The Coming of Bill with Gwen Sheldon

Gwen Sheldon has stayed on the line to help me look at The Coming of Bill (1919, but really 1914), Also known as Their Mutual Child or The White Hope, it's a rare serious novel (though featuring some choice quips) with a plot supplied for Wodehouse by a helpful magazine editor called Bob Davis.There will be spoilers. Content note: discussion of eugenics, nazis, racism, death, and general bad times. (Surely some mistake? -Ed)You can e-mail me at [email protected] me your spare Colombian gold at ko-fi.com/wodehousekeepingor follow the show on Bluesky or FacebookPlease tell your friends about the show: our publicity budget was lost in some unwise stocks and shares shenanegans.Reference works consultedSophie Ratcliffe, P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in LettersNorman Murphy, A Wodehouse HandbookRichard Usborne, Wodehouse At Work to the EndDaniel Garrison and Neil Midkiff, Who's Who in WodehouseMadame Eulalie's Rare Plums websiteOther works by Wodehouse mentioned:My Man JeevesThe Man Upstairs and Other StoriesBring on the Girls (with Guy Bolton)"A Prisoner of War"Piccadilly JimJill the Reckless"By Advice of Counsel""The Good Angel" "Love Me, Love My Dog" A Damsel in DistressThe Little NuggetThe Globe 'By the Way' BookThe Man With Two Left Feet and Other StoriesAlso mentioned: Bob DavisJack JohnsonJames JeffriesWodehouse's adopted daughter Leonora CazaletRembrandt van RijnThe Fresh Prince of Bel-AirL M Montgomery, The Blue CastleLemony Snicket, A Series of Unfortunate EventsShort musical snippets included or parodied:Noël Coward, "Don't Let's Be Beastly to the Germans"Dire Straits, "Lady Writer" Helen Morgan, "Bill" (Wodehouse/Kern)Elvis Presley, "Old Shep"Nobuyoshi Koshibe and Katsuo Ohno, Theme from "Mysterious Cities of Gold"The Gothic Archies, "Scream and Run Away""Napoleon" (Wodehouse/Kern)Kimya Dawson, "It's Been Raining"Kenny Carter, "Showdown"The Seven Inches (my band) "Our Gang of Friends" and "Bad Genes" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.