The Adventures of Sally
1922
The master of comedic prose turns his attention to Sally Nicholas, a cheerful American girl whose life implodes the moment she inherits $25,000. Suddenly everyone around her transforms: her brother Fillmore develops spectacular theatrical delusions, her fiancé develops cold feet, and a parade of fortune-hunters and well-meaning friends descend to advise on her fortune. When Sally flees to England seeking refuge, matters only grow more complicated. What follows is a gleeful cascade of mistaken identities, pompous blowhards, and romantic misadventures that only Wodehouse could orchestrate. This is early Wodehouse, meaning it contains all the signature elements before they calcified into formula: the absurd situations played completely straight, the characters taking themselves far too seriously, the intricate plotting that somehow resolves perfectly. Sally herself is a delightful creation, warm, sensible, and bewildered by the chaos erupting around her. For anyone who believes that comedy is the highest form of literature.
