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Hot Water cover art

Hot Water

By: P. G. Wodehouse
Narrated by: Jonathan Cecil
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Summary

Château Blissac, on its hill above St Roque, is in a setting where every prospect pleases. But it doesn't please its current occupier, J. Wellington Gedge. Mr Gedge wants none of it - and particularly none of the domineering Mrs Gedge's imperious wish that he should become American Ambassador to Paris. Instead he pines for the simpler life of California, where men are men and filling stations stand tall.

Mrs Gedge has powerful allies - including the prohibitionist Senator Opal. But will she get her way? And will the Senator's delightful daughter Jane get her man?

In a plot which involves safe-blowers, con men, jewel-thieves and even a Bloomsbury novelist, few are quite as they seem. But the heady atmosphere of France in the 1930s makes for one of Wodehouse's most delightful comedies.

©2002 Trustees of the Wodehouse Estate (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Hot Water

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of my favourite Wodehouse stories, but not great performance

I suspect it’s a Marmite thing, with some people thinking J Cecil is the cat’s pyjamas, and some not. I fall into the latter category.
It must be a difficult book to perform, as almost all the characters are American, but I felt that JC blurred the characters, especially during dialogues, to an extent that it sometimes became difficult to be sure who was speaking . Coupled with his slight tendency to gabble, especially in the first half, I found this recording to be less enjoyable than I had anticipated.
Still a worthwhile purchase, but not on my favourites list.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

I’m astonished!

I never thought I’d find a book by P G Wodehouse to be a bit dull and somewhat too long. But that’s what happened. I suspect it’s because Wodehouse seems to be writing for an American audience.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book, Lousy Reader

Enjoying this much more on Kindle, strangely enough. Maybe Wodehouse's jokes often work much better in print. John Wells seems to be the only narrator that can do them justice.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderfully performed (as usual) by Jonathan Cecil

Another Wodehouse masterpiece! I enjoyed every minute. Maybe the ending IS predictable... but every step of the journey toward it is delightful.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This is one of the best

I’ve listen to most of PG Wodehouse audiobooks and this is one of my favourites.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A bit bonkers, but enjoyable all the same

P. G. Wodehouse is my comfort read when I'm struggling to get in the book/audio book mood. Something about his writing just makes even my most stand-offish moments towards books relent and let him in. So it was, when I was in a bit of a reading slump, that I put out the call and Wodehouse answered.

It took me a bit of time to get into this. I'm not sure whether it was my being in somewhat of a downer as far as reading goes, but it certainly took me longer than a typical Wodehouse book might. For that reason, and that reason alone, I've marked it down from the five stars it otherwise might have scored.

The good bits, of which there are many, include a colourful cast of characters and a lively setting. As with all Wodehouse comedies, naivety and circumstance play a heavy part in the plot. It features schemes to steal jewels, plots to foil ambassadorial dreams, a smattering of romance here and there, all intermingled to create a tangled web of charming comedy and unfortunate happenstance (depending on which character you ask).

I say tangled rather than well-spun due to the fact that much of the tangles rely on happenstance and mistaken identity, much of which wouldn't hold up to scrutiny from your average person paying your average amount of attention. I think if anyone else where to attempt it, they'd struggle to pull it off. But, seeing as how Wodehouse was the man to give it a whirl, it seems to have come together far more nicely than it perhaps otherwise might.

All in all, it's a nice, short read that requires a bit more attention than your average Wodehouse novel. Perfect if you want something light and relatively care-free.

I've seen a few reviews give negative opinions on the narration. My personal thoughts are that Jonathan Cecil did a great job (he is my favourite Wodehouse narrator, so there's a smidge of bias there.)

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Wodehouse at his most farcical

Plot is generally secondary in Wodehouse, but in some of his works it's even less important. Hot Water is one of the latter. The plot is ludicrous, there are far too many characters, coincidences abound, identities are mistaken on the thinnest pretexts. But this is Wodehouse, so the result is as light, fluffy and enjoyable as a well-made mousse. Jonathan Cecil's narration is, as ever, peerless.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous

Cecil is marvellous! Absolutely hilarious, serves Wodehouse so wonderfully! His aristocracy shines through every time he says girl🤣

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Laugh out loud !

This is great fun! At first I wasn't sure I would enjoy it but just keep going.It is hilarious and would make a great play on the stage.The narration was super and you have to keep track of the characters, who they really are and what they are up to. With a little bit of romance thrown in.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Superb in every way! Very entertaining plot, criminals and imposters galore in a French "chat-ee-o".

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