The Card, by Arnold Bennett. Part VI.

The Card is a comic novel written by Arnold Bennett in 1911, and entitled Denry the Audacious in the American edition. 

The ‘Card’ in question is Edward Henry Machin - His mother called him ‘Denry’. This light-hearted story is of his rise from humble beginnings as the son of a washerwoman and sempstress in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, in the pottery towns (which Arnold Bennett christened ‘The Five Towns’) of the English Midlands; how, by his own wits, enterprise and ‘nerve’ he rose to wealth, married bliss and public recognition as the youngest ever mayor of his home town.

The novel begins when "Edward Henry Machin first saw the smoke on May 27, 1867"—the very day of Bennett's own birth. At age 12, Denry begins his career by altering his marks in a test sufficiently to earn him a scholarship to grammar school. At 16, he leaves school to work for Mr Duncalf, the town clerk and a solicitor. Duncalf is responsible for organising an exclusive ball; Denry "invites" himself, then also a few others in exchange for things he will need, such as lessons from dance instructor Ruth Earp.

“’And yet,’ demanded Councillor Barlow, ‘what’s he done? What great cause is he identified with?

’‘He’s identified,’ said the speaker, ‘with the great cause of cheering us all up’.” 

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