I was introduced to the celebrated author P.G.Wodehouse for the first time two years ago. I don’t mean that quite literally of course, which would have been scary considering that he died even before I was born. I mean I got to know of him through a friend, pretty learned one I should say. [No, I didn’t say pretty and learned, silly.] Being highly virtuous, my humility prevents me from going into the details of the hows and whys, but the long and short of it is that I ended up spending many a happy night with Wooster and Jeeves since then. Not literally again, I wish to stress emphatically this time.
But first things first. ’Uneasy Money’ is not a chapter from the ’Wooster and Jeeves’ saga. It is one of Wodehouse’s self-contained, less well-known (I am led to believe so), early fictions. But that is to take nothing away from it.
The story begins in early twentieth century England. Lord Dawlish (Bill for friends) is in the unenviable position of holding a royal title and empty coffers. To make matters worse, he is engaged to the money obsessed Claire Fenwick. As things take a wild turn, Bill finds himself rich, thanks to the will of a whimsical American businessman. The simple minded man that he is, Bill is left uneasy with his new found fortune and wants to share it with the dead man’s surviving relatives (Elizabeth and Nutty Boyd) in America. As fate would have it, Claire also travels to America on the advice of her friend -- both of them separately and unaware of each other’s plans. A comedy of misunderstandings ensues, and at the end of it all, Bill finds true love and then some money to go with it.
’Uneasy Money’ is the kind of sweet romance story that’d make you wish it all happened in your life. ’’Big deal!’’, I hear you say rather coldly, ’’That’s like the gazillionth book I’ve heard of with a similar plot!’’. And you aren’t very wrong either, other than perhaps having enough time and patience to listen to a gazillion stories with similar plots.
The inimitable writing style of Wodehouse gives a unique touch to an otherwise not-so-unique storyline. The events in the novel are completely contrived and very far from reality, and yet charmingly so. His meticulous description of the absurd, coupled with the gentle satire that runs all through the book, is sure to amply tickle your funny bone. The language is refreshingly simple and is trademark Wodehousian.
As is usual in Wodehouse’s fictions, the characters in this story are not the kind you would meet anywhere in real life. They are more a result of artistic and comical necessity. They draw you into a world beset with problems borne out of their tenacious pursuit of trivialities. The hero, Lord Dawlish, is just too nice for his own good. Claire Fenwick can get in and out of engagements as easily as Jennifer Lopez can, only quicker. Elizabeth Boyd is everything you’d want, and can hardly ever find, in a woman. Wodehouse’s genius lies in convincing his readers of the importance of his character’s pursuits.
To conclude, whether you are a Wodehouse fan or otherwise, ’Uneasy Money’ is sure to be a delightful read. What you get is simply unadulterated, straightforward humor woven around fanciful characters that has been the hallmark of his works.
[Thanks: It is my pleasure to thank a fellow mouthshut writer (and a very good one at that), ’laikar’, for pushing me to write a new review. While I am too late to make good on my several-weeks-old promise to write my next review in two days time, I still wouldn’t have written this but for her emails reminding me how much of a lazy goose I am. Sorry Monica, but if you remember right, I never said two solar days -- think lunar days and you are close :) And here’s my little ’’Thank You’’ for the nice gesture.]