Book number 43 of 2024

Whenever I need a restorative read, I turn to the master of comedy: P. G. Wodehouse. My favorite books of his are set at Blandings Castle, the ancestral home of the dotty Lord Clarence Emsworth, his gaggle of formidable sisters, and of course, The Empress of Blandings – Lord Emsworth’s prize-winning pig. His younger son, Freddie Threepwood usually shows up, and there are always interesting guests as well as lovestruck young couples facing insuperable hurdles to their happiness. I have already read and reviewed another Blandings Castle novel, Uncle Fred In The Springtime. 

In Full Moon, Clarence’s brother, Galahad (who goes by Gally) is the guardian angel of the young lovers. One couple is Bill Lister, affectionately called “Blister” by Freddie, and Prudence Garland, daughter of Dora Garland, a sister of Clarence’s. Bill is an aspiring London artist with an unfortunate face like a gorilla, but Prudence loves him dearly and plans to elope with him. Her mother gets wind of things when she answers the telephone, and Bill, thinking Prudence has answered, calls her his “dream rabbit”. Prudence is quickly shipped off to Blandings for her safety. Did I mention Blister is Gally’s godson, and he will do anything in his power to bring him and Prudence together?

Meanwhile, Freddie, who has married American Niagara (“Aggie”) Donaldson, of Donaldson Dog-Joy dog biscuit fame, is back in England to drum up business for his father-in-law’s company across the pond. He would also like to have the American millionaire Tipton Plimsoll agree to carry Donaldson in his chain of supermarkets. To wine and dine Tipton, Freddie invites him to Blandings Castle to spend a few days enjoying the country air. Tipton agrees, because he has been partying a little too hard in the city, to the point where every time he tries to have a drink, he sees a man with a gorilla-like face out of the corner of his eye (you can see where this is heading). Once ensconced at Blandings, Tipton meets Veronica Wedge, the stunningly beautiful yet undeniably dim daughter of Colonel Egbert and Hermione Wedge. Hermione is another one of Clarence and Gally’s sisters, and, according to Wodehouse, looks just like a cook, which will lead to some humorous encounters. The Wedges are thrilled that their daughter seems to have captured the heart of one of the wealthiest young men in America. Unfortunately, he has a tendency to jealousy.

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