The Pickwick Papers

Eight short stories that introduce Bertie Wooster and his unflappable valet Jeeves, the pair that defined twentieth century English comedy. Expect absurd schemes, foolish aristocrats, and a butler who always has the last word.

P G Wodehouse

A young American composer tangles with the eccentric Marshmoreton family in this Wodehouse romance set around a crumbling English castle. Mistaken identities, scheming aunts, and crisp Edwardian banter carry the plot from first page to last.

P G Wodehouse

One of Wodehouse's earliest school novels follows a house prefect whose unruly uncle suddenly enrolls as a junior student. Cricket matches, dormitory mischief, and gentle satire of English boarding school life fill the pages.

P G Wodehouse

Three friends and a fox terrier paddle up the Thames in 1889 and discover that rowing, camping, and cooking are much harder than they look. Jerome's tangents on history, food, and human laziness made this one of the most quoted comic novels in English.

Jerome K. Jerome

Wilde's sharpest play turns Victorian manners into a battlefield of wit, invented identities, and unforgettable one-liners. Three short acts contain most of the best dialogue ever written for the English stage.

Oscar Wilde