''Mr American'' is a 1980

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

George MacDonald Fraser George MacDonald Fraser (2 April 1925 – 2 January 2008) was a Scottish author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Harry Paget Flashman, Flashman. Over the course of his career he wrote eleven n ...

, who described it as longer and more "conventional" than his usual work.George MacDonald Fraser, ''The Light's On at Signpost'', HarperCollins 2002 p311

Plot summary

Mark Franklin arrives on the ''

Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, encompassing northern present-day Morocco, and from the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean in the ...

'' at

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in 1909 with a copy of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's works, an old Mexican

charro ''Charro'', in Mexico, is historically the horseman from the countryside, the Ranchero, who lived and worked in the haciendas and performed all his tasks on horseback, working mainly as vaqueros and caporales, among other jobs. He was ren ...

saddle and two Remington pistols in his battered luggage. A tall and softly-spoken American prospector, who made his fortune in a

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

strike in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, he is visiting the 'old country' to see his roots. He goes to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

where he meets and has a

one-night stand A one-night stand is a single sexual encounter in which there is no expectation that there shall be any further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single night performanc ...

with 'Pip' Delys, a

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

performer. She gives him the name which forms the title of the book. He then buys a house in Castle Lancing, the

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

village his ancestors came from in the 17th century. A chance event during a

fox hunt Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, normally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of hounds" ...

, when the

fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

hides in Franklin's picnic basket, leads to an acquaintance with

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

, and the beginning of an enmity with a neighbour (Frank, Lord Lacy) which lasts throughout the book. Through playing

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

with Edward and his mistress

Alice Keppel Alice Frederica Keppel (''née'' Edmonstone; 29 April 1868 – 11 September 1947) was an aristocrat, British society hostess and a long-time mistress (lover), mistress of King Edward VII. Keppel grew up at Duntreath Castle, the family seat of ...

, Franklin elevates himself greatly in the king's estimation through his easy manners. When the king invites him to

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places Australia * Sandringham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Sandringham, Queensland, a rural locality * Sandringham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station * ...

, Franklin meets

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

, Jackie Fisher, and

Ernest Cassel Sir Ernest Joseph Cassel, (3 March 1852 – 21 September 1921) was a British merchant banker and businessman. Born and raised in Prussia, he moved to England at the age of 17. Life and career Cassel was born in Cologne, in the Rhine Provinc ...

. This allows Fraser to depict some of the historical background of the build-up to the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He also meets General Flashman, from Fraser's well-known historical fiction series. Flashman is in his late 80s at the start of the book (as he says, "I'm eighty-eight next May, and I attribute my longevity to an almost total abstinence from tea"), and an important sub-plot involves his grandniece, Lady Helen Cessford, a

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

. An old partner in crime,

Kid Curry (Known month and day) (known month) (known year) --> , birth_place = Richland Township, Tama County, Iowa, United States , death_date = , death_place = Parachute, Colorado, United States , re ...

, tracks him down and demands half of all his wealth. Franklin refuses, and the stage is set for a midnight gunfight, which Franklin wins with the assistance of his

manservant A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly de ...

Samson. They bury the body in a field. He falls in love with, and marries, another neighbour, Peggy Clayton. Her brother is an officer in the British Army and is involved in running guns to Ireland during the

Curragh Mutiny The Curragh incident of 20 March 1914, sometimes known as the Curragh mutiny, occurred in the Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. The Curragh Camp was then the main base for the British Army in Ireland, which at the time still formed part of the U ...

, using Franklin's money obtained by Peggy from him by deception. Over the years, Franklin gradually grows apart from his young wife, at first due to the breach of trust over the money, and then when he discovers her sexual infidelity. The novel ends with the outbreak of war in 1914, and Franklin deciding to return to the US, leaving the bulk of his fortune in England for his wife and her family. At the last moment, he changes his mind, and the reader is left unsure whether he intends to return to his unfaithful wife, to possibly accompany Samson who plans to serve in the

Legion of Frontiersmen The Legion of Frontiersmen is a civilian nationalist paramilitary organisation formed in Britain in 1905 by Roger Pocock, a former North-West Mounted Police constable and Boer War veteran. Prompted by fears of an impending invasion of Britain and ...

under

Frederick Selous Frederick Courteney Selous, Distinguished Service Order, DSO (; 31 December 1851 – 4 January 1917) was a British people, British explorer, army British Army, officer, professional hunter, and conservation movement, conservationist, famous for ...

, or something else entirely.

Reception

''The Guardian'' said the book "bulges with period research but without the familiar knockabout uplift. Flashy makes an appearance, a ghost of his old reprobate self, and if this is the last of him, I salute him but not, I fear, his successor."

Proposed adaptation

In 1983 Sir Lew Grade announced he would make the book as an eight-hour miniseries.MOVIES: LORD GRADE: AT 76, BACK AT THE HELM Mann, Roderick. Los Angeles Times 15 May 1983: t26. No miniseries has resulted.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mister American 1980 British novels Historical novels Fiction set in 1909 Novels set in Liverpool Novels by George MacDonald Fraser Novels set in Norfolk William Collins, Sons books