All Comments on 'The Spirit of Ecstasy'

This reads like a Kezza story, except widgets instead of textiles. That's okay, though, I like Kezza stories.

The only connection I see with Kezza is that they are both Englishmen.

Boyd Percy

I do agree that this is reminiscent of Kezza67... that's a huge compliment and is richly deserved. There are a few writers here on Lit that get my undivided attention and you are one of them. Thanks for continuing to grace us with your talent.

Loved it. Very thorough and an enjoyable read

She was on birth control during the rape, but she was having painful periods and was not on it shortly after. It left some confusion as to the specifics. Still, five stars.

A salesperson showing up in such a car? Trying to sell nuts and bolts? Get real, the guy wouldn‘t make a single penny. Had to stop reading after a page. Couldn’t stand the blown up character of the guy.

You wouldn’t believe it but in the early 1970s (1973/74 I think) I was working in a hotel bar in Hayling Island next to Langstone Harbour, where Ken Russell stayed while filming "Tommy", so I met The Who, the other stars of the film and lots of other interesting people. The hotel was the smartest one in the area and attracted a number of stars and business people, including lots of Americans work at the nearby IBM building. One customer was a man in his 50s who dressed smartly and we chatted while he had a coffee waiting to go out cold calling. We had a relaxed conversation and discovered we both had craftsman backgrounds, he sold hardware, hooks, chains, screw fittings, nuts and bolts in bulk to small manufacturers rather than wholesale to hardware stores, I admitted was hiding myself in bar work because my girlfriend cheated on me, my world fell apart, my ego crushed and all my motivation gone. He took me to the window and pointed out his Rolls-Royce in the car park and told me his story, about how he trained as an lathe engineer, married his first sweetheart, did his national service, and found he couldn’t go back on the shop floor. Sales were hard for a working class man then as the UK was much more, as purchasing managers were white collar workers and dealt with their own kind. So he limped along for years, an honest, faithful husband, away from home 5 nights a week. He had a nice suburban family house, paid for, a wife who never had to work, and a number of kids (can’t remember how many, it was a long time ago). Then, after 25 years of marriage, bang, his wife got herself a boyfriend and my customer was out on his ear. He permanently living in digs for a year until the divorce was finalised and they could sell the house and split the assets. When the dust settled, he settled for the nomadic life, he did buy a second hand Roller as his main car (a little older than 3 years old) and he did still sell mostly nuts and bolts. With the Roller, he discovered he was no longer considered blue collar, and purchasing managers queued up for rides and he got better, easier sales, much bigger bonuses, so he ended up top dog salesman for his company. Cold calling, previously a mind-numbing series of depressing rejections, suddenly became fun, it made him confident, relaxed, no longer was selling millions of screws a desperate chore, he looked and acted successful and he was. It was the best thing he ever did, he said, buying that Rolls-Royce. From those bare bones, and a lot of my own invention, I came up with this fictional story, but believe me, the core theme is the absolute truth. It drove me onto shaking off my depression, to self improve, to go back to college and build a career in management, and I always remembered much of that lunchtime conversation and a couple of years ago decided to turn it into a story. I have actually written 70% of a sequel, The Spirit of Agony, but I loved these characters too much to sully them, so I might use it in the future with a different set of characters and circumstances.

Looked him up, have read one of his stories and gave it 5* and listed him as a favourite. On recommendation from you guys, I will start to read the rest of his stories.

I liked every part of it. Great writing (for a Brit). Thanks for sharing.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story and I couldn't put it down. Even though this wasn't the sex filled story I'm used to reading here I was completely enthralled by the characters and the story line. Again, well done!

What a great romantic story!

It's a shame you destroyed the characters in the sequel.

Unusually for the site a UK-cultured and based story. A big contrast to much of the normal material, generally very well-written, largely believable and certainly an emotional epic.

An immersive story, thanks to Spencerfiction's impeccable writing skills. Harry's gentlemanly demeanor, Gina's regal-but-roguish nature, and the details of British business spun a captivating narrative of serene, even stately life. The shocking violence of the rape scene shook us out of our placid pleasure, but Harry's unexpected mayhem that incapacitated the wrongdoers quickly settled us back into admiring all the good folks and their good deeds. Second reading, second non-stop readthrough, second superlative score.

Delightful. Reminded me I hadn't read "One Show Gumshoe" recently. Also similar is "The Songbird".

Made it through the first page. That was more than enough. Boring!!