The Mating Season

Jul 18, 2025 10:45 AM

Author:P.G. Wodehouse

The Mating Season

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A Jeeves and Wooster novel

'It's hard to single out one book as the entire Jeeves and Wooster collection is Bach Rescue Remedy in literary form, but this tale of romantic imbroglio is a priceless hoot... Every sentence is a perfectly wrought delight.' Independent

At Deverill Hall, an idyllic Tudor manor in the picture-perfect village of King's Deverill, impostors are in the air. The prime example is man-about-town Bertie Wooster, doing a good turn to Gussie Fink-Nottle by impersonating him while he enjoys fourteen days away from society after being caught taking an unscheduled dip in the fountains of Trafalgar Square. Bertie is of course one of nature's gentlemen, but the stakes are high: if all is revealed, there's a danger that Gussie's simpering fiancée Madeline may turn her wide eyes on Bertie instead.

It's a brilliant plan - until Gussie himself turns up, imitating Bertram Wooster. After that, only the massive brain of Jeeves (himself in disguise) can set things right.

Reviews

It's dangerous to use the word genius to describe a writer, but I'll risk it with him

—— John Humphrys

For as long as I'm immersed in a P.G. Wodehouse book, it's possible to keep the real world at bay and live in a far, far nicer, funnier one where happy endings are the order of the day

—— Marian Keyes

Wodehouse always lifts your spirits, no matter how high they happen to be already

—— Lynne Truss

The incomparable and timeless genius - perfect for readers of all ages, shapes and sizes!

—— Kate Mosse

Not only the funniest English novelist who ever wrote but one of our finest stylists

—— Susan Hill

P.G. Wodehouse remains the greatest chronicler of a certain kind of Englishness, that no one else has ever captured quite so sharply, or with quite as much wit and affection

—— Julian Fellowes

A genius ... Elusive, delicate but lasting

—— Alan Ayckbourn

Witty and effortlessly fluid. His books are laugh-out-loud funny

—— Arabella Weir

The Wodehouse wit should be registered at Police HQ as a chemical weapon

—— Kathy Lette

The funniest writer ever to put words to paper

—— Hugh Laurie

The greatest comic writer ever

—— Douglas Adams

P.G. Wodehouse wrote the best English comic novels of the century

—— Sebastian Faulks

Sublime comic genius

—— Ben Elton

Quite simply, the master of comic writing at work

—— Jane Moore

To pick up a Wodehouse novel is to find oneself in the presence of genius - no writer has ever given me so much pure enjoyment

—— John Julius Norwich

Compulsory reading for anyone who has a pig, an aunt - or a sense of humour!

—— Lindsey Davis

The Wodehouse wit should be registered at Police HQ as a chemical weapon

—— Kathy Lette

Witty and effortlessly fluid. His books are laugh-out-loud funny

—— Arabella Weir

The funniest writer ever to put words to paper

—— Hugh Laurie

The greatest comic writer ever

—— Douglas Adams

P.G. Wodehouse wrote the best English comic novels of the century

—— Sebastian Faulks

Sublime comic genius

—— Ben Elton

You don't analyse such sunlit perfection, you just bask in its warmth and splendour

—— Stephen Fry

A virtuoso performance...This is a collection of stories that will be re-reading exceptionally well, like an album of brilliant songs you keep wanting to hear again

—— Brandom Robshaw , Independent on Sunday

Funny and furious, Kennedy's tales of floundering marriages and domestic disappointment follow an anarchic path of their own

—— Independent

Kennedy's superlative work always attracts admiration

—— Lesley McDowell , Herald

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