Young Man on a Bicycle
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Young Paul Ashcroft has travelled to the beautiful French Riviera. His goal: to make a lot of money. His methods: more than questionable. Following his motto ‘the world owes me a living’, he steals and swindles – using what he needs for himself and passing on the rest to those less fortunate.
After coming across the beautiful Villa Triton, he disguises himself as M. Durobat, a middle-aged Frenchman, to inspect the villa and to pawn the owner’s ornaments and paintings. At the local Casino, he becomes acquainted with the rich ladies of the resort. As he steals their jewellery, he blames the robberies on 'Gringo the Greek', a small crook he knew a long time ago.
But just as Paul's schemes and tricks start to be fruitful and he falls in love with the intriguing Elise Benoit, the real Gringo the Greek appears on the scene, ready to take on the cunning thief who has been blaming him all this time…
Book details
- Format
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9781788422734
- Published
- 22 October 2020
- Pages
- 176
- Duration
- Dimensions
- 129 x 198 mm
- Genre
- Social Comedy
- Imprint
- Farrago
Reviews
Praise for Victor Canning:
‘Quite delightful … with an atmosphere of quiet contentment and humour that cannot fail to charm’
‘There is such a gentle humour in the book’
‘What counts for most in the story … is his mounting pleasure in vagabondage and the English scene’
‘A paean to the beauties of the English countryside and the lovable oddities of the English character’
‘His delight at the beauties of the countryside and his mild astonishment at the strange ways of men are infectious’
‘A swift-moving novel, joyous, happy and incurably optimistic’
‘His gift of story-telling is obviously innate. Rarely does one come on so satisfying an amalgam of plot, characterisation and good writing’
