The Brother of Daphne

The Brother of Daphne introduces one of the most delightful ensembles in early British comic fiction: the Pleydell-Mansel clan, forever known as Berry and Co. Our narrator is Boy Pleydell, Daphne's brother, who finds himself perpetually roped into his sister's hair-brained schemes. When Daphne decides to mount a Punch and Judy show for a missionary bazaar (christened, with characteristic Ye Olde English absurdity, 'St. Banana's'), Boy's protests prove as useless as they always are. What follows is a series of brilliantly misunderstandings, romantic entanglements, and escapades that established Dornford Yates as a master of light comedy. The charm lies in Boy's long-suffering narration, the gentle satire of Edwardian social rituals, and the crackling dialogue between cousins whoScheme, bicker, and adore each other in equal measure. These stories first appeared in The Windsor Magazine before being gathered into this, the inaugural Berry and Co. volume. If you adore Wodehouse, you will adore this.