Product Description

If your dream is big enough, not even your enemies can stop you...Charlie Trumper's earliest memory is of hearing his grandfather's sales patter from behind his costermonger's barrow. When Grandpa Charlie dies, young Charlie wants nothing more than to follow in his footsteps - his burning ambition is to own a shop that will sell everything: 'The Biggest Barrow in the World'. Charlie's progress from the teeming streets of Whitechapel to the elegance of Chelsea Terrace is only a few miles as the crow flies. But in Jeffrey Archer's expert hands it becomes an epic journey through the triumphs and disasters of the century, as Charlie follows a thread of love, ambition and revenge to fulfil the dream his grandfather inspired.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17022 in Books
• Published on: 2003-07-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 752 pages

Review
'Monumentally gripping... a compulsive epic' MAIL ON SUNDAY

About the Author
Jeffrey Archer is one of the world's most successful authors. He has sold over 500 million copies of his novels and short stories worldwide. After a life in politics he was elevated to the House of Lords in 1992. Archer is married with two children and currently lives in Lincolnshire.

Customer Reviews

Genuine quality
As The Crow Flies is a life-spanning yarn about an East End barrow boy called Charlie Trumper, following him from childhood to old age. Through life in the first world war, to the depression and on into fame and fortune. Trumper's tale is that of the rags to riches style in the extreme.

Considering that i'm not always a fan of Archer, this book was stunningly good. There's no way you'll be able to put this down from beginning to end. It's filled with twists, wit, hatred, joy and truly tragic moments that will make you want the book to go on for ever. Trumper is a fascinating character who comes across as an ambitious, enthusiastic and genuinely decent bloke.

I would recommend this to anyone, it does at times remind you of Kane and Abel but that should by no means put you off. Wonderful!

Kane and Abel sort of book you can't put down
This was one of those books that once I’d started I couldn’t put down (and no, there had not been any bizarre accident with the superglue again). Having read Kane and Abel which I thought was quite superb, I have to confess I was slightly nervous after reading the first few pages that Archer had simply tried to cash in on the Kane and Abel with this book; however, nothing could have been further from the truth

The novel is based around Charlie Trumper and his family during the course of the 20th century and his journey from Whitechapel Market to Chelsea Terrace. During this time he repeatedly experiences turmoil from his enemy, the Trentham family, a group of characters you can’t really help but absolutely hate. Some of the twists in the book were particularly unexpected but wonderfully written.

I particularly liked the way the original style in which the book was written… the book comprises a series of periods during the course of the book from the perspective of various major characters, each of which started with a first person narrative of what you had just read – it sounds a bit weird but works brilliantly

All in all, I can’t recommend this book enough. If you’re an Archer fan, then you’ll find this book superb, and if you’re not… why not?

A book with beautiful depth
I loved this book for numerous reason. From the beginning right until the end, this wonderful tale had me gripped, for it is a story of the success of a man who had once been no-one. A man name Charlie.

Charlie, once a wagon greengrocer, makes it to the top through sheer determination and honesty. Coming from a poor family of parents deeply lacking in the will to survive in this world, Charlie realises the severity of his home and life conditions once the news of his Grandfather's death hits home.

Having joined the army, He learms a wide variety of things; most of all the fact that the people of this world have different shades to their personalities, and that not everyone is willing to risk their lives for others.

Upon returning from the army, He decides to fulfil his lifelong dream of opening a greengrocer's shop in one of the poshest areas near where he lives. However, many stepping stones have to be passed before he can accomplish his greatest desire.

Possessing a deeply ingrained personality of protecting those he loves, his first duty is to take care of his siblings. Thereafter, he rebooster's the life of the woman he loves, earning her love in return for his kindness and generosity. It is she who he marries and enters into partnership with for his business.

Through many struggles, Charlie's business survives, along with the expansion of his ideas to open a shopping centre. His accumulating wealth allows him to educate his adopted son in the best manner possible, enough to earn him a phd in Mathematics. However, life holds many miseries.

The greatest thing about this book is the fact that Charlie Tucker is a person who had recieved no education, and who came from a background of poverty. Nevertheless, he managed to break the chains that bound him, and fly to the heights of his dreams. He overpassed all the dirtiness of the undeservedly wealthy and the sorrow of hurt and anger, bearing no grudges to those who had done him any harm.

The most beautiful thing however, is that even after such a life, Charlie can never forget his background. This is the starting of his life, and this is the ending. A man who, despite his great dignity and wealth, can lower himself to the status of normal, everyday street sellers by opening a wheel wagon green grocery.

That is why I am rating this book five stars, as such a book I have never read. It must surely be the best.