The Adventures of Sally

By: P. G. Wodehouse

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Pretty, impecunious Sally Nicholas never dreamed a fortune could prove a disadvantage, until she became an heiress and watched in bewilderment as her orderly existence went haywire. Coping first with her brother's wild theatrical ambitions, then with the defection of her fiancé and his immediate replacement by a much more appropriate but strangely unattractive suitor, Sally finds that life in New York is becoming altogether too complicated, and a trip to England only makes the whole situation worse.

But just as Sally is concluding that she has disastrously misplaced her bets, it looks as if a piece of speculation about an outsider might just give her adventures a happy ending.

P.G. Wodehouse is in sparkling form, in a story set on both sides of the Atlantic in the Roaring '20s.

Right ho, Jeeves: don't miss more from P.G. Wodehouse.(P)1997 by Blackstone Audiobooks

Good Story, Bad Performance

The story was good, light humor — what we’ve come to expect from P.G. Wodehouse, but the reader was hard to listen to. His voice characterizations were at times annoying, and some of his inflections didn’t seem to fit the content at all. All in all, I think I’d listen to the story again, if read by someone else. I’d avoid recordings made with this reader.

A wonderful cast of characters, in interesting circumstances

I love most of P. G. Wodehouse’s books, especially when they’re read by a British gentleman with a quite adjustable voice like this one. Most of all I love the characters in these books, and this one is a fine example! There are characters I fell in love with, and others I enjoyed despising. And to make it a real story and not just biographies, this book has interesting circumstances and surprises. All together a wonderful read that I’d suggest to anybody who likes old fashioned rom-coms.

Great book

One of my favorites of PG Wodehouse. Not fond of the breathy female voices, though.

Jerky, Choppy, Scrambling, Untidy. But I Like It.

“A jerky, choppy book. Mrs. Meecher's lodging house in New York is Dickensian. Several short story themes are tied up untidily together, and there is a scrambling of loose ends to finish up.”

Thus Richard Usborne, in his ubiquitous “Plum Sauce: A P. G. Wodehouse Companion”. And I suppose he’s right. Sally’s loyalty to those who shared her impecunious days at Mrs. Meecher’s does get a tad glutinous; in his early books, Wodehouse tends to make paragons out of his heroines—not surprising, as he made the shift from light romances to lighter comedy. And, like all great artists, PGW certainly recycled material. I even agree about the jerks and chops—from romance to humor to a shot at poignant tragedy (see Gerald Foster’s drunk scene), though I can’t say any of that has ever bothered me.

I say “ever” because this is probably the 15th or 20th time I’ve listened to this book. Doing the dishes, mowing the lawn, or sipping a cocktail, chances are very good that I’m listening to Plum. I use Wodehouse like Butler Beach uses port—to steady the nerves and impart a genial glow. And, even granting all Mr. Usborne’s insights, I’ve come to appreciate the early work just as much as the masterpieces—mostly for those flashes of the mature style that burst out so unexpectedly (like a proposal of marriage to Sally interrupted by two waiters arguing in ersatz Italian). Though written around the same time as Wodehouse’s first great short story collections (The Clicking of Cuthbert, The Inimitable Jeeves) Sally is just a mildly funny, amusing romance that makes me smile. Of course, Frederick Davidson’s suave, nuanced reading helps it all go down easy, too.

total delight!

I only wish PJ W had written more books with a female lead! Sally is a gem and this book an old favorite.