Everyman's Library P G WODEHOUSE

Blandings Castle lacks its usual balm for the Earl of Emsworth, as his stern sister Lady Constance Keeble is once more in residence. The Duke of Dunstable is also infesting the place again, along with the standard quota of American millionaires, romantic youths, con artists, imposters and so on. With a painting of reclining nude at the centre of numerous intrigues, Gally's genius is once again required to sort things out.

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.

When someone breaks into the cricket pavilion and steals two silver cups, the whole school is agog. Could it possibly be an inside job? Nothing less than the honour of St Austin's is at stake, not to mention the reputation of Jim Thomson, an excellent athlete with a talent for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.In this charming novel of school life, the first book he published, Wodehouse demonstrates right away a talent for story telling and characterisation, not to mention a sharp ear for the inflections of schoolboy speech, still recognisable after more than a century. But what marks the story out from others of the same sort are the many humorous touches which hint at a master of comedy in the making.

With the Duke of Dunstable trying to steal his pig to sell to Lord Tilbury, mischievous Church Lads camping in his park, his sister Constance bossing him unmercifully, and Lavender Briggs, his secretary, making life miserable, Lord Emsworth has little time to concentrate on the invasion of Blandings Castle by yet another impostor. But Bill Bailey, a.k.a. Cuthbert Meriwether, has inveigled himself into the castle to be with his beloved, Myra Schoonmaker, who is staying there under the eagle eye of Lady Constance, and Lady Constance is determined to thwart him. In the end virtue conquers vice: the lovers are united, Dunstable defeated and Tilbury trounced, but only through the brilliant plotting of Frederick, Earl of Ickenham whose greatest triumph is to marry off Lady Constance to an old admirer, Myra's father. In the end everyone is happy who deserves to be, none more so than Lord Emsworth who at one fell swoop frees himself from the tyranny of a duke, a secretary and a sister

The `Frozen Assets' of the title belong to Edmund Biffen Christopher and they are the legacy of his Godfather which he will receive if he manages to avoid been arrested, something of a previous habit of Biffen's, until after his thirtieth birthday one week hence. Lord Tilbury, proprietor of the Mammoth publish company, whom we met previously in `Bill the Conqueror', `Summer Lightning' and `Heavy Weather', is keen that Biffen does fall foul of the law as he will then receive the legacy himself. Tilbury has therefore engaged his usual henchman, Percy Pilbeam, to ensure that Biffen is lead astray and that it is brought to the attention of the constabulary.


Only Wodehouse can scare up a happy ending where everyone gets exactly what is coming to them.

It wasn't Archie's fault, really. It's true he went to America and fell in love with Lucille, the daughter of a millionaire hotel proprietor . . . and if he did marry her -- well, what else was there to do? From his point of view, the whole thing was a thoroughly good egg; but Mr. Brewster, his father-in-law, thought differently, Archie had neither money nor occupation, which was distasteful in the eyes of the industrious Mr. Brewster; but the real bar was the fact that he had once adversely criticized one of his hotels. Archie did his best to heal the breach; but, being something of an ass, genus priceless, he found it almost beyond his powers to placate the "man-eating fish" whom Providence had given him as a father-in-law. . . .

Love is a powerful spur, and Cyril Fotheringay-Phipps (known to his friends as Barmy) invests his modest fortune in a stage production, encouraged by his admiration for the delectable Miss Dinty Moore. And so he demonstrates that affairs of the heart and high finance may be happily combined.

It is an intriguing collection, where most of the stories concern relationships, sports and household pets, and interestingly does not feature any of Wodehouse's regular characters; one however, "Extricating Young Gussie", is remarkable as the first appearance of some of Wodehouse's most well-known and beloved characters, Jeeves and his master Bertie Wooster (although here Bertie's surname appears to be Mannering-Phipps, and Jeeves' role is very small), along with Bertie's fearsome Aunt Agatha.

A collection from the master, containing The Fat of the Land (Freddie Widgeon) Scratch Man (The Oldest Member) The Right Approach (Mr Mulliner), Jeeves Makes An Omelette, The Word In Season (Bingo Little), Big Business (Mr Mulliner), Leave It To Algy (Bingo Little), Joy Bells For Walter (Golf story), A Tithe For Charity (Ukridge), Oofy, Freddie and the Beef Trust (Freddie Widgeon)

Lord Emsworth's prized pig, the Empress of Blandings, is at the centre of Wodehouse's hilarious tale of mistaken identity, the triumph of young love, and general mayhem among the twits at Blandings Castle.

On doctor's orders, Bertie Wooster retires to the village of Maiden Eggesford but his rest-cure is interrupted by Aunt Dahlia who wants him to nobble a racehorse, Vanessa Cook who wants him to act as go-between for her and Orlo Porter -and Orlo Porter himself who would tear Bertie limb from limb if he ever discovered that Bertie and Vanessa were once engaged. Throw in a dotty explorer, an unreliable poacher, an irascible father and the stable cat, and the stage is set for a sublime farce

When Bill Bannister meets Dr Sally Smith, love blossoms immediately. Unfortunately there is just the small problem of Lottie Higginbotham, former actress, serial bride and human fireball, with whom Bill is already involved.The well-meaning interference of Bill's old friend, Squiffy Tidmouth, once married to Lottie, only complicates matters further, until everything is straightened out in a series of comic encounters at Bill's ancestral home and everyone lives happily ever after.

Further stories of members of the Drones Club and several adventures related by the Oldest Member of the golf club. Many old friends reappear - Bingo Little and Mrs Bingo, Freddie Widgeon, Ambrose Gussett, Agnes Flack, Horace Bewstridge and many more. Including: The Shadow Passes. Bramley is so Bracing. Up From the Depths. Feet of Clay. Excelsior. Rodney Has a Relapse. Tangled Hearts. Birth of a Salesman. How's That, Umpire? Success Story.

Psmith helps acting editor Billy Windsor change the image of Cosy Moments magazine and they are stalked by gangsters when their expose of slum tenements angers an unscrupulous landlord.

Sir George was disappointed in his son, he was not a chip off the old block and lacked the aggressive drive required of a business tycoon. So why not marry him off to Felicia she has plenty of spark and could manage any man, all was going well until the arrival from New York of Bill West.

Felicia - a sprightly girl calculated to put the stuffing into any man - is about to be married off to the dreary Roderick Pyke when Bill arrives from New York and she suddenly recognizes in him the man for whom she should forsake all others.

A butler named Keggs who, having overheard the planning of a scheme, later decides to try and make money out of his knowledge.
It features Percy Pilbeam, the unscrupulous head of the Argus Detective Agency, who first appeared in Bill the Conqueror (1924) and was in several other Wodehouse books, including a visit to Blandings Castle in Summer Lightning (1929).