This is so very different from H.V. Stacpoole's "Beach of Dreams" and "The Man Who Lost Himself" that it took me several chapters to get my bearings and understand just what I held in my hands. I think I know now."Patsy" is an Irish comedy. And just so you know, Patsy is not a girl but a boy; a rather enterprising, cheeky, very Irish boy. The language is in the vernacular but just enough to be humorous and not so heavy as to be unreadable.
Ok so the plot...well, at its heart we have a lovelorn couple thwarted in love. The man's uncle disapproves of the match and has arranged a more "suitable" suitor for his ward; a man with money (but alas very tight), much older, no sense of humor and a glass eye. Yes, you heard right. A glass eye. And remember this book is a comedy soooo can we just say that things happen with regard to said glass eye.
And then there's Patsy who has just landed a job in the big house as a sort of "fetch and carry" boy. As was mentioned he's a bit of a Cheeky Charlie with extras. In this case, the extras involve a bandit uncle who is the terror of the countryside along with his accomplice. The baddies have got wind that there's people of "quality" staying at the great house and they smell money. A break-in is arranged...and a trap is set. The results are zany and unpredictable.
I think this could be a 5 star book depending on the audience. I went into it having no idea what it was about and it was entertaining but not one I'd probably reread. However if I had read it when I was a young adult, I would have loved it to pieces. Give it a go, its free on public domain sites like Openlibrary.org.
CONTENT: G
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