Review - How Are You Going To Get Out Of That One, Alan Ambrose?

Alan Ambrose is a very lucky young man. The twenty year-old is enjoying a night out in London with his friend Tabitha when he is picked up by a handsome older man, Archie. Archie takes Alan home to his London townhouse, where it soon becomes clear that the man is very well off. In the morning, Archie invites Alan to stay and even buys him an expensive watch to entice the young man to stick around. Alan settles almost naturally into the life of a kept boy without looking back.

Over the coming months Archie introduces Alan to his circle of friends, which includes the elderly Lord Percy. Percy clearly fancies the young Alan, and he’s even more wealthy than Archie, with a mansion in Hollywood as well as an estate in England. Recognizing a bigger better deal when he sees it, Alan decides to dump Archie and become Percy’s toy boy.

While Percy is under no illusion as to why Alan stays with him, he is still happy to have the young man around and lavishes gifts on him. Alan, for his part, does his best to make Percy happy. He has occasional flings with guys closer his own age, but tries to keep them discreet and never lets them get serious. He seems genuinely fond of Percy, and is quite sad when the old man finally succumbs to his age after nearly five years together. Although not provided for in Percy’s will, Alan still leaves with a substantial sum of money as well as valuable gifts given to him over the years.

The question for the still-young Alan after Percy dies is what to do next? He returns home to Brighton to think about that. He renews his friendship with Tabitha, and through her hears that the local bordello where she had worked as a maid is closed following the death of the madame who ran it. Alan decides that running a whorehouse would be fun. He has more than enough money to buy the old house and restore it. He rounds up some of the old girls along with some new boys and with the help of his mother turns it into a first class bordello.

Things are going great for Alan and the business when a ghost from his past with Percy rears its head. That’s when the story finally comes full circle and we get back to the question asked in the book’s title.

Did you ever get in a conversation with someone, usually an elderly relative you can’t offend, who set out to tell you a story, but they keep getting side-tracked with little tales about someone who plays a part in the story. You’re not sure if they’re ever going to get to the point of the story, but the digressions are so interesting you don’t really care. Well, that’s the style of this book. It starts off with Alan leaving his fancy house in Brighton purchased with the proceeds from the whorehouse, flashes back to the night he met Archie and then attempts to catch up to where it starts, but there are numerous side-stories along the way. It’s a rather gossipy style, but still rather endearing.

For all his faults, Alan is still a rather likable character. While he becomes quite used to the lifestyle of being a kept boy, he never seems to act entitled nor does he take his benefactor Percy for granted. Of course, we’re getting the story from his point of view, so you can take all that with a grain of salt. It’s not until near the end that Alan’s behavior crosses a line that makes him more of a bad guy, and the events that follow can be seen as quick retribution.

“How Are You Going To Get Out Of That One, Alan Ambrose?” is a light comedy. As such, it’s rather well done. The editing leaves a lot to be desired, but it’s not so bad as to seriously pull you out of the story. The style is easy to read, although I suspect that the numerous digressions may frustrate some readers. Once it becomes clear that this is going to be a very non-linear style of story-telling, you can settle in and enjoy it. There are no serious take-aways from the this book. You won’t get too deeply involved in the characters or their struggles. It’s a bit of fluff, really, all of which is why I’ve given it three stars.

The book may be purchased from Amazon.