Ring for Jeeves
First edition
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| Author | P. G. Wodehouse |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Herbert Jenkins |
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Publication date
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22 April 1953 |
Ring for Jeeves is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 22 April 1953 by Herbert Jenkins, London and in the United States on 15 April 1954 by Simon & Schuster, New York, under the title The Return of Jeeves.
The novel features one of Wodehouse's best-known characters, Jeeves. It is the only Jeeves novel in which his employer, Bertie Wooster, does not appear (though he is mentioned), and the only Jeeves story narrated in the third person. Wodehouse adapted the story from a play, Come On, Jeeves, that he had written with his lifelong friend and collaborator Guy Bolton.
Although the story remains the same, there are some differences between the UK and US editions. Structurally, the sequence of early chapters is different: what is the opening chapter of the UK edition becomes chapter 5 in the US edition, with other chapters being re-arranged accordingly. And while the US edition retains the name Towcester from the play which preceded the novel, this becomes Rowcester in the UK edition. Additionally, Sir Roderick Carmoyle's employer, Harrods, is replaced with the fictional department store Harrige's in the UK edition.
The story opens with Jeeves's employer, Bertie Wooster, having enrolled in a school that teaches the idle rich how to fend for themselves. In his absence he has allowed Jeeves to offer his services to William "Bill" Rowcester, the impoverished 9th Earl of Rowcester, whose stately home, Rowcester Abbey, is an encumbrance for which the Earl is seeking a buyer. Jeeves becomes embroiled in a complicated affair involving 'fake' bookies, stolen gems, a wealthy American widow and a big game hunter, but, as in all Jeeves novels, the imperturbable valet succeeds in resolving matters to the satisfaction of all parties.
Unlike most Jeeves and Wooster stories, which only occasionally refer to events in the real world, Ring for Jeeves is explicitly set in post-World War II England, where social changes have forced some of those who were formerly members of the idle rich to dispense with their servants and seek employment. Although Bertie Wooster has not yet been reduced to such measures, he has enrolled, prior to the start of the story, in a school that teaches the upper classes how to fend for themselves. In his absence, Jeeves has offered his services to William Egerton Bamfylde Ossingham Belfry, the Earl of Rowcester, who is in poor fortune.
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