This was a book that inspired one of our readers to research online about British ‘woolly pigs’ in Wiltshire. For a narrative about a wartime refugee, who is struggling with the concept of xenophobia, that is not a classic recommendation.
It was a refreshing synopsis for the story; Mr Jack Rosenblum, a Jewish man who flees his home in wartime Germany and so desperately wants to assimilate into British society that he moves to the middle of nowhere to pursue his plans to build a classic golf course. The list, in the title, is given to refugees as a guide to ‘Englishness’ and it becomes Mr Rosenblum’s bible and mantra despite the misgivings of his long-suffering wife, Sadie and their daughter, Elizabeth.
Jack Rosenblum is, without doubt, one of the stupidest men our reading group has encountered. This is a successful businessman, the founder and owner of a London-based carpet manufacturer who invests in a country cottage without ever seeing it, writes a succession of invitations/letters to someone who never answers them and is regularly made to look foolish by locals who are canny about ways to make this heavily-accented stranger lighten the wad in his wallet.
Initially his one redeeming quality is his stamina, particularly during the early stages of creating the golf course. His tenacity, however, is also undeniable and unfortunately spurred on his obsessional behaviour. We were curious to know where his seemingly endless cash flow originated (although we acknowledged that buying Sadie golf clubs nearly bankrupted him at one stage.)
One of our readers mentioned that on the ‘Kindle’ version the notes at the back of the hard copy are missing and these introduce the author’s own family wartime history (also the source for her recipe information) and the essential point that the list was, in fact, genuine. With or without this knowledge the book, for the majority of our readers, was not that funny, or interesting and was therefore a disappointment.
Selling under a variety of names and in a choice of languages; ‘Mr Rosenblum Dreams in English’ and ‘The Perfect Gentleman’, this is far from unique in its treatment of cultural assimilation and there are other books that might be more useful for asylum seekers. Our average score was 5.5 out of 10