As the Crow Flies (Five Stars)

mainstream fiction
As The Crow Flies
Jeffrey Archer
Harper Paperbacks
©1991
ISBN 0-06-109934-1
789 pages
US $6.50/ CAN $7.99

"The Honest Trader – When Charlie Trumper inherits his grandfather’s fruit and vegetable barrow, he inherits as well his enterprising spirit, which gives Charlie the drive to lift himself out of the poverty of Whitechapel, in London’s East End. Success, however, does not come easily or quickly, particularly when World War I sends Charlie into combat and into an ongoing struggle with a vengeful enemy who will not rest until Charlie is destroyed.

"As the crow flies, it is only a few short miles from Whitechapel to Chelsea Terrace where Trumper’s, the world’s largest department store, will have its beginnings. But for Charlie Trumper, following threads of love, ambition, and revenge, it will be an epic journey that carries him across three continents and through the triumphs and disasters of the twentieth century, all leading toward the fulfilment of his greatest dream."

I know I picked up this book second-hand, but I don’t remember where. I only buy new authors after I’ve tried them at the library or their books are second-hand, just so I don’t waste money. Well, after reading this book, I’ve started to collect others by Jeffrey Archer.

As the Crow Flies is an amazing novel. It chronicles the life story of Charlie Trumper, the best rags-to-riches story I’ve ever read. He starts life one step above that of a street urchin (his father being a dockworker and a drunk) and hangs around his grandfather’s barrow – a cart that he sells fresh fruit and veggies from. Yet over the span of his entire life he will become a war veteran, be knighted, and even given a title from Buckingham Palace.

This saga involves a cast of dozens, with the part of the villain expertly portrayed by Mrs. Gerald Trentham, one of the old nobility who resents anyone of ‘common’ blood. She makes it her life’s mission to foil Charlie’s every attempt at building an empire. She also very nearly succeeds. It is Jeffrey Archer’s genius that this book flows as smoothly as it does, navigating through nearly a thousand pages of story to bring us the points of view of every major character. It also expertly narrates the events of the twentieth century – complete with two world wars.

This book is compelling, richly detailed, full of joys and hopes as well as sorrows (a major character commits suicide, right out of the blue), and fulfils every persons heartfelt wish to make something worthwhile of their lives, to turn out better than your birth would have you realise.