Reviews for Three Men and a Maid

The average rating for Three Men and a Maid based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-06-25 00:00:00 James Laster There is a South Indian curry called sambar (no, not the deer - and it is pronounced "saambaar", and not "sam-burr", you North Indians) which you can find in all the five states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telengana, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. The thing about sambar is that it varies from one state to another, one locality to another (even within the same state), and one community to another. It is prepared spicy, non-spicy, with coconut, without coconut, with a multitude of vegetables added (depending upon the locality), with only onion... but all these are variations on one theme. The moment it touches your tongue, you say: "This is sambar!" And you never tire of it. It is the same with Wodehouse novels. All variations on one theme; the moment you start reading, you know it's good ol' Plum; and you never tire of it. Majestic matrons; horrible harridans; ungentlemanly aunts; flighty females and their beefy beaus; wimpy washouts in love with winsome women; addle-brained aristocrats; valorous valets... these are some of the very common ingredients. Take them all, or only some of them, mix in varying proportions, cook with excellent English and season with high hilarity - and you have another Wodehouse tome. This novel is no different. This is how it starts off: Through the curtained windows of the furnished flat which Mrs. Horace Hignett had rented for her stay in New York, rays of golden sunlight peeped in like the foremost spies of some advancing army. It was a fine summer morning. The hands of the Dutch clock in the hall pointed to thirteen minutes past nine; those of the ormolu clock in the sitting-room to eleven minutes past ten; those of the carriage clock on the bookshelf to fourteen minutes to six. In other words, it was exactly eight; and Mrs. Hignett acknowledged the fact by moving her head on the pillow, opening her eyes, and sitting up in bed. She always woke at eight precisely. Reading this, the seasoned Wodehouse fan heaves a sigh of relief; he knows that his hero is on the top of his form, and God's in his heaven and all's right with the world. Here we have a pretty girl Wilhelmina 'Billie' Bennett, the daughter of a hypochondriac American billionaire and her three suitors; the resourceful Sam Marlowe, the literary Eustace Hignett and the wimpy Bream Mortimer; we also have Eustace's theosophist mum who has no other fault than not allowing her son to call his soul his own; the big game-hunter and empire-builder woman Jane Hubbard who is searching for her perfect timid man; the billionaire's romantic and resourceful valet Webster... and a host of others. They bumble along through life on transatlantic boats and remote country mansions, and we accompany them, chuckling all the way. I was fed up with reading serious books and wanted a break, and picked this up yesterday night. Breezed through it in a couple of hours, with my spirits infinitely perked up, as though I had imbibed one of Jeeves's pick-me-ups.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-02-03 00:00:00 Timothy Stanley 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.