Travels with My Aunt

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 448.

Henry Pulling is a retired bank manager and lives a very conventional life. His mother dies just after he retires. At the funeral, he meets his Aunt. Augusta, a woman in her seventies who he has not seen for 50 years. Aunt Augusta has travelled all over the world. From everything she says, it is obvious that Augusta has lived an adventurous unconventional life

After the funeral, Henry and Augusta meet again and, despite having very different personalities, they get on well. Augusta tells Henry things about his family that he never knew. Augusta then persuades Henry to go travelling with her, at first to places in England, but gradually to more exciting destinations. Until now, Henry has lived, a quiet life; most of the people he knows are bank customers or colleagues.

One day, Augusta tells Henry she is taking him to Istanbul. He is surprised by this sudden announcement. He is used to planning everything he does, but Augusta is always spontaneous and seems to make decisions without thinking. On the journey to Istanbul, Henry finds out more about his aunt's unusual lifestyle and her past. As they travel, Henry sees new cultures for the first time and Augusta introduces him to her old friends who all have exciting and unusual stories to tell. Henry is often surprised by what he hears, but begins to enjoy himself more and more.

When he returned to England, Henry enjoys his retirement looking after the flowers in his garden, but he is a changed man. He misses his aunt and her interesting friends, and Augusta has shown him a new way of looking at the world.

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