Rumpole And The Primrose Path (2004) - Plot & Excerpts
This is an entertaining collection of six short stories starting with Rumpole's escape from the Primrose Path nursing home where he has been sent to recover from his heart attack brought on by a fight in court with Judge Bullingham. Rumpole fears that the body count at the Primrose Path is rather too high and decides to make his escape as speedily as possible. The other stories are equally good with Rumpole's performance clearly not impaired by his brush with death. I especially enjoyed Rumpole Redeemed in which Rumpole sees that just because a crime appears to have been committed by a particular person with a trade mark style doesn't mean it actually was committed by that person. In this story yet another of Claude Erskine-Brown's mad attractions to unlikely women is doomed to failure.There is something hugely endearing in Rumpole as a character I find even though he doesn't always suffer fools gladly. He frequently sees through outward appearances to the real people underneath - such as in the first story and Nurse Dotty. Rumpole is marvellous comfort reading even when you know the outcome of the story.
Mortimer is such a solid writer. These stories are (to my mind) much in the vein of P.G. Wodehouse. A set stock of characters. We as readers know who they are, roughly, and what they are likely to do. The author tells a brief (25-30 pages) story and the characters all interact and react to the events, advancing the plot to its resolution and amusing us at the same time. Sounds pretty easy to do? but it is not, I imagine. As so few writers do it as well as Mortimer or Wodehouse. Not high fiction in any sense, but very solid workmanship and an enjoyable read.
What do You think about Rumpole And The Primrose Path (2004)?
