THE BUTLER DID IT

by P. G. Wodehouse ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

A ""vintage butler of obviously a very good year"" is Keggs and his superman-ish manipulations affect the finale of a tontine set up in 1929 for the pay off in 1955. The seven figure prize goes to the last child to be married of a monied group and it is up to Keggs and Mortimer Bayliss, ""the"" art critic, to insure (by some evasion of the contracts) that the right guy gets the kitty. This involves the parsimonious millionaire Roscoe Bunyan who breaks his engagement to Keggs' niece, known on the stage as Elaine Dawn; a sculptor, Stanhope Twine, engaged to Jane Benedick, niece of the harrumphing Lord Uffenham; and Bill Hollister, assistant in an art gallery and currently released for the matrimony stakes. The nice money is diverted from Bunyan, as punishment and at a price, to Bill and back again to be divided between Bill and Bunyan, with more than one assist from Uffenham, Bayliss- and Keggs, who brings in Elsine's ex-prize fighter father to hold in the clinches. There's a familiar feeling about all this but there is still a spark and a sputter to the lines that preserve its ineff- ability.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1956

Categories: FICTION