Charlie dreamed of owning “The Biggest Barrow in the World” and my first thought was – what the heck is a barrow?
As the Crow Flies, written by the phenominal authory Jeffrey Archer is the classic American dream story – except it takes place in England in the first part of the 20th Century, and is complete fiction.
That’s why is this book so great, and that’s also why is it featured on a blog about personal finances. A young man named Charlie decides that what he wants most in the world is to own his own store. A fruit and vegetable store. And then for the rest of the spectacularly gripping 700 pages, you see him do exactly that. At every step, and after every victory his dream gets bigger and bigger, until he realizes that he wants to own the biggest store in the world.
This is one of the best stories I’ve ever read about a young person acheiving their financial dream. Remember, this is not America, where everyong is supposed to have equal opportunity for advancement. Charlie was living in a time where class and caste were everything. He was a poor boy from the East end who dared to dream big.
What’s more amazing about this story, is that the tagline is “If your dream is big enough, not even your enemies can stop you.” The entire book proves this tagline right.
Enemies he had. A great story needs a great villain, and Jeffrey Archer knows how to write villains. But he also knows how to write the good guys. Poor boy Charlie and his avant guard wife Becky manage to charm the socks off high society – Becky’s best friend is a Marchioness, and their business associate (front man) is the Commanding Officer of the Regiment. Charlie and Becky didn’t want for loyal and powerful friends.
This is not the first novel I’ve read by Jeffrey Archer with fantastic female lead characters who have a lot of guts. In As the Crow Flies, Becky (Ms. Rebecca Salmon) takes over her father’s bakery after he dies, while she studies for a Batchelor of Arts sometime around 1918. This is not only impressive, but quite ahead of her time.
Not only that – but partway through her studies, she becomes pregnant and has a baby out of wedlock. At the time, it could have ended her in society. Arthur wrote her character with guts and dignity, despite everything he threw at her.
If ever there was a set of characters to emulate – it woud be Charlie and Becky Trumper. Together they had love, happiness, and the satisfaction of achieving their dream.
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