Three Men and a Maid by P. G. Wodehouse; Unabridged MP3 Audio Book; Narrator Tim Bulkeley

This book with two titles, Three Men and a Maid in the USA and The Girl on the Boat in the UK is a typical P.G. Wodehouse romantic comedy, involving, at various times: a disastrous talent quest, a lawyer with a revolver, a bulldog with a mind of his own and a suit of armour!

The maid, or marriageable young woman, of the American title is red-haired, dog-loving Wilhelmina “Billie” Bennet. The three men are Bream Mortimer, a long-time friend and admirer of Billie, Eustace Hignett, a poet of sensitive disposition who is engaged to Billie at the opening of the tale, and Sam Marlowe, Eustace’s would-be-dashing cousin, who falls for Billie at first sight. All four find themselves on an ocean liner headed for England together (hence the British title), along with an elephant-gun-wielding young woman called Jane Hubbard who is smitten with Eustace the poet. Typically Wodehousian romantic shenanigans ensue. Even Estace’s redoubtable mother (a Theosophist author and public speaker) fails to quell the excitement. (Summary by WikiPedia, adapted by Tim Bulkeley.)

P.G. Wodehouse (1881-1975), an England-born journalist and novelist, lived in several different countries before settling in the United States after WWII. In a career spanning over sixty years, he wrote more than ninety books. During the 1920s, Wodehouse collaborated with Broadway legends like Cole Porter and George Gershwin on musicals, and in the 1930s, he expanded his repertoire by writing for motion pictures. He was honored with a knighthood in 1975.