Tag: Wodehouse

‘Jeeves and the Leap of Faith’ by Ben Schott

I am a Wodehouse obsessive – a connoisseur of the Jeeves and Wooster novels – and so I was excited to be granted an advance copy of the new novel by Ben Schott, written with the blessing of the Wodehouse estate. It will be published on 15th October.

It should be said that a new Jeeves and Wooster novel has been attempted twice in recent years. Sebastian Faulks offered us ‘Jeeves and the Wedding Bells’; this I thought misfired on providing too much context when Bertie’s world is blissfully oblivious and mostly unaffected by unpleasant world events. To be honest, I never recovered from the shock of reading about the deaths of Bertie’s parents in that one!

Ben Schott’s first novel, ‘Jeeves and the King of Clubs’, was the other offering and was – in my opinion – much more successful in emulating Wodehouse’s tone and the feeling of the original novels. However, he did start mixing in a spy theme which I wasn’t so keen on but – hey ho – I went along with it, albeit with some reservations.

Both attempts were enjoyable to read, I should say, but not perfect.

In this second outing for Jeeves and Wooster by Ben Schott, the spy theme is enlarged upon and there is a strong espionage storyline that takes centre stage. In the background, a sub-plot involving the Drones Club’s finances is also under way, plus the usual romantic entanglements that Bertie is trying to escape and difficult encounters with his nemesis, Spode. As usual, Jeeves is in the background as the faithful valet, picking up the pieces for Bertie.

Again, this book (like the other ‘new’ Jeeves and Wooster books) is very enjoyable, but still not perfect.

Some of this book is absolutely spot-on and pitch-perfect. I loved the boot competition at the Drones Club, the hilarious ‘replacement’ valet’s encounter with Aunt Agatha and the one-upmanship over the wallpaper choices, So far, so Wodehouse. The characters (for the most part) are also pretty good – Gussie Fink-Nottle, Madeline Bassett and all the various Drones are great and Spode is as (intentionally) awful as always! Aunt Agatha seems a bit more fallible that Wodehouse’s original, but still credible.

What worked less well for me is Bertie himself. He seemed far more intelligent than in the original books which detracts from his charm and the ability of others to manipulate him – the central joke of the original books is that Bertie is essentially a charming, amiable but dim man-about-town whose puppet-masters include Jeeves and a host of aunts. In Schott’s hands, he has to be a credible spy and seems to have his wits about him a bit more and even a (requited) love interest.

The plot was clever and as tight as Wodehouse original. I actually preferred the Drones sub-plot, the shenanigans with jewel theft and racehorses, marriage proposals and interfering aunts, because it felt more authentic than the spy story. However, more than in the first book by Schott, I just felt that this was an imposter Bertie.

I feel that I do need to say that I really enjoyed this book – as a light-hearted read with familiar characters and a comfortable world in which nothing truly bad will happen, it is a success. My reservations are more about whether it is a Jeeves and Wooster novel and that is because I am a stickler for authenticity!

I do recommend this book as a fun read and one that will make you laugh. If you have read the originals, there’s a sense of cosy familiarity in Schott’s novel you will enjoy. If you haven’t read the originals then you should – they are an absolute treat and hit the spot in a way this one doesn’t quite.

I received a free copy of the novel from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

If you’d like your own copy of this book, please use my affiliate link and – in doing so – support my blog!

If you’d like to read a Wodehouse original, this one is glorious!

Books to lift your lockdown

I’m a book reviewer with a good few years of reviews under my belt. However, there are several adjectives that appear in book blurbs that – to be totally honest- make me run for the hills. If it’s ‘heartbreaking’ or ‘poignant’ then it probably won’t make my TBR list. I have also learnt that ‘life-affirming’ usually means miserable – another one I tend to avoid!

On the other hand, ‘hilarious’ and ‘funny’ and ‘witty’ and ‘charming’ always make my list. And following on from yesterday’s post about the joyous ‘The Miseducation of Evie Epworth’ by Matson Taylor, it seemed a timely opportunity to introduce some of my comic favourites.

As lockdown is stuttering to an end for lots of people, here are some cheery writers and books that have brightened my life during tricky times. Some old, some new, but all funny.

1. P.G Wodehouse – the ultimate comfort read for me is a Jeeves and Wooster book. Yes, they’re set in an unrealistic upper-class British bubble that never really existed apart from in Wodehouse’s imagination, but Bertie Wooster’s scrapes (from which he is saved by his ever-faithful valet, Jeeves) never fail to amuse. Told in Bertie’s distinctive voice, he is the ultimate in an endearing but hapless narrator. You can start pretty much anywhere in the series – there are novels and short stories and all can be read as stand-alone books. I know there’s a contingent who prefer Wodehouse’s Blandings series, but my heart is forever Bertie’s. The TV series featuring Fry and Laurie is also fabulous.

2. ‘Jeeves and the King of Clubs’ by Ben Schott – if you’ve exhausted Wodehouse’s original Jeeves and Wooster books, then this 2018 novel is worth a look. Bertie’s narrative voice is pretty pitch perfect and it’s a lovely addition to the series for Wodehouse aficionados, plus is endorsed by the Wodehouse Estate.

3. Alan Bradley – another charming and witty narrator is 11 year-old Flavia de Luce, amateur investigator of murders in the quaint village of Bishop’s Lacey (an area – a bit like Midsomer – where the number of people meeting sticky ends is worryingly high!) The cosy crime series, set in the 1950s, starts with ‘The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie’ – which is absolutely where you should start too – and now runs to ten books.

4. ‘The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4’ by Sue Townsend – I don’t need to tell you that the Adrian Mole books are funny, but if you haven’t recently revisited Adrian in 1980s Leicester then please do. Later books in the series became more – aagh – poignant, but the first is still perfect.

5. Nina Stibbe – after the success of the non-fiction ‘Love, Nina’ came the series of novels featuring another charming, young, Leicester-based narrator, Lizzie Vogel. The series starts with ‘Man at the Helm’, then ‘Paradise Lodge’ and ‘Reasons to be Cheerful’ (the latter winning the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction in 2019) – very funny and definitely worth a read.

6. ‘A Curious Beginning’ by Deanna Raybourn – I love a crime series with a feisty female lead. If she’s wearing a crinoline and hanging around in the 1880s, then even better! This is the first in the series featuring Veronica Speedwell, a highly unconventional and sharp-witted Victorian adventurer. Not a series for those wedded to forensic levels of historical accuracy, but for a fast-paced and humorous mystery then this is worth a look.

7. India Knight – for fans of domestic comedy, journalist India Knight’s novels featuring Clara Hutt are laugh-out-loud in places. ‘Don’t You Want Me?’ is the best of the series and will appeal to fans of Gil Sims’ ‘Why Mummy Drinks’ series.

8. Helen Fielding – ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’ is a classic, but ‘Cause Celeb’ and ‘Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination’ are also good and much less well-known.

9. Graeme Simsion – the series featuring Don Tillman, starting with ‘The Rosie Project’ is warm, funny and so very sweet.

10. Terry Pratchett – loads of people I’ve talked to about Terry Pratchett have dismissed him because they don’t like fantasy as a genre. Nor do I really, but Pratchett’s ability to take everyday observations and turn them into something really funny and insightful in his Discworld series is amazing. Personally, I’d steer clear of the ones about the Watch and Rincewind (though they have their own merits) and go instead for the Witches (for example, ‘Equal Rites’) or Death (start with ‘Mort’). Equally funny are the ones that take a piece of real history and make it gloriously Discworld-esque – ‘The Truth’ (the invention of the printing press) and ‘Unseen Academicals’ (the development of football) are two glorious examples.

11. Caitlin Moran – whether she is writing fiction (as in the Dolly Wilde series starting with ‘How to Build a Girl’), non-fiction/journalism (‘Moranifesto’) or sitcom (‘Raised by Wolves’), I really love Moran’s down-to-earth and often hilarious take on a huge range of issues. She doesn’t shy away from some really tough stuff, but her writing is always a joy to read.

12. ‘New Boy’ by William Sutcliffe – a very funny coming-of-age novel about a young man navigating his final years of school. Sutcliffe’s YA novel ‘The Gifted, The Talented and Me’ is also good and in a similar vein (though slightly toned-down for a younger audience).

13. ‘Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders’ by Gyles Brandreth – if you’re looking for a light mystery with plenty of wit, you can definitely do worse than Brandreth’s novels which turn Oscar Wilde into a detective. Yes, they’re kind of daft but they’re also an affectionate homage to Wilde and very enjoyable.

14. ‘I Capture the Castle’ by Dodie Smith – one of my favourite books ever and one I’ll come back to on the blog. With another charming narrator navigating an eccentric family (this seems to be a theme of my list), this is just lovely and warm and humorous.

15. Adam Kay – the bestselling ‘This is Going to Hurt’ probably needs no introduction, but I couldn’t write a list of funny books without including it. Although it is at times sad and worrying about the pressures NHS doctors are under, this is one of a very small number of books that made me laugh out loud again and again. ‘Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas’ is also great, but very short.

A long post, but I really hope you can find something new and funny in here to lift your lockdown. I’m always keen to hear recommendations too, so please do let me know about your own comic favourites.