Ian talks to writer Thom Robinson about the seventh Wodehouse book, "Love Among the Chickens". There will be spoilers.
Among Wodehouse's books, this is:
The first intended for a general audience, as opposed to schoolboys or young children
The first to involve a love story
The first to introduce a major recurring character, which is Ukridge
The first with golf as a major element.
The first to be properly published in the USA
It exists in two versions (four versions actually, but two book versions): The original 1906 book and the 1921 rewrite. We look at both versions to discuss how the changes reflect his development as a writer.
Also discussed:
William Townend, who gave him the plot
Herbert Westbrook, partial model for Ukridge
The trip Wodehouse took to Lyme Regis with the "Lyon cubs", that provided the setting
Arthur Conan Doyle's The Stark-Munro Letters, a probable influence on the novel
The narrator Jeremy Garnet's description of his working life as a novelist, and how far it is likely autobiographical
The self-deprecating humour about being unable to write convincing female characters
The old "Have someone pushed into the water so you can rescue them" wheeze
Thom's old podcast with Hazel Smoczynska: https://soundcloud.com/yammerofthegods
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