Joy in the Morning by P.G. Wodehouse****

Reading dates: 25 October 2017–21 January 2018

As ever with the Jeeves and Wooster books, this story is nice, chirpy and very, very funny. The characters are well defined, have a lot of personality and act accordingly. You have, as is customary with Wodehouse, the nicest array of names ever: Stilton Cheeseright, Boko Fittleworth, Lord Worplesdon and Chichester Clam. There is absolutely no padding too, which, as someone who writes, I find very admirable. What sets this story apart is its knots, and how they are gotten out of. The storyline is one in love engagements, marriage proposals, and industrial mergers, set in the appropriate town of Steeple Bumpleigh. And if that was not enough, there is a fancy dress party … Reading it aloud was wonderful, as it allowed for voices to animate Wodehouse’s sharp dialogue. I laughed out loud a few times and when does this happen with a book, eh?