daily Mail, and a number of his travel articles for the Daily Mail were collected as a book with illustrations by Leslie Stead under the title Everyman's England in 1936. He also continued to write short stories.
He married Phyllis McEwen in 1935, a girl from a theatrical family whom he met while she was working with a touring vaudeville production at Weston-super-Mare. They had three daughters, Lindel born in 1939, Hilary born in 1940, and Virginia who was born in 1942, but died in infancy.
In 1940 he enlisted in the Army, and was sent for training with the Royal Artillery in Llandrindod Wells in mid-Wales, where he trained alongside his friend Eric Ambler. Both were commissioned as second lieutenants in 1941. Canning worked in anti-aircraft batteries in the south of England until early 1943, when he was sent to North Africa and took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily and the Italian campaigns. At the end of the war he was assigned to an Anglo-American unit doing experimental work with radar range-finding. It was top secret work but nothing to do with espionage, though Canning never discouraged the assumption of publishers and reviewers that his espionage stories were partly based on experience. He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of major.
He resumed writing with The Chasm (1947), a novel about identifying a Nazi collaborator who has hidden himself in a remote Italian village. A film of this was planned but never finished. Canning’s next book, Panther’s Moon, was filmed as Spy Hunt, and from now on Canning was established as someone who could write a book a year in the suspense genre, have them reliably appear in book club and paperback editions on both sides of the Atlantic, be translated into the main European languages, and in many cases get filmed. He himself spent a year in Hollywood working on scripts for movies of his own books and on TV shows. The money earned from the film of The Golden Salamander (filmed with Trevor Howard) meant that Canning could buy a substantial country house with some land in Kent, Marle Place, where he lived for nearly twenty years and where his daughter continues to live now. From the mid 1950s onwards his books became more conventional, full of exotic settings, stirring action sequences and stock characters. In 1965 he began a series of four books featuring a private detective called Rex Carver, and these were among his most successful in sales terms.
He died in 1986.
Canning was born in Plymouth, Devon, the eldest child of a coach builder, Fred Canning, and his wife May, née Goold. During World War I his father served as an ambulance driver in France and Flanders, while he with his two sisters went to live in the village of Calstock ten miles north of Plymouth, where his uncle Cecil Goold worked for the railways and later became station master. After the war the family returned to Plymouth. In the mid 1920s they moved to Oxford where his father had found work, and Victor attended the Oxford Central School. Here he was encouraged to stay on at school and go to university by a classical scholar, Dr. Henderson, but the family could not afford it and instead Victor went to work as a clerk in the education office at age 16.
Within three years he had started selling short stories to boys’ magazines and in 1934, his first novel. Mr. Finchley Discovers his England, was accepted by Hodder and Stoughton and became a runaway best seller. He gave up his job and started writing full time, producing thirteen more novels in the next six years under three different names. Lord Rothermere engaged him to write for the Daily Mail, and a number of his travel articles for the Daily Mail were collected as a book with illustrations by Leslie Stead under the title Everyman's England in 1936. He also continued to write short stories.
He married Phyllis McEwen in 1935, a girl from a theatrical family whom he met while she was working with a touring vaudeville production at Weston-super-Mare. They had three daughters, Lindel born in 1939, Hilary born in 1940, and Virginia who was born in 1942, but died in infancy.
In 1940 he enlisted in the Army, and was sent for training with the Royal Artillery in Llandrindod Wells in mid-Wales, where he trained alongside his friend Eric Ambler. Both were commissioned as second lieutenants in 1941. Canning worked in anti-aircraft batteries in the south of England until early 1943, when he was sent to North Africa and took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily and the Italian campaigns. At the end of the war he was assigned to an Anglo-American unit doing experimental work with radar range-finding. It was top secret work but nothing to do with espionage, though Canning never discouraged the assumption of publishers and reviewers that his espionage stories were partly based on experience. He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of major.
He resumed writing with The Chasm (1947), a novel about identifying a Nazi collaborator who has hidden himself in a remote Italian village. A film of this was planned but never finished. Canning’s next book, Panther’s Moon, was filmed as Spy Hunt, and from now on Canning was established as someone who could write a book a year in the suspense genre, have them reliably appear in book club and paperback editions on both sides of the Atlantic, be translated into the main European languages, and in many cases get filmed. He himself spent a year in Hollywood working on scripts for movies of his own books and on TV shows. The money earned from the film of The Golden Salamander (filmed with Trevor Howard) meant that Canning could buy a substantial country house with some land in Kent, Marle Place, where he lived for nearly twenty years and where his daughter continues to live now. From the mid 1950s onwards his books became more conventional, full of exotic settings, stirring action sequences and stock characters. In 1965 he began a series of four books featuring a private detective called Rex Carver, and these were among his most successful in sales terms.
He died in 1986.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 180 reviews
April 24, 2019
3+ Stars.
"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 who smokes a pipe and weighs 155 pounds....with a maid that 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 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 as he 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 review***
May 10, 2019
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!
My review also appears on my blog: https://potpourri2015.wordpress.com/2...
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!
My review also appears on my blog: https://potpourri2015.wordpress.com/2...
February 18, 2022
Surprisingly enough I started the series with the right one, the first! Which I'm very good at not doing! The cover was what made me pick this audiobook up in the first place it looked very fun and intriguing and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Will hopefully continue on with the series this year but have the habit of starting a million series without completing
March 21, 2021
Well that was fun.
Written in the 1930s, this is one of those light comedic novels that should appeal to people who enjoy P.G. Wodehouse, Denis Mackail an A.A. Mine's adult fiction.
Mr Finchley is ordered by his boss to take a holiday; after a series of misshaps, he decides to see where fate takes him, leading him on to new experiences and adventures.
Written in the 1930s, this is one of those light comedic novels that should appeal to people who enjoy P.G. Wodehouse, Denis Mackail an A.A. Mine's adult fiction.
Mr Finchley is ordered by his boss to take a holiday; after a series of misshaps, he decides to see where fate takes him, leading him on to new experiences and adventures.
April 16, 2019
Book Review
.
Mr Finchley Discovers His England
Victor Canning.
.
Thank you goes out to Netgalley and the publishing company, Farrago for gifting me the ARC (eARC) in exchange for an honest review. Publishing date - 18 April 2019.
.
This is Book 1 of a trilogy. (set in the 1930s)
.
Edgar Finchley, 45, lived in London and has been chief clerk for 10 years and has never been on a holiday. Mr Bardwell, his employer died and Mr Sprake is now in charge. Crunch time came when Mr Sprake called Edgar into the office.... changes were being made. Edgar was told he HAD to go on holiday. Edgar found this strange as he has never been on holiday before. Edgar was passing time before his train arrived, so he sat on a bench, a driver of a Bently drove up and asked Edgar to mind his car, he had some business to sort out, and he seemed like a trustworthy man. This is the start of a trip of a lifetime for Mr Finchley, little did he know what was infront of him. Does he make it out alive? Or is he eaten and fed to the wolves? Or does the smuggler on the boat call it quits?
.
Well as you can tell by my description of the goings on in this book, you kind of know where this is heading.... am I right? Well, well, well (I say in a policemans tone, rocking back and forth, hands behind my back) this book kept me entertained for hours, it sort of reminds me of and old fashion chase through England, but, The Thirty- Nine Steps by John Buchan style. Before we even know it a car chase is happening, an escapade from a house that Mr Finchley knew nothing of, he meets a maid that conned him and left him without a car, he sported a black eye from a gipsy that thought he was someone else , he finds himself at a circus, meets and ends up with some Scottish men playing bagpipes and goes on a boat way yonder there. I wont tell you if he gets sea sick, but my eye brows raised when he swam around the boat to get two eggs...... anyway, the list goes on and on.... he goes from place to place .... (including some examples, Bristol, Blagdon, Weston-Super-Mare, Bridgwater etc, etc) and coming across calamity where ever he goes. Although you would think this is a fast paced book .... it's not, it has a beautiful calming slow pace of it's own. I preferred it this way, as it suits the style, and the era. It flowed continuously emerging into a calming pond, not rush, rush, breaking the waves crashing down style.
.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes an adventure in their books, who likes old fashioned light humour, who likes the English countryside and anyone who likes chase on chase action packed book with a slow, serene pace.
.
Mr Finchley Discovers His England
Victor Canning.
.
Thank you goes out to Netgalley and the publishing company, Farrago for gifting me the ARC (eARC) in exchange for an honest review. Publishing date - 18 April 2019.
.
This is Book 1 of a trilogy. (set in the 1930s)
.
Edgar Finchley, 45, lived in London and has been chief clerk for 10 years and has never been on a holiday. Mr Bardwell, his employer died and Mr Sprake is now in charge. Crunch time came when Mr Sprake called Edgar into the office.... changes were being made. Edgar was told he HAD to go on holiday. Edgar found this strange as he has never been on holiday before. Edgar was passing time before his train arrived, so he sat on a bench, a driver of a Bently drove up and asked Edgar to mind his car, he had some business to sort out, and he seemed like a trustworthy man. This is the start of a trip of a lifetime for Mr Finchley, little did he know what was infront of him. Does he make it out alive? Or is he eaten and fed to the wolves? Or does the smuggler on the boat call it quits?
.
Well as you can tell by my description of the goings on in this book, you kind of know where this is heading.... am I right? Well, well, well (I say in a policemans tone, rocking back and forth, hands behind my back) this book kept me entertained for hours, it sort of reminds me of and old fashion chase through England, but, The Thirty- Nine Steps by John Buchan style. Before we even know it a car chase is happening, an escapade from a house that Mr Finchley knew nothing of, he meets a maid that conned him and left him without a car, he sported a black eye from a gipsy that thought he was someone else , he finds himself at a circus, meets and ends up with some Scottish men playing bagpipes and goes on a boat way yonder there. I wont tell you if he gets sea sick, but my eye brows raised when he swam around the boat to get two eggs...... anyway, the list goes on and on.... he goes from place to place .... (including some examples, Bristol, Blagdon, Weston-Super-Mare, Bridgwater etc, etc) and coming across calamity where ever he goes. Although you would think this is a fast paced book .... it's not, it has a beautiful calming slow pace of it's own. I preferred it this way, as it suits the style, and the era. It flowed continuously emerging into a calming pond, not rush, rush, breaking the waves crashing down style.
.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes an adventure in their books, who likes old fashioned light humour, who likes the English countryside and anyone who likes chase on chase action packed book with a slow, serene pace.
April 18, 2021
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.
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.
April 12, 2019
This is a gorgeous story, set in more innocent times,1934, with quaint chapter headings ,using educated language and terminology to a higher standard,that is not seen today. This book is about the joy of serendipity, the freedom of no plans, but having money and the desire to travel around the English countryside,meeting the various oddballs that inhabit this space. Not all are honest, many are rogues or Gentlemen of the road, but all have life experiences that they are willing to share.
Edgar Finchley is a clerk, and hasn't had an annual holiday for 10 years, a concept that is totally alien in modern times. When he is given three weeks off, his immediate thought is to go to Margate, stay in a boarding house and just pootle about town. However, he becomes embroiled with car thieves, held hostage, fights with tramps, gets invited to tea with Gypsies, is mistaken for an escaped mental patient, gets casual work at a garage and village fair,and generally has a grand old time !! He packs an awful amount of living into his holiday,but the joy and delights of those halcyon days are very well described.
The terminology is dated, but of its time,and is appropriate ,but is non PC in these modern times. It is pure happiness and escapism, makes you smile and want to read the others in this series! I throughly loved this book and enjoyed many appreciative giggles! It brought back many happy memories!
Edgar Finchley is a clerk, and hasn't had an annual holiday for 10 years, a concept that is totally alien in modern times. When he is given three weeks off, his immediate thought is to go to Margate, stay in a boarding house and just pootle about town. However, he becomes embroiled with car thieves, held hostage, fights with tramps, gets invited to tea with Gypsies, is mistaken for an escaped mental patient, gets casual work at a garage and village fair,and generally has a grand old time !! He packs an awful amount of living into his holiday,but the joy and delights of those halcyon days are very well described.
The terminology is dated, but of its time,and is appropriate ,but is non PC in these modern times. It is pure happiness and escapism, makes you smile and want to read the others in this series! I throughly loved this book and enjoyed many appreciative giggles! It brought back many happy memories!
April 20, 2019
The cover attracted my attention and I decided to read it even though it is not a mystery. I found an easy, humorous, and fast moving story. Edgar Finchley is a clerk who at 45 years old has never had a vacation. He is told to take a 3 week holiday and has plans to spend it at a resort near the sea. While waiting for the train, Mr. Finchley falls asleep in a Bentley. He is wakened when the car was evading the police's at high speeds
. He ends up spending the night at the headquarters of the gang. His friend's promises are not honored and he needs help to leave the gang. After success, he decides to explore England and buy a dilapidated bicycle and takes off on his own to visit new places. He will experience meeting the gypsies, almost choke to death, liars, religion, smuggling, and is mistaken for an escaped mental patient. He will learn to sleep in barns and strange places and to eat strange food. There is even a touch of romance.
The is the first book in a group of three. It was originally published in the 1930s and had immediate success. I want to read the other 2 books.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK.
Disclosure: Thanks to Farrago for a copy through NetGalley. The opinions expressed are my own.
. He ends up spending the night at the headquarters of the gang. His friend's promises are not honored and he needs help to leave the gang. After success, he decides to explore England and buy a dilapidated bicycle and takes off on his own to visit new places. He will experience meeting the gypsies, almost choke to death, liars, religion, smuggling, and is mistaken for an escaped mental patient. He will learn to sleep in barns and strange places and to eat strange food. There is even a touch of romance.
The is the first book in a group of three. It was originally published in the 1930s and had immediate success. I want to read the other 2 books.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK.
Disclosure: Thanks to Farrago for a copy through NetGalley. The opinions expressed are my own.
April 18, 2019
Mr. Finchley who serves as clerk for a London firm finds himself taking a 3-week vacation for the first time in years. The new manager insisted he take it. He books himself for a trip to Margate, but from the beginning of his trip things take a strange turn. Mr. Finchley finds himself in one adventure after another. Mr. Finchley is not one to be on the wrong side of the law, but he finds himself skirting it on several occasions because he is too trusting of shady characters he encounters along the way. The humor comes mostly from seeing what one considers a straight-laced person in the situations in which he finds himself. He learns quite a bit about himself along the way. The novel is not a new one. It first appeared in print in 1934. Although I enjoyed the book, I found it was one I could easily put down. I received an electronic galley in exchange for an honest review of the book.
March 31, 2023
Completely charming and delightful! Exactly what I needed to read.
April 24, 2019
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
Many thanks to netgalley and Farrago for this advanced readers copy
September 23, 2019
I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher, Farrago!
Some adult fiction humor I'm anticipating!
Some adult fiction humor I'm anticipating!
December 30, 2020
The name Victor Canning was not one I was aware of until, doing some research into Frank Richards (of Greyfriars School fame), I stumbled upon the delightful and very reasonably priced set of reprints of his early works from Summersdale Publishers. (Canning began his career writing school stories.)
While Canning went on to make a name with serious spy thrillers and adventure and crime books, from the post-WWII era through to the 1980s – books praised by V. S. Pritchett and filmed by Alfred Hitchcock – his early works seem to be a lot more light-hearted, and to belong to quite a different era.
‘Mr Finchley Discovers His England’, his first book and a success in its day, starts like an early H. G. Wells comedy, with overtones of Jerome K. Jerome and ‘The Diary of a Nobody’, as its mild-mannered clerk-hero sets out on a holiday, only to become accidentally involved in criminal shenanigans. It's all great fun, and I can see how it would have struck a reassuring note during the Depression. It's remarkably assured writing for a man in his early twenties.
What I find most interesting about this book, though, is its element of travelogue, as suggested by the title - which is apparently continued in the subsequent books in the series. Canning writes evocatively, alertly and unfussily about the English landscape, both rural and urban, and this adds a dimension that really brings the book to a life beyond its status as a commercial entertainment. It brings to mind J. B. Priestley's 'state of the nation' writing, from the same era, but in a much more relaxed and genial manner.
This is a delightful book. It's quite cheered me up.
While Canning went on to make a name with serious spy thrillers and adventure and crime books, from the post-WWII era through to the 1980s – books praised by V. S. Pritchett and filmed by Alfred Hitchcock – his early works seem to be a lot more light-hearted, and to belong to quite a different era.
‘Mr Finchley Discovers His England’, his first book and a success in its day, starts like an early H. G. Wells comedy, with overtones of Jerome K. Jerome and ‘The Diary of a Nobody’, as its mild-mannered clerk-hero sets out on a holiday, only to become accidentally involved in criminal shenanigans. It's all great fun, and I can see how it would have struck a reassuring note during the Depression. It's remarkably assured writing for a man in his early twenties.
What I find most interesting about this book, though, is its element of travelogue, as suggested by the title - which is apparently continued in the subsequent books in the series. Canning writes evocatively, alertly and unfussily about the English landscape, both rural and urban, and this adds a dimension that really brings the book to a life beyond its status as a commercial entertainment. It brings to mind J. B. Priestley's 'state of the nation' writing, from the same era, but in a much more relaxed and genial manner.
This is a delightful book. It's quite cheered me up.
April 20, 2019
If you enjoyed the Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, you will love this book.
This book was written before WWII and has the wholesome charm of that era. It’s about a clerk who is forced to take a holiday and in doing so, finds himself taking an unplanned trip across the English countryside. That trip has him meeting and interacting with many interesting characters all of which I throughly enjoyed meeting.
This book it’s a testament to what can happen if you take time to smell the roses. It also shows he adventures that can be found by being spontaneous. Me. finchley, our hero of this story, learned so much on this trip, mostly about himself. I can’t wait to read the next books to see how this personal growth effects his future.
This book was written before WWII and has the wholesome charm of that era. It’s about a clerk who is forced to take a holiday and in doing so, finds himself taking an unplanned trip across the English countryside. That trip has him meeting and interacting with many interesting characters all of which I throughly enjoyed meeting.
This book it’s a testament to what can happen if you take time to smell the roses. It also shows he adventures that can be found by being spontaneous. Me. finchley, our hero of this story, learned so much on this trip, mostly about himself. I can’t wait to read the next books to see how this personal growth effects his future.
Read
December 17, 2023A gentle read.
Mr Finchley reluctantly takes a holiday from his desk job and gets in to all sorts of scrapes after he is kidnapped in a car, and just decides to go with the flow. He meets all kinds of travellers, sleeps rough, there are mistaken identities due to a brooch, a hat and a band of musicians, he ends up in the workhouse briefly, and saves/doesnt save an acquaintance from drowning, there is cricket and smuggling. Found I was ploughing through a bit by the end but
I like a book where the character finds hidden depths within themselves.
Mr Finchley reluctantly takes a holiday from his desk job and gets in to all sorts of scrapes after he is kidnapped in a car, and just decides to go with the flow. He meets all kinds of travellers, sleeps rough, there are mistaken identities due to a brooch, a hat and a band of musicians, he ends up in the workhouse briefly, and saves/doesnt save an acquaintance from drowning, there is cricket and smuggling. Found I was ploughing through a bit by the end but
I like a book where the character finds hidden depths within themselves.
March 31, 2021
What a pleasant surprise! Mr. Finchley is a new favorite character. I adore him. I’ll definitely read the rest of the books in this series. This is a book I wanted to step into.
December 18, 2024
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 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.wordpre...
From there he gets into one situation after another, some dangerous and others simply hilarious. I mean he actually gets chased by a 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.wordpre...
March 19, 2018
Mr Edgar Finchley, a portly, middle-aged, unassuming bank clerk, takes a holiday which triggers a series of adventures replete with robbers, smugglers, scrapes with the police and others in authority, across the South of England, and the West Country before all is resolved and Mr Finchley gets home more or less intact. Inspired by the author's somewhat eccentric and other worldly father, this is a vivid characterisation of 1930s humdrum life, made piquant by the fantastical adventures and misadventures of the book's hero. For those familiar with the radio adaptations of the two later Mr Finchley books, with the late Richard Griffiths, this character needs no introduction, and is highly recommended for anyone seeking an entertaining amusing read.
December 31, 2019
Thank you to the author Victo Canning, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for my candid review.
What an utterly charming book. It is the story of a middle-aged, fussy, clerk who is going on a proper 3 week vacation for the first time. Except that it does not turn out in the neat, orderly way that he expected. It is an adventure, meeting many new and interesting characters along the way, and a tale of discovery. Mr. Finchley discovers that he is not the boring old coot that he thought he was and actually realizes that he is brave, adventurous and interesting.
It is an innocent, entertaining adventure about discovering England and yourself.
What an utterly charming book. It is the story of a middle-aged, fussy, clerk who is going on a proper 3 week vacation for the first time. Except that it does not turn out in the neat, orderly way that he expected. It is an adventure, meeting many new and interesting characters along the way, and a tale of discovery. Mr. Finchley discovers that he is not the boring old coot that he thought he was and actually realizes that he is brave, adventurous and interesting.
It is an innocent, entertaining adventure about discovering England and yourself.
July 2, 2020
2020 bk 223. A fun discovery. I was aware of the name Victor Canning, but I had never read his books. They are definitely designed to be contemporary to the time (early 1930's) and poke gentle fun at those who never break out of their station in life. Mr. Finchley fully intends to take the holiday suited for his station in life, going so far as to send his trunk ahead of him, but when he is accidently kidnapped, he is set free from his societal constraints. It is a delight to see him change, and grow, and reflect on all of the variety of people who populate a nation.
June 6, 2019
Written in a simpler time, without internet or other electronic devices, this delightfully bucolic book is full of gentle wisdom and humour, and the descriptions of the countryside in the south west of England are beautifully written. A real joy to read, from start to finish.
June 27, 2021
Well. well well, action ,adventure, philosophy and glorious English Summer country side. That's all I can say.Well worth a read.
May 22, 2025
This is a rather mild mannered tale of legal clerk Mr Finchley who flowers as a result of an enforced three week holiday when his firm is taken over by a new manager. Instead of heading to Margate as planned an accidental kidnap sets off a sequence of events that sees him end up travelling around the West Country meeting a variety of characters from well outside his normal bounds of experience. It’s vey episodic and superficially reminded me of something like Don Quixote (probably sacrilege to compare I know). As I don’t love that kind of novel I did get a bit bored in parts but it’s a pleasant enough diversion that reminded me a lot of the kind of books I read as a child - I was expecting tongue sandwiches to make an appearance at any moment…
February 19, 2021
This was recommended alongside another book my husband was buying for me for Christmas so he picked up this one too (after all, it has a bicycle on the cover). It was a charming story, often exciting in its own calm British way and only occasionally didactic or overburdened with purple prose, about an ordinary man in a boring job who takes a holiday and ends up encountering (and embracing) one adventure after another. Most of the adventures are improbable, and a few are borderline farcical, but this seems to be a purposeful part of the book's charm. And somehow it works, enough that I actually had a bit of a hard time putting this book down this past week; I wanted to know how Mr. Finchley would get out of the fix he was in and what the nature of the next fix would be. :)
November 9, 2022
A funny, lovely story about a man who has managed to get to 45 years old without having actually lived. Forced to take a holiday he decides to go to Margate without imagining what a wild ride was waiting for him.
It's easy to read, a bit mischievous and a bit eccentric but always amusing, and with a tender feeling at the core.
A good choice for when you want some light, whimsical entertainment.
It's easy to read, a bit mischievous and a bit eccentric but always amusing, and with a tender feeling at the core.
A good choice for when you want some light, whimsical entertainment.
July 17, 2019
I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.
Written in a innocent time in England when doors could be left unlocked, with the thought of theft unheard of this is a gentle story with amusing characters and is an easy read.
Written in a innocent time in England when doors could be left unlocked, with the thought of theft unheard of this is a gentle story with amusing characters and is an easy read.
April 14, 2019
An utterly delightful book! The adventures of a middle-aged, portly, fairly mundane clerk on his first holiday in years. No murder, no romance, no terrorist attacks. Just a very nice journey through pre-war England meeting some very interesting characters. A breath of fresh air!
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley and voluntarily chose to review it.
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley and voluntarily chose to review it.
February 16, 2021
This was an unexpected and delightful read. I love reading books that were written in the past, for the accurate view they give of the past, unadulterated by present societal norms, perspectives, values, and trends.
March 16, 2023
Remind me to never go off on holiday with Mr. Finchley!
April 10, 2019
A Humorous Adventure Through Pre-War England
This is a wonderful adventure story. It is mostly fun and humorous. It is definitely a glimpse into a simpler life in pre-war England. It is very similar to The Travels of Jamie McPheeters in the way the adventure unfolds and has a life of its own. While it wasn't the vacation Mr. Finchley had planned, it was more than he could have imagined in his wildest dreams. I plan on reading the entire series! I received this early release from Net Galley at no cost and this is my honest review.
This is a wonderful adventure story. It is mostly fun and humorous. It is definitely a glimpse into a simpler life in pre-war England. It is very similar to The Travels of Jamie McPheeters in the way the adventure unfolds and has a life of its own. While it wasn't the vacation Mr. Finchley had planned, it was more than he could have imagined in his wildest dreams. I plan on reading the entire series! I received this early release from Net Galley at no cost and this is my honest review.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 180 reviews