The Sound of Coaches Author:Leon Garfield Once upon a winters night when the wind blew its guts out and a fishy piece of moon scuttled among the clouds, a coach came thundering down the long hill outside of Dorking. — So begins a raffish, picaresque adventure laid in eighteenth-century England that tells of a foundling lsd and his legacy, a travelling company of players, and as original ... more »a set of heros, villains, and waspish characters to appear since The Beggar's Opera.
Aliterate and beautifully crafted romance, The Sound of Coaches tells of a rugged old coachman and his eeven more rugged wife who rides shotgun on The Flying cradle, the Chichester-Londoncoach; Sam thier adopted son, who struggles to discover his origins; Jenny, the London chambermaid who loves Sam and is determined to "keep it clean"; and one Danny Coventry, actor and supreme egotist. Amidst this startling cast, young Sam weaves grand fantasies about his legasy, a pistol and a ring, and the unknown father to whom they once belonged. had he been a daring highwayman, who was hanged? Or was he a noble, dashing hero, a fit father for Sam to admire?
In a sereies of dramatic climaxes, contnually and hilariously manipulated by Fate's cruel hand, Sam is finally able to realize that his own nature is ssmore important than that of hos parentage. A happpy blend of poignant comedy, the intricately woven story is a robustly romantic tourde force of sure appeal.« less
Briefly skimming through it, it appears to be a good, English romantic comedy with a message about the importance of learning who you really are INSIDE rather than where you came from.