A Damsel in Distress
The Book Critics | Oct 20, 2010 | Comments 5
Product Description
A full cast of Wodehouse creations–including tyrannical relatives, beastly acquaintances, demon children, and literary fatheads–return for further near catastrophes and sparkling comedy Overlook is proud to present four more antic selections from comic genius, P.G. Wodehouse. A Damsel in Distress is an early novel about Belpher Castle, the idyllic home of the aristocratic Marshmoreton family and a precursor to the Blandings series. Leave it to Psmith is a comedy adventure involving crime and gunplay, all set into motion by an umbrella in the Drones Club and Mulliner Nights is a series of stories about the inimitable Mr. Mulliner, his extraordinary relations, and the tipsy bishops, angry baronets, lady novelists, and haughty dowagers who frequent the bar-parlor of the Angler’s Rest. Meanwhile, Lord ‘Chuffy’ Chuffnell borrows the services of Jeeves in Thank You, Jeeves, while pursuing the love of his life, but when he finds out that Jeeves’s employer, Bertie Wooster, was once engaged to Pauline himself, fearsome complications develop.
A Damsel in Distress
Filed Under: Literature & Fiction
“A Damsel in Distress” was published in the U.S. on October 4, 1919 by George H. Doran, and then in the U.K. on October 17, 1919 by Herbert Jenkins, and it is a splendid example of early Wodehouse. This edition is part of The Collector’s Wodehouse series being released by The Overlook Press (in the U.K. it is The Everyman’s Wodehouse series from Everyman’s Library).
As with many Wodehouse classics, this one includes a collection of colorful characters, a complex love story involving many characters, and of course the happy ending where everything works out. It is the story of an American Composer, George Bevan, who falls in love with Maud (The Earl of Marshmoreton’s daughter). Maud is already in love with another American, Geoffrey Raymond, who she met in Wales the previous year. Her brother and aunt, Lord Belpher and Lady Caroline Byng oppose her getting involved with the American and want her to marry someone from her social class. There are more characters as well, including some servants, Lady Caroline’s son Reggie, Lord Marshmoreton’s secretary Alice Faraday, and an acquaintance of George’s Billie Dore who is in the Chorus of George’s latest musical comedy.
As with most Wodehouse stories, the plot is very complicated, and attempts to describe it in detail would fail to do it justice. It does involve a case of mistaken identity, a pool among the servants on who will marry Maud, and several characters finding their loves. Overall this is a very good example of a classic Wodehouse story, and it is well worth reading.
Rating: 4 / 5
Just today I was making a list of the best-written bits in Wodehouse, and Damsel in Distress topped the list. Gracie Allen of Burns and Allen fame starred in an old black-and-white film based from this book and cast in the Billy Wilder screwball comedy vein. Arguably this book may not top the PGW cannon–nearly everyone would have a Jeeves, Mulliner or Drones book at the pinnacle of great reading–but it does contain some of the most delightful passages in Wodehouse.
The movie falls far short of the book simply because it was made when “All Singing, All Dancing”–(and no plot) was considered a good review for a movie. Any number of PGW novels critique and lampoon his experiences in Hollywood, but seeing the film first and then reading the book, one might be pleasantly surprised. For me, this novel holds up as one of the best non-Jeeves stories, others being French Leave and The Girl On the Boat.
Rating: 5 / 5
George Bevan, burgeoning young american musical composer, fancies himself a knight-in-shining-armor when in the middle of Piccadily Circus a fair maiden flings herself into his cab to escape the obese pursuit of the dragon – her brother Percy, heir to the family title and vigilant protector of the family name. Our hero’s fair lady Maud does indeed live trapped within the tower of Castle Belpher to which he repairs in swift pursuit of happiness.
George will face grim prospects in scheming servants, an evil aunt, a kindly but aunt-dominated Lord Marshmoreton and worst of all the fact that Maud is in love with another. The whole setting has obvious similarities to Blandings for those familiar with the Lord Emsworth stories. I wasn’t roaring with laughter, but I was attached to the characters and couldn’t put the book down. It is hard to say which book is a good introduction to Wodehouse because they are all so good!
Rating: 5 / 5
If you’re a fan of Wodehouse, you know the drill; if you’re a newcomer, this is a good introduction. The English are eccentric, the Americans are breezy, and the action is split between the London theater and a rose-covered country manor. What will happen isn’t much of a head scratcher; how it will unfold is the pleasure of it.
Rating: 4 / 5
Such a fun and charming book! P. G. Wodehouse has a funny, witty style of writing. His characters are wonderfully detailed, and he manages this detail in only a few paragraphs. A great blend of comedy and believable characters.
The story is set in London and a nearby castle with neighboring town. Several characters are involved in the story, each with a unique charm that you can’t help falling in love with… I’d say more about them, but it would give away too much.
Highly recommended!
Rating: 5 / 5