Green Money by D.E. Stevenson ~ 1939. This edition: Collins, 1981. Large Print. Hardcover. ISBN: 0-7089-0649-4. 482 pages.

My rating: 6.5/10. Amusing enough, with an almost Wodehouse-like farce going on in parts, but it was far too long for the content. Zero surprises, every plot twist was telegraphed from miles away and came through loud and clear.

The main reason I rated it as high as I did was for the likeable main character George Ferrier – and his parents – and the very darling Cathie Seeley.

A feel-good romance, requiring little effort to absorb. Literary chocolate pudding with a great big dollop of cream; comfort reading verging on simplistic; nothing daring or terribly complex here; just lick it off the spoon.

*****

Horse-loving countryman George Ferrier is on a bit of an ill-afforded toot in London when he runs across one of his father’s old school friends. Wealthy Mr. Green is now possessed of a motherless daughter, and, on a whim, he asks George to act as one of the trustees of his daughter’s eventual inheritance. The “old men” fulfilling the trustee roles keep dying off, and perhaps a younger man will prove less of a hassle. George, after much convincing, agrees, and returns home not expecting to hear anything more of his role for quite a few years to come.

But then Mr. Green suddenly kicks the bucket, leaving a vast fortune in the hands of four trustees: George, the ancient and doddery Mr. Bennett, and obviously hand-in-glove old cronies Mr. Wicherly and Mr. Millar. George senses something a bit off going on at his first meeting with the others, but allows himself to be soothed and sent away after signing numerous papers authorizing he’s-not-quite-sure-what.

Upon George’s meeting the orphaned “child” the story ramps up another notch; Miss Elma Green turns out to be a lovely eighteen-year-old who has been raised in an atmosphere of strictly Victorian purity. George is quite fascinated by this unexpectedly grown-up yet unworldly ward; he is also a bit shocked by how quickly she embraces the more forward modern behaviours her father has sought to shelter her against.

George ponders the possibility of marrying the delectable Elma to protect her from herself and the wiles of the world, but he can’t quite get over the feeling that she’s not really the woman of his dreams, beautiful though she is. For lurking in the background is his lifelong friend Cathie, whose brother Peter has himself fallen head-over-heels in love with Elma at first sight. The stage is now set for a series of misunderstandings and complications, all of which we see coming and which play out exactly as they should.

Mr. Millar steps in, offering to host Miss Green on a seaside holiday. Elma fully embraces the social whirl of tea parties and dancing till the wee hours, and instantly attracts an entourage of eager young swains, including Mr. Millar’s son Wilfred, who is receiving strong encouragement from his father to snag the heiress.

Meanwhile stalwart George ponders the clues surrounding Mr. Millar’s insistence on cashing in a large chunk of the Green shares to cover death duties, despite the existence of an insurance policy purchased  by Mr. Green to guard against the very scenario. As Peter sulks and pines for the lovely Elma, Cathie sternly tries to prepare herself for news of George’s engagement to another.

What will happen next? How will this story end? Golly, what do you think?

I liked Green Money well enough in a mild way, but I certainly didn’t love it. The story is well set up and the characters George, his mother Paddy, and self-effacing Cathie were nicely rounded out, but many of the other characters felt very one-dimensional. Elma herself comes across as a shallow, self-indulgent bit of fluff; her intelligence is of the self-protective type, and she shows no hesitance in deceiving her admittedly over-protective governess-companion to further a rapid progress into the wider world.

The whole thing went on past my initial interest level. I stuck it out to the end easily enough, but I put this one down with something of a feeling of relief that I could check it off on my D.E. Stevenson reading list.