Travels with My Aunt

Henry Pulling, a reluctantly retired bank manager, meets his 70-ish-year-old Aunt Augusta for the first time in more than 50 years at his mother’s funeral. His Aunt is vibrant, even outrageous, and he is anything but—a man whose only hobby is growing dahlias. An Aunt myself, I love a story about a wild, non-traditional Aunt, and her relationship with her nephew. As the title suggests, the story is told through the eyes of Henry. His views of his life and their travels are filled with humor and insight. The joy of this novel follows the challenges that arise when two… show more.

Introverted Henry Pulling is (ahem) pulled out of dull retirement in England and catapulted into a series of unpredictable and awkward travel experiences thanks to his larger-than-life Aunt Augusta. It’s soon evident that her idea is not simply seeing the sights, but rather embarking on a voyage of self-discovery — it’s the 1960’s, after all. This novel has its share of over-the-top humor, quirky love interests, exotic locals (Paris, Istanbul, and Paraguay), morally ambiguous situations (that seem slightly unsettling today), and even a “mystery” of sorts that forever changes how Henry views his life. The contrast between Henry’s and Aunt… show more.

Retired bank manager Henry Pulling, a stodgy bachelor who spends his days tending dahlias, meets his eccentric, promiscuous, and amoral Aunt Augusta at his mother’s funeral. She drags him out of his suburban torpor and into a life of adventure accompanied by her lover from Sierra Leone. They travel from Paris to Istanbul on board the Orient Express and to South America where Henry reveals that Augusta has taught him well. Greene described Travels with my Aunt as “the only book I have written for the fun of it,” and while it is a bit dated, it’s still a fun… show more.