The Card, a Story of Adventure in the Five Towns

Edward Henry Machin, Denry to everyone who knows him, starts life with two strikes against him: he's the son of a washerwoman, and he's got ambition enough to burn a hole through the Five Towns. ButDetermination and a certain talent for audacity can overcome a great deal, and Denry sets about climbing from nothing into something that looks remarkably like respectability. The plan is simple: marry up, scheme harder, and never, ever let anyone forget that he matters now. Bennett's comic masterpiece follows this washerwoman's son as he bluffs, bumbles, and budgets his way to the mayor's chair, sharper and more ruthless than anyone gives him credit for. The Five Towns, Bennett's fictional rendering of the Potteries, provide the perfect backdrop: stifling, judgmental, and endlessly entertaining in their hypocrisy. This is social satire with a light touch and a mean right hook, a story that knows exactly how ridiculous the game of Getting Ahead really is, and tells you so with tremendous affection for its ridiculous players.