Book Review: Joy in the Morning by P. G. Wodehouse

Joy in the Morning. P.G. Wodehouse. W. W. Norton (2011) (First published 1947). 272 pages. Genre: Fiction.

First Line: "After the thing was all over, when peril had ceased to loom and happy endings had been distributed in heaping handfuls and we were driving home with our hats on the side of our heads, having shaken the dust of Steeple Bumpleigh from our tyres, I confessed to Jeeves that there had been moments during the recent proceedings when Bertram Wooster, though no weakling, had come very near to despair."

Summary: When Lord Worplesdon is in need of a place to conduct a secret business meeting, Jeeves volunteers Bertie to help out.  If Bertie would have had any say in the matter, he would have said, "No.". But, since he did not have any say in the matter, he and Jeeves are on their way to Steeple Bumpleigh.  Jeeves has arranged for Bertie to take a cottage where the secret business can be conducted.  Unfortunately, young Edwin, while trying to be helpful, burns down the cottage.  Bertie is forced to stay with Boko, who also enlists his help with Uncle Percy.  This time to smooth the way for a marriage to his ward.  In the meantime, Bertie manages to lose a brooch,  get on the wrong side of the law and become engaged to a woman he would rather have nothing to do with.  Fortunately, Jeeves saves the day with his quick thinking.

My thoughts:  I can't help but giggle while reading P. G. Wodehouse.  In fact, there are times I found myself laughing so hard I had to put the book down.  

Not only is the book funny, the characters are so endearing.  You can't help but like Bertie, even though he does get himself into the worst tangles.  Of course Jeeves is so calm and collected and is almost always able to untangle the mess Bertie finds himself in.  Bertie realizes that the situation is dire if Jeeves is stumped.  And there are a few dire situations in this book.  More than once, Jeeves was stumped.  

The other characters were fun too.  Uncle Percy is a blustering old fellow who has only bad things to say about Bertie.  Bertie is sure that Aunt Agatha "eats broken bottles and conducts human sacrifices by the light of the full moon" so he does his best to avoid her.  Young Edwin, a Boy Scout, has tasked himself with doing an act of kindness everyday.  He has fallen a bit behind and is trying to catch up.  The problem is that often his acts go wrong.  Like when he started the cottage on fire while cleaning out the chimney.  Stilton is engaged to Lady Florence, who was once engaged to Bertie.  Unbeknownst to Bertie, Stilton has become a police officer.  And then we have Xenobia, Nobby for short, who is Uncle Percy's ward.  She wants to marry Bertie's old friend Boko.  However, Boko has not made a good impression on Uncle Percy and he won't give his blessing.

The story bumps along at a good pace and before you know it, Bertie's mess is untangled and all is right with the world again.  If you are looking for something light, but not fluffy, something that will make you laugh, give Joy in the Morning a try. 

Quotes:

"It will be a pleasure to put in a word for you.  I anticipate notable results.  I shall play on the old crumb as on a stringed instrument."

"In appearance, as I have indicated, this man of letters is a cross between a comedy juggler and a parrot that has been dragged through a hedge backwards, and you never catch him at his nattiest in the workshop."

"'I am always stiff in my manner with elderly gentlemen who snort like foghorns when I appear and glare at me as if I were somebody from Moscow distributing Red propaganda.'"