Quick Service is a novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by P. G. Wodehouse

P. G. Wodehouse

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...

, first published in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 on October 4, 1940 by Herbert Jenkins

Barrie & Jenkins

Barrie & Jenkins was a small British publishing house that was formed in 1964 from the merger of "Herbert Jenkins" and "Barrie & Rockcliffe". One of their most notable authors was P. G...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 on November 11, 1940 by Doubleday, Doran, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

.

Although it doesn't feature any of Wodehouse's regular characters or settings, it is a typically Wodehousean comedy, featuring impoverished but romantic youths, wealthy but grouchy relatives, charming and resourceful friends, chirpy criminals, country houses, imposters, servants etc.

Plot and characters

Most of the action occurs at Claines Hall in Sussex

Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

, the country seat of Mrs and Mr Steptoe of Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. The story revolves around:

• Howard Steptoe, an ex-boxer
  Boxing
  Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
  
  , who resolutely resists all attempts at smartening him up by...
• Mabel, his bitter-three-quarters, who is socially ambitious and has with her, acting as factotum...
• Sally Fairmile, her impoverished niece, who is secretly engaged to...
• George, Lord Holbeton, (formerly of the name of Trotter), an exquisitely turned out young man and a confirmed crooner of Trees, whose guardian
  Legal guardian
  A legal guardian is a person who has the legal authority to care for the personal and property interests of another person, called a ward. Usually, a person has the status of guardian because the ward is incapable of caring for his or her own interests due to infancy, incapacity, or disability...
  
   is...
• Mr James Duff, of Duff and Trotter, owners of Paramount Ham
  Ham
  Ham is a cut of meat from the thigh of the hind leg of certain animals, especiallypigs. Nearly all hams sold today are fully cooked or cured.-Etymology:...
  
  s, who was, in his distant youth, engaged to...
• Mrs Chavender, sister-in-law of Mrs Steptoe, apparently having the green stuff in sackfuls, and currently residing in Claines Hall, who has had her imperious self painted by...
• Joss Weatherby, an artist
  Artist
  An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
  
   earning his daily bread in the Art section of Duff's establishment, who goes to Claines Hall as a valet
  Valet
  Valet and varlet are terms for male servants who serve as personal attendants to their employer.- Word origins :In the Middle Ages, the valet de chambre to a ruler was a prestigious appointment for young men...
  
   to the tough owner, to be near the Fairmile girl, who he loves, and shares the space in Servants hall with...
• Chibnall, the worthy butler
  Butler
  A butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...
  
   also an ex-boxer, with a proclivity for romantic novelettes, who is engaged to...
• Vera Pym, a barmaid addicted to thrillers.

Mrs Chavendar, upon consuming a forkful of ham, pronounces it unfit for human consumption, and decides to call ham, ham, to Duff's face. This doesn't suit George, who is hoping to get his guardian to fork out money to allow him to trot up the aisle. So, young Sally rallies around to avert the disaster, and so meets Joss.

When the two come face-to-face, Cupid

Cupid

In Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, affection and erotic love. He is the son of the goddess Venus and the god Mars. His Greek counterpart is Eros...

 does quick work on Joss, a red-blooded, efferevescent young man, and he jumps at the opportunity of playing valet at Claines Hall. Getting his employer, that tough-egg, Steptoe, to waltz to his tune is but a moment's work for Joss, who uses Howard's Achilles' heel of playing dice (and losing dearly) to turn the relationship Damon-and-Pythias

Damon and Pythias

In Greek mythology, the legend of Damon and Pythias symbolizes trust and loyalty in a true friendship.- Greek legend :As told by Aristoxenus, and after him Cicero , Diodorus Siculus , and others, around the 4th century BC, Pythias and his friend Damon, both followers of the philosopher...

-esque.

Duff, to promote his ewe lamb, Paramount Hams, conceives the brilliant idea of using Mrs Chavendar's portrait to hypnotise masses into eating P Ham, but is stymied by Mrs Steptoe who refuses to sell it, for the fear of inviting the subject's disapproval, and hence increasing the possibility of not inheriting the pots of gold.

Duff, a man with a single idea, eventually gets both Sally and Joss working on stealing the portrait - Sally having been told that the flame of old love is still flickering, and Joss having been moved by the homesickness of Mr Steptoe. In the meanwhile, Chibnall grows suspicious of Joss, the ideas fuelled by the romantic mind of his fiancee, who has encountered Duff in a false moustache

Moustache

A moustache is facial hair grown on the outer surface of the upper lip. It may or may not be accompanied by a type of beard, a facial hair style grown and cropped to cover most of the lower half of the face.-Etymology:...

.

Is true love rewarded? Does Duff get Mrs Chavendar's painting? Will Mr Steptoe return to his homeland, away from the stifling stiffs?

External links

• The Russian Wodehouse Society's page, with a list of characters