Love Among the Chickens – P. G. Wodehouse (English edition: Love Among the Chickens)

Wodehouse once described his writing as “musical comedy without music,” and Love Among the Chickens is one of the earliest examples of his trademark style. The narrator, Jeremy Garnet, is a mild-mannered author attempting to finish his next novel in peace and quiet. Enter Stanley Ukridge, a man brimming with endless schemes, who draws the narrator into his latest, “the idea of a lifetime”—running a chicken farm. With little practical knowledge, yet boundless ambition, they move to a country house and put the plan into action. Along the way, Garnet falls headlong in love with a woman on the train, and becomes consumed with winning her heart, despite formidable obstacles. The original edition of Love Among the Chickens was published in the UK in 1906. This newer edition dates from 1921 and is described as “entirely rewritten by the author.” It is the first introduction in print of the character Ukridge, who would appear again in other short stories and novels by Wodehouse.