The Hopeless Life Of Charlie Summers

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What to expect

Hector Chetwode-Talbot, Eck to his friends, has left the army and is slightly at a loss as to what to do next, when he is approached by an old army pal, Bilbo Mountwilliam. Bilbo runs an investment fund company and business is booming. Bilbo persuades Eck to join the company as a 'greeter' for moneyed clients. All Eck has to do is supply the contacts with entertainment and large G&Ts and then the fund managers will do the rest.

Soon Eck is able to buy himself a luxury sports car and decadent flat. It is on a golfing trip to France that Eck first meets Charlie Summers, a fly-by-night entrepreneur whose latest scheme is to import Japanese dog food into the UK.

Soon Charlie lands on Eck's doorstep with his suitcase, intent on staying and relaunching his dog food business in the area. But with the financial crash looming, Eck begins to ask himself if they are so very different...

Read by Simon J. Williamson. Simon's roles on stage include Charlie Bell in FRED KARNO'S ARMY (Bristol Old Vic), Sagredo in Brecht's LIFE OF GALILEO (Young Vic) and Donalbain in MACBETH (Leicester Haymarket/The People Show). Series television includes THE BILL, CASUALTY, LONDON'S BURNING and WAITING FOR GOD. In film he played Max Rebo in RETURN OF THE JEDI, Ursol in Jim Henson's DARK CRYSTAL, and was a puppeteer in three MUPPET movies. Audiobook work includes the BROTHER CADFAEL series, Adam Hall's QUILLER BALALAIKA and James Fox's WHITE MISCHIEF.

(p) 2013 Orion Publishing Group

Critics Review

One of the most outstanding authors to have emerged in recent years
DAILY EXPRESS
Brilliantly and sympathetically drawn...this wonderfully written, clever book does not miss a single trick
DAILY MAIL
Funny, touching and ultimately surprising
SCOTSMAN
Charlie is a wonderful creation, at once sad and heroic, whose search for redemption attains real pathos at the end of this affecting, skilfully crafted novel
FINANCIAL TIMES
Torday is master of blending satire with gentle humanity
PSYCHOLOGIES
Shades of both Greene and Ambler here, both in the crispness of the exposition and the marrying of humour with something close to tragedy
SPECTATOR
A beautifully told tale - we loved it!
BELLA
A brilliant, page-turning read that combines the pace of Torday's THE GIRL ON THE LANDING with his trademark humour in SALMON FISHING
GRANTA
A fine tale. Even the worst of us, according to this novel, can find redemption
DAILY EXPRESS
His quietly compassionate portrait of Charlie has powerful echoes off Dickens's Sydney Carton in A TALE OF TWO CITIES
METRO
The SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN author is now achieving 'must-read' status. You're in for an Eck of a good time
NEWS OF THE WORLD

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