Christopher Strong – the movie, not the novel

Review by Val H.  Movies are new on this blog but there are strong middlebrow links. In 1933 Hollywood released Christopher Strong, based on Gilbert Frankau’s 1931 novel of the same name.  (Here is the trailer and here the DVD.)  They tell of the affair between respected MP Christopher Strong and a family friend Cynthia … Continue reading →

The Merry Muse, by Eric Linklater (1959)

Review by Val H ‘Eric Linklater’s Latest!’ proclaims my copy of The Merry Muse (Jonathan Cape, 1959) in large letters.  Bloomsbury, which publishes it as an e-book, says it is: “part farce, part satire on manners and social attitudes [sparkling] from beginning to end…the work of a master…at the height of his powers”. Two contemporary … Continue reading →

The Heart of a Goof by P G Wodehouse (1926)

Review by Jane V: The Heart of a Goof consists of nine stories related by the Oldest Member of a golf club.  He sits aside from the action puffing a cigar and observing the joys and the sorrows, the triumphs and the defeats in matters of golf and the heart enjoyed and suffered by the … Continue reading →

Eggs, Beans and Crumpets by P G Wodehouse (1940)

Review by George Simmers: This collection of short stories features several familiar Wodehouse characters. Four centre on Bingo Little, familiar from stories in The Inimitable Jeeves (1923). That book’s stories showed him madly in love with a succession of girls, with Bertie Wooster roped in to help him. In the last of the stories he … Continue reading →

Piccadilly Jim by P. G. Wodehouse (1917)

Review by Sylvia D: Piccadilly Jim (1917) was a suitable choice for Christmas reading – easy to read and very light-hearted.  It does though have an extremely convoluted plot and involves several imposters and impersonations with Piccadilly Jim himself not only pretending to be someone else but then actually pretending to be himself.  As he … Continue reading →