The Novel Life of P.G. Wodehouse

Was PG Wodehouse really a traitor, a naive simpleton, dominated by his wife and out of touch with the world around him? This book successfully challenges many of the accepted wisdoms about PG Wodehouse and his work and skillfully entwines details of Wodehouse’s life with an examination of his work to show that, contrary to popular belief, many of the scenarios and characters and issues he wrote about came from his own, sometimes bitter, personal experience. Easdale gives fresh insight into PG Wodehouse’s alleged treachery during World War II and his motives for making five radio broadcasts from Germany which were to cast a shadow over the rest of his life. It also offers a refreshing and accessible study of his work as a novelist and short story writer, which shows, for instance, how Bertie Wooster is a much misunderstood figure in literature, and one who shared many of the characteristics and life story of PG Wodehouse himself.