‘The Good Soldier’ by Ford Madox Ford (Review)

What with all the library books and occasional review copies I have cluttering the shelves, I can sometimes be a little guilty of overlooking and neglecting books I’ve purchased, and the subject of today’s post is one that’s been languishing out of sight for far too long now. It’s a classic of early-twentieth-century English literature and takes us off to the continent for a little R and R with two delightful couples – or so it initially seems. In truth, there’s far more to our new friends than meets the eye, so settle back and make yourselves comfortable for a bit of a story, one that has very little ‘good’ about it… ***** Ford Madox Ford’s 1915 novel The Good Soldier consists entirely of an extended monologue, broken into chapters, by an American man of leisure, John Dowell. With lots of money, and no real career to speak of, when he comes across the beautiful Florence, he decides she’s the one for him, and with her family opposed to the relationship (for reasons their good manners…