''Luckypenny'' is a 1937
novel by Scottish writer
Bruce Marshall.
Plot summary
Luckypenny, the title character, is married with two young adult children. Like the author himself, Luckypenny has lost a leg in
World War I. He works as an accountant with an English arms firm. Discovering some financial irregularities he
blackmail
Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...
s his way to
promotion.
He is sent to negotiate an arms sale to fascist Italy and becomes embroiled in a scheme to smuggle cash out of the country, arranged by his boss to get rid of him. He is caught, but escapes with the aid of a young woman, who, unbeknownst to Luckypenny, is an Italian
espionage agent
''Espionage Agent'' is a pre–World War II spy melodrama produced by Hal B. Wallis in 1939. Directed by Lloyd Bacon, ''Espionage Agent'', like many Warner Bros. movies, clearly identifies the Germans as the enemy. This was unlike many other mov ...
.
[Marshall, B: ''Luckypenny'' E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc. 1938.]
The agent falls in love with Luckypenny and helps him to land a large contract for his company.
Additional adventures involve Luckypenny's children. His son, Tom, and the boss's daughter fall in love, but Tom is shattered when he discovers that she is not a
virgin. Luckypenny's daughter and his boss also begin a love affair.
The novel ends in
Francoist Spain, where Luckypenny's fate depends upon the intervention of his Italian lover.
[ ''Luckypenny'' book review]
References
1937 British novels
Novels by Bruce Marshall
E. P. Dutton books
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