In Uncle Fred in the Springtime (1939) Lord Emsworth, weighed down in a sea of troubles (the Duke of Dunstable being the worst), had enlisted Lord Ickenham's help in taking arms against them. Now, with remarried Connie back for the summer and the disgusting Duke once more self-invited, Lord Emsworth summons his brother Galahad to his aid. Galahad is more and more doubling his part with Lord Ickenham these days: spreading sweetness and light; mornings in the hammock; the great sponge in the bath (Lord Ickenham's was 'Joyeuse', Gally's is not named); blackmail; telling the tale; godsons; unsundering young hearts; ringing in impostors.

The Duke has brought his pretty niece Linda with him and of course John Halliday, her ex-fianc? (there had been a flaming 'take back your ring' row), is one of Gally's godsons. And sundered hearts make Gally sick, so he'll have to bring Linda and John together again. For instance, why, when the call comes, shouldn't John come to the castle as Sir Roderick Glossop's junior partner, to keep an eye on the suspected pottiness of Lord Emsworth? Meanwhile there's this American heiress (is she an heiress?) Vanessa Polk that Lady Constance met on the boat. And Wilbur Trout, much-married American playboy. And the painting (is it a forgery?) of the reclining nude that the Duke has bought, brought with him and hung in the gallery. It's up to Gally to find answers to all these problems. He does.

You learn in this book that the oak staircase at the castle is slippery. And if you're trying to work out what rooms were on which floor of the castle, and how to get on to the roof over the semi-detached west wing, this is required reading. It leaves even architects as baffled as ever. Remember, Wodehouse, after years of living in America, could make 'first floor' mean the ground floor. And so on up. Or not.

Wodehouse was eighty-eight when this book was published. The writing is now thin and tediously stretched in places. The ribs of the plot often stare out gauntly with too little flesh on them. Just for a laugh poor Lord Emsworth falls face down into the Empress's sty in the small hours in dressing gown and pyjamas. Many of Gally's old Pelican stories are repeated, often verbatim, as though from notebooks. But there are some lovely plums in the duff still.

Source: Richard Usborne. Plum Sauce. A P G Wodehouse Companion.