God Is an Englishman: 1 (Swann Family Saga)

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it follows Adam Swann and his inimitable wife, Henrietta, starting from their (a little too) serendipitous meeting to their joint management of business, home and family.

His conclusion feels like a bit of an afterthought, the moral that you find in the concluding, uplifting stanza of a bad poem. By contrast, I loved the sections about the main characters that followed, and once the business got off the ground the book sped much more quickly.

Swann soon meets his soul-mate, Henrietta, the high-spirited daughter of a local mill owner and they set out to build a family business under the Swann name. I just read another great review of this book, and coupled with yours, I think that I am going to be reading this one soon. If I had to say one negative thing about the book, though, it would mainly be that the setting up of Adam’s company does bog down at times.

While I would have happily given up at the beginning because of frustration with the business detail, it improved in the second half.

It manages to deal with these variations without growing cynical or using the struggles as an excuse to veer off into infidelity. H. has known kiddo since he was in elementary school, as he was the director of our favorite summer camp. I read it again with continued enjoyment over 30 years later and was delighted to see it featured recently as a Kindle Daily Deal so I can now keep a copy with me at all times.

The first novel in the epic God Is an Englishman series, this book is a stirring saga of England in the 19th century, as the Industrial Revolution takes hold, forever changing the landscape of England and her people. GiaE was really difficult to describe because there's so much to it, so I decided to describe it in broad strokes rather than aim for depth of detail about the story (which is probably impossible without writing a book, myself). it reminds me to be open to new and big ideas to find the parts i can use, instead of dismissing them for their impracticality outright. Blubb sent for Adam and along with the two bothers who drove the freight, they fought and killed two of the men trying to steal the weapons belonging to the government.It just went on and on about his sectors and depots and horses and there was hardly any interaction between him and Hetty once he started establishing the business. Thia bestselling novel set in the ruthless world of Victorian commerce follows the fortunes of Adam Swann, scion of an Army family and veteran of campaigns in the Crimea and in India, in his quest to found his own financial dynasty. She changed so much but still somehow retained her youthful innocence despite some occurrences that would turn many into bitter, prematurely old women.

I wish I could have read it at a bit more relaxed pace, but its length made me feel pressured to not lose pace. When they bellowed out Land of Hope and Glory the British thanked God for making them mighty and then asked him for more. The first is sounding a bit too much like an extended piece of journalism, better suited to the pages of a colour supplement than a book. I thoroughly enjoyed God Is an Englishman , so much so that even before I finished it, I went and got part two (Theirs Was the Kingdom).In his struggles to become a respectable and successful owner of a horse-carriage business, he has a few supporters, including his young wife, Henrietta and, surprisingly, his own father. I tend to dislike epics unless they’re quick-moving, with lots of action, and there were times I put this book aside for up to a week without picking it up to read a single chapter.