Jake Marlow Book

It is hard not to like a good Wodehouse novel - as he says himself somewhere, his books are basically set in a world where romantic comedies come into being. This isn't one of the series of books he writes, there are no Jeeves or Woosters or Blandings of Blandings Castle. No need to tell you the plot of this one, really, the plots of a Wodehouse novel (although always masterfully plotted) aren't really the main interest. There are some brilliantly funny lines, some leg crossingly acute observations of the human condition and a man who looks an awful lot like a parrot. What more could you possibly ask for in a novel?

What is most interesting about this one is that none of the characters are in the least bit likeable. Self-centred, stupid, nasty and spiteful - hardly the standard characters from a romantic comedy - and yet mostly everything works out well in the end, and if that isn't a definition of a romantic comedy, it is hard to know what is.

If you have never read any Wodehouse don't start here, start with Jeeves and Wooster. In fact, The world is an infinitely better place due to Mr Wodehouse.