Folio Society

CarltonC: A delightful Wodehouse novel, combining the setting of Blandings Castle, with Lord Emsworth, Lady Constance, Beach, Baxter and the Empress of Blandings as backing characters, and the anarchy that is Uncle Fred (5th Earl of Ickenham) and his unfortunate nephew, Pongo Twistleton. The main story, to the extent that it is important, involves Horace Pendlebury-Davenport (a poet and friend of Pongo) who needs a sum of money (starting at £500 but reduced later to £250) to purchase an onion soup bar, so that he has an income and can marry Polly Pott. Now the Duke of Dunstable (uncle of Horace and the man with the money to fund the soup bar purchase) has invited himself to stay at Blandings Castle. Uncle Fred views Polly Pott as a surrogate daughter and so wants to be able to introduce Polly Pott to the Duke of Dunstable and for him to think well of her, so that he will let Horace have the money to purchase the soup bar. To achieve this, Uncle Fred impersonates Sir Roderick Glossop to get himself (and Polly Pott impersonating his daughter) invited down to Blandings Castle by Lord Emsworth. Lord Emsworth invites Uncle Fred (posing as Glossop) as he wants to evict the Duke of Dunstable, who has shocked him by advising that he wants to take the Empress of Blandings (an enormous, prize winning black Berkshire sow) to make her fit. Uncle Fred (posing as Glossop) is to certify that the Duke of Dunstable is insane, as he throws eggs at gardeners (and others) who whistle or sing The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond, All of this is the recipe for one of the most delightful and amusing stories that I have ever read. Even less than with any of the other Wodehouse novels that I have read is the plot important. The complicated plot and numerous characters just form a structure upon which Wodehouse can place vastly humorous scenes and incidents. It is extremely silly and very funny. I particularly enjoyed the character of Claude "Mustard" Pott, a private detective and former bookie, and having checked Wikipedia am somewhat disappointed that this was Wodehouse's only outing of this character. However, although this is a very funny novel, this is not where to start reading Wodehouse, as the novel benefits from the inclusion of minor characters from other novels, mainly the earlier Blandings novels, so that you appreciate the full humour of some of the scenes with Lord Emsworth, Baxter and Beach, by knowing their previous exploits. There is also a colliding of fictional universes with the cameo appearance of Sir Roderick Glossop, who appears in several Jeeves and Wooster short stories and novels . Highly recommended for those already well acquainted with Wodehouse's timeless stories.