The Story Archive

The History of Mr Polly

H. G. Wells · 1910 CE · Novel · English · Victorian

Alfred Polly, thirty-seven, sits on a stile hating his indigestion, his outfitter's shop, his wife and the small legacy that bought all three, and turning over the misheard grand words he has collected since the drapery apprenticeship that ruined his education. He settles on a way out that would leave his widow provided for, and the attempt miscarries in the most public manner the high street allows. Wells took the apprenticeship from his own life and made the book an argument that a man may simply walk away from the life he has been fitted into.

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