Trustee From the Toolroom was Nevil Shute's last book. It tells the tale of a mild mannered, unremarkable man who made a remarkable journey to fulfill his responsibility as trustee for his niece. The plot of the novel hinges on the actions of a modest technical journalist, Keith Stewart, whose life has been focused on the design and engineering of scale-model machinery. Stewart writes serial articles about how to create scale models in a magazine called the Miniature Mechanic, which are extremely well regarded in the modelling community — as is he.

Two contrasts are regularly apparent throughout the book. The first is between the seriousness with which the craft of model engineering is treated by its practitioners, and the physical scale of operations (which in today's language might be dismissed as "boys' toys"). Naturally, only the non-technical characters find this contrast amusing, since to an engineer the ultimate seriousness is that what he designs works, and Shute was a professional engineer. The other contrast is between Keith Stewart's generally low estimation of his own abilities and the high esteem in which he is held by engineers worldwide. "Not the Keith Stewart?" is the amusing recurrent response when one engineer introduces him to another on his journey. "A very competent student of engineering matters" is how Shute the neutral narrator describes him, "though he would have been amazed to hear himself described in those terms".Oh my, I did like this. It is light, but cute and fun and will make you smile. I certainly do recommend it.

inability to use this document or the information contained in it, even if you have been advised of any warranty of any kind, expressed or implied; without even the implied warranty of merchantability Trustee from the Toolroom is a time machine that takes you straight to the fifties. From the opening lines onwards it feels a bit like a toy world. You’ll learn what engineers were up to in their spare-time (obviously building miniature mechanical motors), deduct how much a female shop assistant earned (not much) and wonder about currency export restrictions between the US and Britain and other such trivia.

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Reading a new (only for me as Nevil Shute has been dead since 1960) book by Shute is like putting on a cardigan, comfy pj's and slippers and cozying up on the couch. It's comforting, even though astounding things can happen. Trustee from the Toolroom was Shute's last book. As soon as I started reading it, I fell comfortably into the fantastic world that he created for my reading enjoyment. This book is a member of the special collection Special Collection: The Works of Nevil Shute (1899-1960) You know, I love this book with all my heart, it is the story of an ordinary unassuming man going on an unusual trip and winning out because of his ordinary life in which he designs miniature engineering models and people make them. Men, that is, hmm. Anyway, it's an adorable and unusual book. Read it, you'll like it, it has SF sensibility without being SF. The consultancy fee enables Keith's wife to stop working and take care of their niece. Keith claims to have discovered the diamonds in luggage left behind by his in-laws, and the proceeds from their sale enable them to take care of their niece's education and other needs. The other characters proceed on their lives happily, we are told at the end of what is probably Shute's most villain-free novel.

Soon enough this man who has never left England and rarely ventures from his hometown, has an adventure by air and sea the likes of which he had never imagined. Somehow, despite the unlikelihood of several coincidences, the story hooked me. All through the war he had written about his hobby after the long hours of overtime in the toolroom. The coming of peace had given him more leisure for his models and his articles about them, and two years later he had taken the great plunge of giving up his job in favour of his avocation. It had not benefitted him financially. He would have made more money in the toolroom progressing up from charge-hand to foreman; he would have made more money as an instructor in a technical college. He would not have made more happiness than he had now attained. So what is this about? On the surface it is about a Mr. Ordinary, an unpretentious little guy, but he is honest and hardworking. He is kind. He is happy with little. He doesn't need a big fancy house or a flashy job or fancy clothes. It is an adventure story too. Travel on airplanes and boats - a trip that you would not imagine!He had bought it when he married Katie in the middle of the Second War. That was soon after he moved down from Glasgow to the London area to work as a toolroom fitter with Stone and Collinson Ltd., who made subcontract parts for aeroplanes at Perivale. It was, of course, the first house that Katie or Keith had ever owned, and they were very proud of it. They contemplated quite a family so that they would need quite a house, the upper rooms for nurseries and children’s rooms and playrooms while the garden would be a nice place for the pram. When, after a few years, it became evident that that was not to be, they had separated the two top floors from the remainder of the house and let them off as what the agents called a maisonette, retaining the ground floor and the basement for themselves. On the ground floor they had a bedroom in the front, the living room and kitchen at the rear overlooking the garden, and a bathroom at the side. In the basement they had adapted what had once been the scullery as a small spare bedroom; the whole of the rest had been taken by Keith as his own domain.

Shute describes Keith Stewart and his wife as living in the very house in South Ealing, London, where Shute himself was born and brought up. There is a faithful description of the property and of the modest way of life that went on there.

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Such an uninviting title for a terrific novel. It does fit the story and perhaps when it was written it wouldn't have been a turn off. Anyway, Nevil Shute's name came up recently and I decided to read something by him which I hadn't read yet and I'm so glad that I found this book and looked beyond the title. So do all the details bore you? No, because the message conveyed is about people. The message conveyed is so simple and so obvious, but one we often forget. The scenarios drawn are not believable, but they will make you smile. in 1960. His autobiography, Slide Rule, appeared in 1954. Trustee was his last book, published in 1960. The plot of the novel hinges on the actions of a modest technical journalist, Keith Stewart, whose life has been focused on the design and engineering of small and scale-model precision machinery. Stewart writes serial articles about how to build miniature machines in a magazine called the Miniature Mechanic, which are extremely well regarded in the modelling community — as is he.