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Despite being initially intrigued by the premise of this book, I found that I had to force myself to read it from the start. The first two chapters were remarkably slow and I ran out of steam by the end of the two. However, because I was the host of a book club for the book, I found myself picking it up and finishing it for a final push. To my surprise, chapter three began the page-turning part of the book. If only I had read one more chapter at the start!

Tono-Bungay is a miraculous elixir that, well, isn't. It also doesn't take up much of the book, despite the title. Instead, the story focuses on the society behind the snakeoil. Young George starts out his adulthood with an idealized perspective on life and love. Yet the two bang heads when the woman he loves (or thinks he loves) refuses his proposal because, well, she wants to be 'practical'. In desperation, he takes his uncle's offered job to woo his wife-to-be. Not surprisingly, the marriage doesn't work out.

George then decides to pursue science and leave the business side in the hands of his uncle, a man who has proven himself to be not-so-good with finances. Time passes while George works on his 'flying machine', and eventually he finds himself in love yet again. Once again, in the name of wooing, he embarks on a crazy plan.

Most of the overviews of this novel focus on the English society and the focus on commercialism, which make great themes in the book. But I think that economics aren't the only things that are oversold. Wells highlights that love is also over-advertised. At one point, the narrator notes that he had grown up on an idealized image of love via the poet Shelly that didn't stand him in good stead when he encountered a real woman.

Of course there is also the glaring economic issues that resound through the novel, how a love of money is, in truth, the root of all evil. George flirts with being a socialist, though he again finds himself let down by reality. He also speaks of the abundance that allows people to grow indolent and fat, something that resounds well with America today, I think. For money, his uncle threw away what was a good life to ruin his, and his wife and nephew's besides. The women he interacts with chose money over love because, well, it's hard to be poor.

Overall, I enjoyed the book as much as I originally hoped and more than I initially did. A good read, and one I recommend.