The Debit Account
by Oliver Onions (1873–1961)
- Free to read
- 4 hours to read
- 17 chapters
- Reading level: 7th grade
"The Debit Account" by Oliver Onions is a novel written in the early 20th century. The story follows the life of J.H. Jeffries, an intermediate clerk on the verge of marriage, as he navigates his modest financial status while seeking a suitable home for his future with Evie Soames, his fiancée. Themes of ambition, love, and societal expectations are explored as Jeffries grapples with his aspirations against the backdrop of his humble beginnings. At the start of the book, we find Jeffries walking through Hampstead Heath, contemplating his life and future. With a modest salary and dreams of a better life, he seeks a home while reflecting on his past struggles and current relationship with Evie. As he thinks about their upcoming marriage, he is haunted by the tragic memory of Evie's previous engagement, emphasizing the emotional complexity of their situation. The opening sets the stage for Jeffries' internal conflict between his ambitions and the painful memories that linger, hinting at the complications that may arise in their relationship.
Read the opening
Chapter I
THE COBDEN CORNER
THE DEBIT ACCOUNT
One day in the early June of the year 1900 I was taking a walk on Hampstead Heath and found myself in the neighbourhood of the Vale of Health. About that time my eyes were very much open for such things as house-agents' notice-boards and placards in windows that announced that houses or portions of houses were to let. I was going to be married, and wanted a place in which to live.
My salary was one hundred and fifty pounds a year. I figured on the wages-book of the Freight and Ballast Company as "Jeffries, J. H., Int. Ex. Con.," which meant that I was an intermediate clerk of the Confidential Exchange Department, and to this description of myself I affixed each week my signature across a penny stamp in formal receipt of my three pounds. I could have been paid in gold had I wished, but I had preferred a weekly cheque, and I took care never to cash this cheque at our own offices in Waterloo Place. I did not wish it to be known that I had no banking account. As a matter of fact, I now had one, though I should not have liked to disclose it to the Income Tax Commissioners. The reason for this reticence lay in the smallness, not in the largeness, of my balance. I had learned that in certain circumstances it pays you to appear better off than you are.
Keep reading The Debit Account →
Download for your e-reader
Files are provided by Project Gutenberg. On a Kindle, the simplest route is to send the EPUB with Amazon’s Send to Kindle. Downloaded copies don’t sync with your place on Classic Book Reader.
About this edition
This free edition of The Debit Account by Oliver Onions comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #37479, released 2011-09-19. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Novels, British Literature.
Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).
