'A Little Of What You Fancy' by H. E. Bates

The final book in the Larkin chronicles is suitably the most melancholy of them all.

 

Pop's indulgent life-style finally gets the better of him when he is taken ill quite seriously, leaving him to ponder on all the things he is denied whilst in recovery. Naturally friends and family do all they can to lift his spirits but to little avail. It is only when a new nurse arrives to care for him and the threat of a major road being built through his beloved junkyard does he begin to recover.
Whether Bates was aware he was writing his last novel to feature the Larkins or not I do not know, but I think he may very well have been conscious of the fact: The book is a lament at the passing of the old and the inevitability of progress at the expense  of some of the simpler things in life. It is this aspect which I found to be the most moving part of the novel, especially since what Pop Larking fears has actually come to pass. Of course, progress must be made, even Bates and the Larkins accept that to some degree, but the real question is, 'at what cost?'

Perhaps the most philosophical and sad of the Larkin novels, it nevertheless ends with optimism and hope. Another fine read, indeed.