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Leave It to Psmith
Leave It to Psmith is a comic novel by English author P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 30 November 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, England, and in the United States on 14 March 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised in the Saturday Evening Post in the US between 3 February and 24 March 1923, and in the Grand Magazine in the UK between April and December that year; the ending of this magazine version was rewritten for the book form.
It was the fourth and final novel featuring Psmith, the others being Mike (1909) (later republished in two parts, with Psmith appearing in the second, Mike and Psmith (1953)), Psmith in the City (1910), and Psmith, Journalist (1915). In his introduction to the omnibus The World of Psmith, Wodehouse said that he had stopped writing about the character because he couldn't think of any more stories. It was also the second novel set at Blandings Castle, the first being Something Fresh (1915). The Blandings saga would be continued in many more novels and short stories.
The book is dedicated to the author's step-daughter Leonora Wodehouse, referred to as "Queen of her species".
Lord Emsworth is distressed to learn from his secretary, Rupert Baxter, that his sister Lady Constance (Connie) Keeble has invited the Canadian poet Ralston McTodd to stay at Blandings Castle, where another poet, Aileen Peavey, is already in residence. Emsworth is further annoyed to be told that he must leave his beloved gardens to travel to London to collect McTodd and to interview a Miss Halliday for the post of library cataloguer.
Connie’s husband, Joe Keeble, wants to lend money to his stepdaughter Phyllis Jackson and her husband Mike, but Connie, who controls their joint bank account, refuses. Emsworth’s feckless son, Freddie Threepwood, also needs funds and approaches his uncle Joe with a plan to circumvent Connie’s control. He suggests stealing Connie’s valuable necklace, a gift from Joe, so that Joe can sell it on and distribute the proceeds between Phyllis, Freddie, and himself. Joe agrees.
Freddie, not keen on doing the job himself, responds to a newspaper advertisement placed by Ronald Psmith, an elegant young man who is about to resign from his wealthy uncle’s fish business and who is offering to take on any job (except fish). Psmith is a friend of Mike Jackson and his wife Phyllis. Phyllis is an old schoolfriend of Eve Halliday, and Eve is loved by Freddie. Another friend of Eve’s, Cynthia, has been abandoned by her husband, Ralston McTodd.
Psmith is smitten when he sees Eve sheltering from the rain opposite the The Drones Club, and he chivalrously dashes out to give her the best umbrella from the club's umbrella rack. Later, he encounters Emsworth at the Senior Conservative Club in London, where the Earl is dining with McTodd. Irritated at being left alone when the Earl absent-mindedly potters across the street to inspect a flower shop, McTodd departs in a rage. When Emsworth returns, he short-sightedly mistakes Psmith for his guest. Learning that Eve will soon be working at Blandings, Psmith decides to continue the deception and travels with Emsworth to the castle, posing as McTodd. During the journey, Freddie quietly explains his plan, and Psmith agrees to take charge of the theft.
At Blandings, the false McTodd is warmly welcomed by Aileen Peavey, though Baxter is suspicious. Psmith begins courting Eve, with some success despite her belief that he is the man who has wronged her friend Cynthia. Peavey, who is in fact a criminal known as “Smooth Lizzie”, enlists her former partner, the card sharp Eddie Cootes, into her own plan to acquire the necklace. Psmith is forced to agree to Cootes posing as his valet, but for safety's sake arranges the use of a quiet cottage nearby for his own personal use. Joe blurts out details of his and Freddie's plan to Eve.
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Leave It to Psmith
Leave It to Psmith is a comic novel by English author P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 30 November 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, England, and in the United States on 14 March 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised in the Saturday Evening Post in the US between 3 February and 24 March 1923, and in the Grand Magazine in the UK between April and December that year; the ending of this magazine version was rewritten for the book form.
It was the fourth and final novel featuring Psmith, the others being Mike (1909) (later republished in two parts, with Psmith appearing in the second, Mike and Psmith (1953)), Psmith in the City (1910), and Psmith, Journalist (1915). In his introduction to the omnibus The World of Psmith, Wodehouse said that he had stopped writing about the character because he couldn't think of any more stories. It was also the second novel set at Blandings Castle, the first being Something Fresh (1915). The Blandings saga would be continued in many more novels and short stories.
The book is dedicated to the author's step-daughter Leonora Wodehouse, referred to as "Queen of her species".
Lord Emsworth is distressed to learn from his secretary, Rupert Baxter, that his sister Lady Constance (Connie) Keeble has invited the Canadian poet Ralston McTodd to stay at Blandings Castle, where another poet, Aileen Peavey, is already in residence. Emsworth is further annoyed to be told that he must leave his beloved gardens to travel to London to collect McTodd and to interview a Miss Halliday for the post of library cataloguer.
Connie’s husband, Joe Keeble, wants to lend money to his stepdaughter Phyllis Jackson and her husband Mike, but Connie, who controls their joint bank account, refuses. Emsworth’s feckless son, Freddie Threepwood, also needs funds and approaches his uncle Joe with a plan to circumvent Connie’s control. He suggests stealing Connie’s valuable necklace, a gift from Joe, so that Joe can sell it on and distribute the proceeds between Phyllis, Freddie, and himself. Joe agrees.
Freddie, not keen on doing the job himself, responds to a newspaper advertisement placed by Ronald Psmith, an elegant young man who is about to resign from his wealthy uncle’s fish business and who is offering to take on any job (except fish). Psmith is a friend of Mike Jackson and his wife Phyllis. Phyllis is an old schoolfriend of Eve Halliday, and Eve is loved by Freddie. Another friend of Eve’s, Cynthia, has been abandoned by her husband, Ralston McTodd.
Psmith is smitten when he sees Eve sheltering from the rain opposite the The Drones Club, and he chivalrously dashes out to give her the best umbrella from the club's umbrella rack. Later, he encounters Emsworth at the Senior Conservative Club in London, where the Earl is dining with McTodd. Irritated at being left alone when the Earl absent-mindedly potters across the street to inspect a flower shop, McTodd departs in a rage. When Emsworth returns, he short-sightedly mistakes Psmith for his guest. Learning that Eve will soon be working at Blandings, Psmith decides to continue the deception and travels with Emsworth to the castle, posing as McTodd. During the journey, Freddie quietly explains his plan, and Psmith agrees to take charge of the theft.
At Blandings, the false McTodd is warmly welcomed by Aileen Peavey, though Baxter is suspicious. Psmith begins courting Eve, with some success despite her belief that he is the man who has wronged her friend Cynthia. Peavey, who is in fact a criminal known as “Smooth Lizzie”, enlists her former partner, the card sharp Eddie Cootes, into her own plan to acquire the necklace. Psmith is forced to agree to Cootes posing as his valet, but for safety's sake arranges the use of a quiet cottage nearby for his own personal use. Joe blurts out details of his and Freddie's plan to Eve.