Audio only
Length7h 59m
About this audiobook
The question is: ´Have you ever had that moment?´ You might be sitting at your desk, cooking tea for your kids, driving to work – and suddenly you think ‘Is this it? Is this all there is?’ It is at this precise moment that we crash land into the life of one Mr. Alfred Polly: draper, dreamer and general discontent.
First published in 1910, H.G. Wells’ "The History of Mr. Polly" traces the back-story of Mr Polly and just how he got into the ‘Beastly Silly Wheeze’ of his current predicament. At the age of 37 (the Edwardian version of middle age) Polly is tired of his dead-end job as a draper and his nagging wife, Miriam. He sits on the edge of bankruptcy and decides the only solution is to burn down his shop and kill himself. However, things don’t exactly go to plan and Polly is given a new chance at life. But can he really change?
Wells’ novel falls squarely into two sections; Polly’s past and just how he became an unhappy and unfulfilled married draper, and the path he takes after burning down his shop. Widely regarded as Wells’ funniest novel, it is also his most affectionate. In addition, the book bears a strong resemblance to Wells’ own background as a bored lower class draper yet, unlike Polly, Wells was fortunate enough to be extracted from this bleak existence by the 1870 Universal Education Act. This government programme offered Wells a narrow opening into higher education and the professions, saving him from a life of drudgery.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.8 (4.3K)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, LibraryThing, StoryGraph
GenreGeneral Fiction, Humor, Children's Literature
Length7 hrs 59 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJul 28, 2019
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Chapter The First: Beginnings, And The Bazaar
2Chapter The Second: The Dismissal Of Parsons
3Chapter The Third: Cribs
4Chapter The Fourth: Mr. Polly An Orphan
5Chapter The Fifth: Mr. Polly Takes A Vacation
Show all chaptersShow less
6Chapter The Sixth: Miriam
7Chapter The Seventh: The Little Shop At Fishbourne
8Chapter The Eighth: Making An End To Things
9Chapter The Ninth: The Potwell Inn
10Chapter The Tenth: Miriam Revisited
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