The Coming of Bill (by PG Wodehouse)

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My father introduced me to the ‘Jeeves’ books by PG Wodehouse when I was about twelve. Although those remain my favourites, I have read many other books by the same author and always find them quirky, original and generally enjoyable. I have downloaded some lesser-known Wodehouse novels from Project Gutenberg as they are now out of print, and keep them on my Kindle for times when I’m away from home.

I don’t think I had ever previously read or heard of ‘The Coming of Bill’. The main character is a young man who is a fairly well-to-do artist called Kirk. He’s tall, muscular, good-looking and very generous. He’s not particularly successful as an artist but has a lot of friends who know he’ll offer them a meal or financial resources if they are struggling.

Into the picture comes Ruth, a young woman of strong character who is rather swayed by the feminist and rather radical (not to say bizarre) views of her Aunt Lora. Ruth, whose father is a self-made millionaire, has turned down several young men who wanted to marry her. But when Aunt Lora bumps into Kirk, she recognises in his physique a suitable father for Ruth’s children. Among other things, Aunt Lora is keen on eugenics.

Happily for this scheme, Ruth and Kirk find that they get along well, and start to fall in love. Her father is not happy, and casts her off when she insists she wants to marry out of her economic class, to someone whom he sees as lazy, unmotivated and entirely lacking in talent.

At first the young couple are happy, though Kirk becomes aware that his old friends no longer feel welcome; Ruth sees them for the scroungers they are, and doesn’t like the fact that they and Kirk have a past that she wasn’t part of.

By this stage in the book - and it’s quite a way in - I was beginning to wonder who ‘Bill’ of the title might refer to. Shortly afterwards William appears on the scene. Kirk realises that his money is drying up due to stock market and other financial problems, and - worse - nobody wants any of his paintings. So he embarks on a trip to Colombia with an old friend in the hope of making his fortune. Unfortunately, when he eventually returns, Ruth has fallen under the sway of her Aunt Lora…

The pace of the book is perhaps a tad slow in places, but it kept me reading at odd moments on my travels. There are some lovely turns of phrase, typical of PG Wodehouse, which made me smile and the intricacies of the plot resolve themselves entirely satisfactorily, if rather long-windedly.

I’m glad I read this book though I don’t suppose I’ll do so again. I would recommend it in a low-key way to fans of Wodehouse, particularly if you can get hold of it at no cost. But it’s not, in my opinion, up to the standard of Jeeves and Wooster or Blandings Castle.

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