Alfred Burton’s entire life and demeanor changes when he eats fruit from a plant that suddenly compels him to speak and see the truth. Regardless of intent, his change of heart has a devastating effect on his personal and professional relationships. Alfred is a sly and charismatic auctioneer’s clerk, who uses embellishments and half-truths to maintain his job. One day he comes across a random plant in an old house and eats some of its fruit. Once ingested, it has a dramatic physical and mental effect. Alfred can suddenly see the world through a clear, unfiltered lens. His interests drastically change. He alters his appearance. His speech is more direct and sincere. Yet, things that he once loved, now repulse him--including his family. The Double Life of Mr. Alfred Burton has an intriguing premise that tests the limits of morality. It explores the concept of brutal honesty and how it can be just as damaging as deceit. E. Phillips Oppenheim provides a unique plot device that forces the character and reader to face this dilemma. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Double Life of Mr. Alfred Burton is both modern and readable.
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E. Phillips Oppenheim (1866-1946) was a bestselling English novelist. Born in London, he attended London Grammar School until financial hardship forced his family to withdraw him in 1883. For the next two decades, he worked for his father’s business as a leather merchant, but pursued a career as a writer on the side. With help from his father, he published his first novel, Expiation, in 1887, launching a career that would see him write well over one hundred works of fiction. In 1892, Oppenheim married Elise Clara Hopkins, with whom he raised a daughter. During the Great War, Oppenheim wrote propagandist fiction while working for the Ministry of Information. As he grew older, he began dictating his novels to a secretary, at one point managing to compose seven books in a single year. With the success of such novels as The Great Impersonation (1920), Oppenheim was able to purchase a villa in France, a house on the island of Guernsey, and a yacht. Unable to stay in Guernsey during the Second World War, he managed to return before his death in 1946 at the age of 79.
