| Synopsis: |
The Girl on the Boat is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. First appeared as a serial under the title Three Men and a Maid, from October to December 1921. It was first published as a book in the U.S. in 1922 by George H. Doran, NY, and as The Girl on the Boat in the UK by Herbert Jenkins, London, on June 15, 1922. The maid of the title is red-haired, dog-loving Wilhelmina "Billie" Bennet, and the three men are Bream Mortimer, a long-time friend and admirer of Billie, Eustace Hignett, a lily-livered poet who is engaged to Billie at the opening of the tale, and Sam Marlowe, Eustace's dashing cousin, who falls for Billie at first sight. All four find themselves on an ocean liner headed for England together, along with a capable young woman called Jane Hubbard who is smitten with Eustace, and typically Wodehousian romantic shenanigans ensue. Pelham Wodehouse (1881-1975) was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. |