This collection of short stories begins with a lovely preface from Wodehouse and his inner workings which led to this book and for that matter, any of his ‘series’. Well, it’s good for us that Plum likes his characters like Bertie and Jeeves, and Lord Emsworth and Mr. Mulliner, and the rest of them as much as we do. It would have been so sad if there had been only one story of each!
Bladings castle, well it is a misleading name, since the short stories are from Blandings Castle as well as elsewhere, as it is made clear right from the table of contents. In the Blandings Castle, we go through an important phase in Lord Emsworth’s life, where he finally gets rid of his young son Freddie who gets married to the daughter of a dog-biscuit tycoon. And even excluding that, the book highlights some important chapters in Lord Emsworth’s life, like him winning the contest for the biggest pumpkin and the fattest pig; and then getting punched in the nose as he took a pleasure swim and lastly mustered enough courage to confront and overpower his virago sister Constance. Amongst these adventures he even witnessed, and I am sure he would have been surprised, a substantial professional success of his son who the Lordship believed was the most confounding menace on the planet.
From these adventures of Blandings, Plum takes us to a brief chapter in Bobbie Wickham’s life who successfully averts marriage with a highly undesierable certain Mr. Gandle. Her display of ready with leaves you wanting for more.
And from there, we get transported to Hollywood. And get a sighting of the darker, murkier side of the glamour world, where gorillas go loose, where people have to take up demeaning jobs of simply nodding their agreement to their boss, to being forced into bonded labour of writing dialogues. Mr. Mulliner, with his vast insight and steady contacts into the workings of the movie industry in America highlights how his relatives found love, togetherness and success in such a malaise stricken environment.
The stories are pure brilliance, and will keep you smiling and chuckling as you read. I loved this book!
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