The Card: 2a Story of Adventure in the Five Towns

I'm from the Five Towns, where this gem of a book is set. It's actually the Potteries, in Staffordshire, England. The book is about the life and times of Edward Henry (Denry) Machin who, by being a 'card' rises from humble beginnings to wealth and prominence. A card is someone who's a bit of a lad, who does things no one else dares or dreams of. Denry is never cruel, never arrogant and his adventures and mishaps as he falls in love and out, manages his mother, determined to live her life in a tiny slum, and becomes the most well known inhabitant of the area make for hilarious reading. The wit is subtle, his triumphs are believable and his failures make us feel for him. Read this book. It's very, very good.