DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW

UNIVERSITY
SABBAVARAM
VISHAKAPATNAM, AP., INDIA

SUBJECT: ENGLISH

TITLE: NOT A PENNY MORE, NOT A PENNY LESS

FACULTY: MS. BEENA PUNJABI

RAMPU.PRANATHI
19LLB034
SEMESTER-1
SECTION-A

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 INTRODUCTION
Jeffery Howard Archer born on 15th April 1940 is an English novelist, former Politician, and
peer of the realm. Before becoming an author, Archer was a Member of Parliament (1969–
74), but did not seek re-election after a financial scandal that left him almost bankrupt. He
revived his fortunes as a best-selling novelist; his books have sold around 330 million copies
worldwide. Jeffery Archer was born in the City of London. He studied in Wellington School
and in 1963 Archer was offered a place at the Oxford University to study for a Diploma of
Education. Archer wrote his first book, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny less, in the autumn of
1974, as a means of avoiding bankruptcy. The book was picked up by the literary agent
Deborah Owen and published first in the U.S., then eventually in Britain in the autumn of
1976. A radio adaptation was aired on BBC Radio 4 in the early 1980s and a BBC Television
adaptation of the book was broadcast in 1990.

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OVERVIEW

Jeffrey Archer’s first novel, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny less, is a page-turning tale of
fraud, revenge determination as four men stop at nothing to get back what was stolen from
them. One million dollars that’s what Harvey Metcalfe, lifelong king of shady deals, has
pulled off with empty promises of an oil bonanza and instant riches. Overnight, four men- the
heir to an earldom, a Harley street doctor, a Bond Street art dealer and an Oxford don – find
themselves penny less. But this time Harvey has swindled the wrong men. They band
together and shadow him from the casinos of Monte Carlo to the high-stakes windows at
Ascot and the hallowed lawns of Oxford. Their plan is simple: to sting the crook for exactly
what they lost- not a penny more, not a penny less.

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SUMMARY
Harvey Metcalfe, over 40 years, has mastered the shady deal in advancing from messenger
boy to mogul. But by selling inflated oil stock, he has cheated the wrong men - Stephen
Bradley, an American professor at the University of Oxford, Dr Robin Oakley, a Harley
Street doctor, Jean-Pierre Lamanns, a French art dealer with a gallery in London, and James
Brigsley, heir to an earldom. Each has bought stock and suffered when it failed. Bradley
learns of Metcalfe's responsibility, and organizes the other three to get their money back.
They are to each come up with a plan.

Metcalfe, a Polish immigrant to the United States, rises from messenger boy to corporate
magnate, combining business skills with little loyalty and much ruthlessness. By the 1960s,
he is a multi-millionaire.

Taking advantage of a British decision to allow companies to claim North Sea drilling rights
with little money down, Metcalfe creates Prospecta Oil, a paper company designed to look
good and bring in investors to be left when the bottom drops out. Metcalfe's agents hire
David Kesler, a Harvard MBA who talks up the company to the four protagonists, and they
buy stock. But Harvey (indirectly) sells out at the top of the market, the stock crashes, and the
four are left with major losses.

Stephen discovers the fraud, that there is no legal recourse, and organizes the four to steal the
money back, using Harvey's interests and weaknesses. All four are to come up with plans,
and three quickly do. James, however, is unable to. He is more successful at courting Anne
Summerton, an American model.

Jean-Pierre is successful at getting Harvey to buy a fake Van Gogh painting - he has always
wanted one. When Harvey heads to Monte Carlo on vacation, a pill in his drink at the Casino
causes severe abdominal pain which is made to look like a Gallstone, and Robin operates,
though barely breaking the skin, and collects a large bill. Stephen impersonates an Oxford
official, as do the others, and gets Harvey to think he is getting an honorary degree in
exchange for a contribution. James, though unable to come up with a plan of his own, has
been crucial to the success of the others' plans - and when he meets Anne's father, learns that
he is none other than Harvey.

James instructs the others to execute a complex financial fraud, and flies them to Boston for
the wedding as ushers, though not giving formal invitations. They learn who the bride's father

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is. The wedding check from Harvey, plus ransacking Harvey's greenhouses for wedding
flowers, reduces the million dollar debt to $1.24, though Stephen sulks on the plane home
about the missing money.

They land in London to learn that a new BP oil field has been discovered next to Prospecta
Oil's tract, sending shares to record highs. They now have the stolen million back, and the
shares are worth well over a million. Stephen proposes they figure out how to give the stolen
million back

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CRITICAL COMMENT:

This is definitely one of Jeffrey Archer's best works, and one of my favourites. Other than the
usual pace and thrills, the author packs in a lot of humour in this one. And humour such that
you would burst out laughing like a mad-hatter.

The story starts at a pretty slow pace, and you would think that this is going to be boring. But
the author is only building up the story. The story is of four different people, from different
walks of life, who are cheated by a big businessman, a fraud. It’s about how they come
together to steal their money back. Tit for tat, and it is so much more than that.