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What if the life you drift into is the very life you long to escape?
Alfred Polly sits on a stile, deep in misery. How does a boy with a hungry mind become this unhappy shopkeeper? In The History of Mr. Polly, H. G. Wells follows him through poor schooling, tiring work in a draper’s shop, and the small humiliations of earning a living. Books and strange, rolling words offer pleasures his dull surroundings cannot.
A small inheritance gives Polly a shop of his own in Fishbourne. Marriage to his cousin Miriam Larkins promises a household, but her wish for steadiness meets his restless longing for something else. With warm, sly humour, Wells explores the gap between having a respectable place in the world and having a life you actually want to live.
What you’ll discover
- A hungry, word-loving mind Meet a man whose delight in odd words outgrows the narrow life around him.
- Behind the shop counter Step into drapery shops where long hours and small humiliations wear down youthful hopes.
- A marriage by drift Watch Polly and Miriam bring different wishes to the same shop and household.
- Comedy with a point Find gentle laughter alongside sharp questions about class, poor schooling, and work.
- The longing to leave Explore the wish to start over through a man who is no natural rebel.
Who will love it
This book is for readers who love gentle English comedy, ordinary people with big inner lives, playful language, country inns, and anyone who has dreamed of a different life.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Polly fights a war inside himself
- Friendship gives working life its joy
- An inheritance invites other people's plans
- Polly mistakes surrender for a decision
- The shop leaves his imagination hungry
- A crisis opens a possible escape
- Beauty gives escape a deeper purpose
- A fixed life may be habit
Who’s who
- Mr. PollyA short, dyspeptic outfitter who loves books and invented words and hates his dull life. He longs for fun, friendship and beauty.
- MiriamA practical, earnest Larkins cousin who becomes Polly's wife. She wants a tidy, proper home and cannot follow his dreams.
- ParsonsPolly's loud, bookish friend at the Bazaar, who recites Shakespeare and preaches the joy of life. He loves his window dressing.
- PlattThe third of the Three Ps, a pale, pipe-smoking apprentice who loves gossip about society and dreams of intrigue.
- JohnsonPolly's solemn cousin, a railway ticket clerk who pushes him toward a safe shop and careful bookkeeping.
- ChristabelA red-haired schoolgirl who sits on a wall and lets a lonely man fall in love with her.
- The plump womanThe kind, easygoing landlady of the Potwell Inn. She hopes for help against her violent nephew.
- Uncle JimThe landlady's reformatory-hardened nephew, who frightens her and her small granddaughter and demands money.
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The History of Mr. Polly
by H. G. Wells · 1910
A dyspeptic draper on a stile hates his shop, his wife and his hat, and starts dreaming of a different life.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“remains the outstanding expositor of both the hope, and the despair, which are embodied in the technology and which are the major facts of life in our world”
In short
A man sits on a stile on a spring afternoon. His stomach hurts, his shop is failing, and he hates his town, his neighbours, his wife and himself.
The History of Mr. Polly at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 40 min3 h 40 min fast, 5 h 30 min slow
- Length
- 66,300 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1910by H. G. Wells
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A bad afternoon and a muddled schooling
The story opens with Mr. Polly on the stile, groaning about the hole he lives in. Back in the kitchen he has just kicked his hat across the floor. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Polly can only say that he is in one of his tantrums. She has given him cold pork, pickles, suet pudding with treacle, cheese and most of a jug of beer. The hat is not the real trouble, and neither is the east wind.
The narrator is kinder and funnier than the wife. He says Polly is not so much a man as a civil war, with riots inside him that he blames on the world outside. Behind the indigestion lies a larger fear. The shop in Fishbourne earns nothing, and he cannot tell capital from interest.
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Details
- First published
- 1910
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 5 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Wells, H. G. The History of Mr. Polly. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-history-of-mr-polly.
Wells, H. G. (2026). The history of Mr. Polly. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-history-of-mr-polly (Original work published 1910)
Wells, H. G. The History of Mr. Polly. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-history-of-mr-polly.
@book{wells2026history,
author = {Wells, H. G.},
title = {The History of Mr. Polly},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-history-of-mr-polly},
note = {First published 1910}
}
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What is The History of Mr. Polly about?
It follows Alfred Polly, a poorly schooled draper's assistant who becomes an unhappy shopkeeper. Through friendship, a funeral, a wedding, a failing shop and a bold change of course, he searches for a life that fits him.
When was The History of Mr. Polly written?
H. G. Wells published it in 1910. It is a comic novel, not a true story, though it draws on the shop life Wells knew. It looks at small shopkeepers and the lower middle class of the time.
What does Mr. Polly mean when he says little dog?
Little dog is Polly's nervous escape line. He says it whenever he feels trapped, such as at an awkward conversation or a looming proposal, and uses it as a reason to leave the room.
The author
H. G. Wells
1866–1946 · English science fiction novelist
H. G. Wells (1866–1946) was an English writer born in Bromley, Kent. He wrote novels, short stories and nonfiction. His novels included The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897) and The War of the Worlds (1898). He died in London.
“Oh! Beastly Silly Wheeze of a Hole!”
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