Publisher's Synopsis
Alfred Polly lives in the imaginary town of Fishbourne in Kent. The novel begins in medias res by awarding a miserable Mr. Polly: "He hated High Street, he hated his shop and his wife and his neighbors and with indescribable resentment he hated himself". Thereafter, Life up to age, when he marries his cousin Miriam Larkins and sets up an outfitter's shop in Fishbourne. Mr. Polly's spectacular suicide attempt, which ironically makes him a local hero, wins him insurance money that saves him from bankruptcy, and yields the insight that "Fishbourne wasn't the world", which leads him to abandon his shop and his wife. Mr. Polly's courageous victory over "Uncle Jim", a malicious relative of the innkeeper's granddaughter. A conclusion then shows Mr. Polly at ease as assistant-innkeeper, after a brief visit to ascertain Miriam's prosperity.
