Books by P G Wodehouse

Novels and stories available on the Net

Click here for full list of novels, with summaries 

Click here for full list of story collections, with links


Something Fresh (Something New) Young neighbours and fellow-writers Ashe Marson and Joan Valentine, newly met and both in need of a change of direction, find themselves drawn down to Blandings, for various reasons attempting to retrieve a scarab belonging to an American millionaire, absent-mindedly purloined by Lord Emsworth.
Right Ho, Jeeves (1934) – (U.S. title: Brinkley Manor): Gussie is in love with Madeline and has decamped from Lincolnshire to the metrop to court her. Jeeves advises him to accept her invitation to a fancy-dress ball, wearing a Mephistopheles costume. When Gussie muddles it by forgetting the address, his cabfare, and his latchkey, Bertie decides that Jeeves has lost his form, and takes on Gussie's case.

Mike (1909) – Reissued in two parts as Mike at Wrykyn and Mike and Psmith in 1953; the second part also published as Enter Psmith in 1935 Mike is the youngest son of a renowned cricketing family. When Mike arrives at Wrykyn himself, his cricketing talent and love of adventure bring him success and trouble in equal measure. The second part, also known as Enter Psmith or Mike and Psmith, takes place two years later. Mike, due to take over as cricket captain at Wrykyn, is withdrawn from the school by his father and sent to a lesser school, called Sedleigh. On arrival at Sedleigh, he meets the eccentric Rupert Psmith, another new arrival from the superior school of Eton. Becoming fast friends, the two eschew cricket and indulge in all manner of high-jinks and adventures.

Psmith, Journalist (1915): The story begins with Psmith accompanying his fellow Cambridge student Mike to New York on a cricketing tour. Through high spirits and force of personality, Psmith takes charge of a minor periodical, and becomes imbroiled in a scandal involving slum landlords, boxers and gangsters - the story displays a strong social conscience, rare in Wodehouse's generally light-hearted works.

Psmith in the City: Mike Jackson, cricketer and scion of a cricketing clan, finds his dreams of studying and playing at Cambridge upset by news of his father's financial troubles, and must instead take a job with the "New Asiatic Bank". On arrival there, Mike finds his friend Psmith is also a new employee, and together they strive to make the best of their position, and perhaps squeeze in a little cricket from time to time.


The Pothunters (1902): The novel follows the lives of several of the schoolboys as they study, take part in their school sports (particularly boxing and running), and enjoy tea in their studies. After the school's sports trophies ('pots' in contemporary slang) are stolen in a burglary, the boys, their masters, and the police join in the hunt for the 'pots'.

A Prefect's Uncle
(1903): The action of the novel takes place at the fictional "Beckford College", a private school for boys; the title alludes to the arrival at the school of a mischievous young boy called Farnie, who turns out to be the uncle of the older "Bishop" Gethryn, a prefect, cricketer and popular figure in the school. His arrival, along with that of another youngster who becomes fag to Gethryn, leads to much excitement and scandal in the school, and the disruption of some important cricket matches.

The Gold Bat (1904): Set at the fictional public school of Wrykyn, the novel tells of how two boys, O'Hara and Moriarty, tar and feather a statue of the local M.P. as a prank. They get away with it, but O'Hara had borrowed a tiny gold cricket bat belonging to Trevor, the captain of the cricket team, and after the escapade he discovers the trinket is missing. Schoolboy honour is at stake, and the book covers events that term including inter-house rugby matches and the appearance of a mysterious society called the League, as Trevor and friends try to get the gold bat back.

The Head of Kay's (1905): Set at the fictional school of Eckleton, the story centres around the house of "Kay's", the riotous boys therein, its tactless, unpopular master Mr. Kay, and Fenn, the head boy. The story features practical jokes, fighting between the boys and with the locals in the nearby town, politics amongst the houses of the school, a trip to an army-style camp, and plenty of cricket and rugby.

The White Feather (1907): When Sheen, a quiet and studious boy, finds himself facing a street brawl between boys of Wrykyn and those of St. Jude's, their sworn enemies, he slips away to safety to avoid the wrath of his masters. However, his cowardliness is noticed by his fellows, who send him to Coventry. In order to save his reputation, he must train secretly under boxing legend Joe Bevan. Can he overcome the many obstacles in his path, and restore the school's honour in the ring?

Love Among the Chickens (1906) – Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge is a scheming character, always looking to enlarge his income. The novel is written in the first person, from the point of view of Jeremy Garnet, an author and an old friend of Ukridge. Seeing Ukridge for the first time in years, with a new wife in tow, Garnet finds himself dragged along on holiday to Ukridge's new chicken farm in Dorset. The novel intertwines Garnet's difficult wooing of a girl living nearby, with the struggles of the farm, which are exacerbated by Ukridge's bizarre business ideas and methods.

William Tell Told Again (1904): Friesshardt and Leuthold lay on the ground beside the pole, feeling very sore and bruised, and thought that perhaps, on the whole, they had better stay there. There was no knowing what the crowd might do after this, if they began to fight again. So they lay on the ground and made no attempt to interfere with the popular rejoicings. What they wanted, as Arnold of Sewa might have said if he had been there, was a few moments' complete rest. Leuthold's helmet had been hammered with sticks until it was over his eyes and all out of shape, and Friesshardt's was very little better.

The Swoop (1909): The Swoop! tells of the simultaneous invasion of England by several armies — "England was not merely beneath the heel of the invader. It was beneath the heels of nine invaders. There was barely standing-room." [1] — The invaders are the Russians under Grand Duke Vodkakoff, the Germans under Prince Otto of Saxe-Pfennig — the reigning British monarch of the day was Edward VII of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha — the Swiss Navy, the Monegasques, a band of Moroccan brigands under Raisuli, the Young Turks, a Mad Mullah from Somaliland, the Chinese under Prince Ping Pong Pang, and the Bollygollans in war canoes.

A Gentleman of Leisure (1910) (Also Intrusion of Jimmy): The action begins with playboy bachelor Jimmy Pitt in New York; having fallen in love on a transatlantic liner, he befriends a small-time burglar and breaks into a police captain's house as a result of a bet. The cast of characters head to England, and from there on its a typically Wodehousian romantic farce, set at the stately Dreever Castle, overflowing with imposters, detectives, crooks, scheming lovers and conniving aunts.

The Prince and Betty (1912): The story tells of how unscrupulous millionaire Benjamin Scobell decides to build a casino on the small Mediterranean island of Mervo, dragging in the unwitting heir to the throne to help. Little does he know that his stepdaughter Betty has history with the young man John Maude, and his schemes lead to a rift between the newly-reunited pair.

The Little Nugget (1913): The "Little Nugget" of the title is one Ogden Ford, a spoilt, unpleasant child of overindulgent, wealthy parents; he is so dubbed due to his immense ransom value, being a prime target for kidnappers. The novel revolves around numerous schemes to kidnap the boy, for various ends. It is essentially a comic romance, whose hero, Peter Burns, leaves behind a comfortable lifestyle to become a master at the boy's school, thanks to his scheming fiancee, and finds the change of lifestyle envigorating. Ogden and his mother Nesta also appear in Piccadilly Jim (1918).

Uneasy Money (1917): The story doesn't include any of Wodehouse's regular characters or settings; instead it tells of amiable, kindly but hard-up Lord "Bill" Dawlish, golf lover, and his adventures in romance, golf and the theatre.

Piccadilly Jim – Partially a sequel to The Little Nugget (1918): The novel features Ogden Ford and his mother Nesta (both previously encountered in The Little Nugget (1913)). Nesta has remarried, to the hen-pecked, baseball-loving millionaire Mr. Peter Pett, and Ogden remains spoilt and obnoxious. Charismatic Jimmy Crocker, Nesta's nephew and a reforming playboy, is called upon to assist in the kidnapping of Ogden, amongst much confusion involving imposters, crooks, detectives, butlers, aunts etc. - all in the name of romance of course.

A Damsel in Distress
(1919): Golf-loving American composer George Bevan falls in love with a mysterious young lady who takes refuge in his taxicab one day; when he tracks her down to a romantic rural manor, mistaken identity leads to all manner of brouhaha...

The Coming of Bill
(1920): The book tells the story of Kirk Winfield, his marriage to Ruth, and their child called Bill. Bill's upbringing is threatened by the interference of Ruth's busybody writer aunt, Mrs Lora Delane Porter.

Jill the Reckless (1921): The heroine here, Jill Mariner, is a young woman from the lower end of the upper class. We follow her through financial disaster, a broken engagement, an awkward stay with some grasping relatives, employment as a chorus girl, and of course, the finding of true love. Other characters include wealthy Drone Freddie Rooke and writer Wally Mason, her childhood friends; her financially inept uncle Major Christopher Selby; her fiancee at the beginning of the book, the M.P Derek Underhill, and his domineering mother, Lady Underhill; Jill's unpleasant relatives, Elmer and Julia Mariner; more Drones Club members, various chorus girls, composers and other theatrical types, and, of course, miscellaneous servants.

The Girl on the Boat
(1922): The maid of the title is red-haired, dog-loving Wilhelmina "Billie" Bennet, and the three men are Bream Mortimer, a long-time friend and admirer of Billie, Eustace Hignett, a lily-livered poet who is engaged to Billie at the opening of the tale, and Sam Marlowe, Eustace's dashing cousin, who falls for Billie at first sight. All four find themselves on an ocean liner headed for England together, along with a capable young woman called Jane Hubbard who is smitten with Eustace, and typically Wodehousian romantic shenanigans ensue

The Adventures of Sally
(1922)
The story concerns a young American girl named Sally, who inherits a considerable fortune and finds her life turned upside down.

 

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