Question: British humourist, Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (P.G. Wodehouse), was born October 15th, 1881 and died on Valentine’s Day, 1975 at the age of ninety-three. During his lifetime he lived in England, France, and the United States, and wrote most of his (many) books and stories in those countries. Where was he when he wrote the novel, Joy In The Morning?
Answer: In Tost, Germany, a prisoner of the Third Reich. He and his wife Ethel were in France at the time of the Nazi occupation and he was arrested soon after.
P.G. Wodehouse’s books are good clean fun, and with today’s pandemic fears and political tensions, could provide weary teens (and adults) with some welcome escapism. As his fellow novelist, Evelyn Waugh said, “Mr. Wodehouse’s idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from a captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in.”
And both his ability to make his novels ‘timeless’ and the controversy over his supposed co-operation with the Germans could lead to interesting discussions or serve as debate topics.
