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| Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, 1881-1975 |
Ghost stories have been popular for centuries.
When the Spiritualist movement began in the 1880s they became even more popular.
At this same time the “short story” format came into its own.
P.G. Wodehouse was a British comic writer that used the short story format successfully during this period.
Wodehouse wrote a wonderful ghost story entitled, Honeysuckle Cottage. It was first published in January of 1925 in the Saturday Evening Post in the U.S. and then a month later in the Strand Magazine in the U.K.
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| Saturday Evening Post January 24, 1925 edition |
Honeysuckle Cottage is both a charming and humorous story.
Today, a belief persists that all ghost stories are meant to be “terrifying”– this notion is wrong.
Most ghost stories that are considered classic instead use subtlety. These stories often focus more on the living and their trails and tribulations than on the ghosts in the story.
The concept of what a ghost represented broadened during Wodehouse’s time. Many creative writers brought ghosts into their plots in nontraditional ways. For instance, a ghost might just be a memory or a place.
Wodehouse’s Honeysuckle Cottage is about a “place,” in this case a country cottage that is haunted by the numerous romance novels that the main character’s aunt wrote while she lived there.
When this aunt, Leila J. Pinckney dies she bequeaths this cottage to her nephew, James Rodman.
He like his aunt is a successful writer but this is where the similarity between the two ends for Rodman holds the romance genre in contempt. He unlike his aunt writes “serious” suspense thrillers that embody ruthless characters.
No glutinous sentimentality for him, no thank you.
A stipulation in his aunt’s will states that in order for Rodman to inherit the 5000 pounds she left him he must agree to live in the cottage for at least 6 months out of the year.
When he complies a comedy of errors ensues. Rodman finds the cottage has a surprising effect upon his writing. Perplexed, he finds he has a strong urge to place a beautiful female character into his latest story. Even worse he discovers his writing has become “romantic drivel.”
Are unseen forces at work?
Just as he is resolving this issue he finds himself confronted with a real life “pretty young lady” who because of an untimely accident must stay at the cottage until she recovers.
Rodman a “confirmed bachelor” now must face an onslaught of unseen forces plus the lady’s doctor and his housekeeper all insinuating that romance is in the air.
Wodehouse deftly manipulates his plot through several more twists and turns leaving the reader wondering if Rodman will succumb to love or stay on his chosen path.
This story is narrated by a “fictional distant cousin” of Rodman’s by the name of Mr. Mulliner who loves to tell a good story. It is a quick and fun read.
You can buy the story Meet Mr. Mulliner here. This collection of short stories includes the story Honeysuckle Cottage.
There is one free copy of the story online here. The reader has to scroll down to story lX Honeysuckle Cottage 267. Some words are obscured in this text.