10 lb Penalty
Putnam, 1997
Characters
- Benedict Juliard
- Ben, amateur jockey at 17, asked to give it up to campaign with his father & then go to school.
- George Juliard
- Ben's father, standing for Parliament (running for office).
- Dearest Polly
- helps George Juliard in his campaign, a member of the selection committee.
- Dennis Nagle
- previous member of Parliament who died.
- Orinda Nagle
- Dennis Nagel's widow, thought she deserved his position.
- A.L. Wyvern
- Orinda's companion, nicknamed Anonymous Lover by Ben.
- Usher Rudd
- mud slinging reporter who always finds a story, even if there isn't one to find.
- Paul Bethune
- fat slob with zero sex appeal running against George Juliard.
- Isobel Bethune
- Paul Bethune's emotional wife.
- Mervyn Teck
- George Juliard's agent who runs the campaign
- Leonard Kitchens
- one of the selectors who voted for Orinda.
- Mrs. Leonard Kitchens
- doesn't like her husband's interest in Orinda.
- Faith, Marge, and Lavender
- three volunteer witches who help with George Juliard's campaign.
- Crystal Harley
- Mervyn Teck's secretary.
- Basil Rudd
- Usher Rudd's cousin, manager of a car repair garage.
- Terry
- mechanic who worked on Juliard's Range Rover, big, bald, belly.
- Foster Fordham
- George Juliard's friend, expert in race car sabotage.
- Sir Vivian Durridge
- trainer who fires Ben on imaginary drug charges.
- Amy
- runs the charity shop next door to campaign headquarters.
- Sarah's Future
- horse that Ben's dad buys for him as a birthday present.
Notes
Review of 10 LB Penalty written by John Halliday
This was my first Dick Francis book and I found it quite good. What I find most interesting about the style of the book was the way it was presented -- first person. I particularly enjoy the first person view because it allows the author to describe the thoughts of the main character a bit more vividly than with 2nd or 3rd person. 10 Lb has a good deal of vivid imagery -- you can imagine Juliard Sr. when he prepares to assault Wivern's character. All of the characters are presented in their clear extremes and stereotypes with just enough human commonality to make them seem real. The only thing I'd say didn't quite fit, though by no means made the book deplorable in any fashion, was the fact that the main character, Benedict, was seemingly incapable of making mistakes. He always happened to make exactly the right choice and there was never a grievous result stemming from a decision that he made. Though it's nice to have a long string of successes, it makes for a bit too obvious story.
Read the transcript of a live chat session with Dick Francis on the Barnes and Noble web page. He talks about 10 LB. Penalty.
The group read it
We discussed 10 LB. Penalty on October 31, 1997 and again on July 13, 1998.
This page was first written for the reading group's original site in the late 1990s and was lost when AOL Hometown closed. It has been recovered from the Internet Archive.