Tag: A Life in Letters

Letters, P.G. Wodehouse, Wodehouse Women, Writers22 Comments

Agatha Christie’s Hallowe’en Party for P.G. Wodehouse

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Agatha Christie’s novel Hallowe’en Party, the 39th outing for Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, was first published In November 1969. Christie dedicated it: To P. G. Wodehouse — whose books and stories have brightened my life for many years. Also, to show my pleasure in his having been kind enough to tell me he enjoyed my books. In February 2015, many of Agatha Christie’s letters were published to mark the 125th anniversary of her birth. They included a letter from P.G.Wodehouse, thanking Christie for the dedication. Wodehouse and Christie were mutual admirers of each other’s work, and had begun corresponding fifteen … Continue reading Agatha Christie’s Hallowe’en Party for P.G. Wodehouse

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Guest Posts, Letters, P.G. Wodehouse6 Comments

P.G. Wodehouse – A Life in Letters edited by Sophie Ratcliffe

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Originally posted on The Aroma of Books:
//published 2011// As soon as I heard about this book, I knew that I wanted to not just read it, but to own it, so that I could savor it whenever I wished.  I haven’t regretted investing in this hefty tome (especially since I got it used, hardcover, for only $5!), even though it has taken me months to wade through it. ? While, on the whole, I’m not someone who enjoys delving into the personal lives of individuals whose art I enjoy, there are some exceptions to the rule.  Agatha Christie’s autobiography… Continue reading P.G. Wodehouse – A Life in Letters edited by Sophie Ratcliffe

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Finding Plumtopia, P.G. Wodehouse, Society Spice54 Comments

A Visit to the Wodehouse family archives

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On a beautiful autumn day, I left London’s Victoria Station for the glorious Sussex countryside to visit the home of Sir Edward Cazalet, P.G. Wodehouse’s step-grandson. I had met Edward and his wife Camilla, Lady Cazalet, in London during the summer, and they generously invited me to visit their home to view the family’s archive of Wodehouse materials. The train journey was a pleasant, uneventful affair, which did not seem, to me, to be in quite the proper Wodehouse spirit. I ought to have been playing ‘Persian Monarchs’ with a genial stranger, or thumbing through a volume of poems by … Continue reading A Visit to the Wodehouse family archives

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P.G. Wodehouse6 Comments

On this day: P.G. Wodehouse knighted 1 January 1975

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P.G. Wodehouse received his knighthood in the 1975 New Year’s Honours List. His letters from that time, published in Sophie Ratcliffe’s P.G.Wodehouse: A Life in Letters, reveal that he had a busy time with press interviews, as well filming introductions for a new BBC Television Series called Wodehouse Playhouse. Reflecting on his first month of knighthood, Wodehouse wrote: I am still trying to decide whether I would advise a young man to become a knight. The warm feeling it gives one in the pit of the stomach is fine, but oh God those interviewers. They came around like flies, and … Continue reading On this day: P.G. Wodehouse knighted 1 January 1975

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Criticism, P.G. Wodehouse, Wodehouse Women, World of Wodehouse22 Comments

Wodehouse’s women: in the eye of the beholder

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Wodehouse offers so much more to female readers than he is usually given credit for. A few months ago, I responded to criticism of Indian Summer of an Uncle by Janet Cameron (see my case for the defence). I feel sad that Cameron’s cursory appraisal of perceived gender issues has blinded her to the exquisite joys of his work. So today, I want to talk about why Wodehouse is a great writer of, and for, women. First, Wodehouse presents readers with heroines who are full of pep and ginger;  independent, sometimes feisty, characters who frequently outsmart the men. What a … Continue reading Wodehouse’s women: in the eye of the beholder

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Blub Squeezing, Finding Plumtopia, P.G. Wodehouse, Plum Locations14 Comments

A visit to P G Wodehouse’s Emsworth

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This summer I visited the Hampshire town of Emsworth, where P.G Wodehouse once lived. He first arrived at the invitation of Herbert Westbrook, who was teaching at Emsworth House School. Westbrook is described in Sophie Ratcliffe’s ‘P.G.Wodehouse, A Life in Letters’ as “handsome, charismatic, and permanently broke.” He is forever associated in my mind with the character Ukridge and, for some reason, the novel I most associate with Emsworth is Love Among the Chickens (1906). Wodehouse lived for a time at Emsworth House School, run by Baldwin King-Hall and his sister Ella. The school is mentioned in Mike (1909) and … Continue reading A visit to P G Wodehouse’s Emsworth

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