The Coming of Bill

The Coming of Bill (1920) is the closest Wodehouse ever got to writing a serious book while the musical comedies he was penning at the time remain constantly in the background. Ruth a spoiled heiress and Kirk a perfect-looking impoverished artist are the parents of Bill. Ruth's aunt a eugenics supporter who later assumes parental responsibility for the child arranged their marriage. The young couple's struggle to wrest their kid away from the domineering Mrs. Porter and start a regular family life is the focus of the plot which is entirely set in New York and Connecticut. They do succeed in the end but only after a string of humorous misadventures in a novel that includes a cast of classic Wodehouse characters such as the bossy aunt a tetchy billionaire a good-natured ex-boxer and an odd English butler.