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When A Man Marries
What do you get when you combine a wickedly sharp-tongued heroine with a case of mistaken identities, a houseful of quarantined high-society dinner party guests, and a jewel thief? A comedy of errors, a madcap mystery, and a sexy love story rolled into one—When A Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rinehart, the grand dame of early twentieth century mysteries!
“That's the trouble with a lie; somebody asks you to tell one as a favor to somebody else, and the first thing you know, you are having to tell a thousand, and trying to remember the ones you have told so you won't contradict yourself, and the very person you have tried to help turns on you and reproaches you for being untruthful!”
So sayeth Kit McNair, New York society darling turned amateur sleuth, as she reflects on the series of outrageous events brought on by her willingness to help a friend in need. When Kit’s dear friend Jim springs the news on her at a dinner party that his overbearing Aunt Selina is due any moment for an impromptu visit, and that he is too ashamed to tell his aunt that his wife, Bella, divorced him, Kit reluctantly agrees to pretend to be Bella, whom Aunt Selina has never met. The rest of their friends think this will be great fun to watch, and they settle in for an evening of entertainment as only Kit McNair can deliver.
But there’s a handsome stranger at the party too, a Mr. Tom Harbison, and Kit is dismayed to have to introduce herself to this eligible bachelor as a married woman! She wants only to get this night over with and get Aunt Selina out of town so she can drop this cumbersome ruse, but when Jim’s butler falls ill while serving dinner, the board of health suspects smallpox and quarantines the entire dinner party inside the house. And who should Kit discover hiding in the basement but Jim’s ex-wife Bella, desperately trying to pretend that she hasn’t been caught spying on her ex-husband.
The quarantined socialites become the talk of the town, and their plans to escape the house are thwarted at every turn by overzealous reporters. As if being trapped in the house with the real Bella and Aunt Selina while her friends blame her for their predicament wasn’t bad enough, jewelry starts going missing and Kit finds herself on the trail of a jewel thief while falling for Mr. Harbison, but it’s awfully hard to flirt with him while pretending to be another man’s wife! And what’s she going to do when everyone else begins to suspect him as the thief among them? As Kit narrows in on the jewel thief her charade begins to unravel, with some hilarious and surprising consequences!
Bonus Content: Introduction, Image Gallery
Legacy Vintage Collection Enhanced eBooks have been professionally edited for readability and professionally formatted for your favorite e-reader! View more on The Vintage Reader.
“That's the trouble with a lie; somebody asks you to tell one as a favor to somebody else, and the first thing you know, you are having to tell a thousand, and trying to remember the ones you have told so you won't contradict yourself, and the very person you have tried to help turns on you and reproaches you for being untruthful!”
So sayeth Kit McNair, New York society darling turned amateur sleuth, as she reflects on the series of outrageous events brought on by her willingness to help a friend in need. When Kit’s dear friend Jim springs the news on her at a dinner party that his overbearing Aunt Selina is due any moment for an impromptu visit, and that he is too ashamed to tell his aunt that his wife, Bella, divorced him, Kit reluctantly agrees to pretend to be Bella, whom Aunt Selina has never met. The rest of their friends think this will be great fun to watch, and they settle in for an evening of entertainment as only Kit McNair can deliver.
But there’s a handsome stranger at the party too, a Mr. Tom Harbison, and Kit is dismayed to have to introduce herself to this eligible bachelor as a married woman! She wants only to get this night over with and get Aunt Selina out of town so she can drop this cumbersome ruse, but when Jim’s butler falls ill while serving dinner, the board of health suspects smallpox and quarantines the entire dinner party inside the house. And who should Kit discover hiding in the basement but Jim’s ex-wife Bella, desperately trying to pretend that she hasn’t been caught spying on her ex-husband.
The quarantined socialites become the talk of the town, and their plans to escape the house are thwarted at every turn by overzealous reporters. As if being trapped in the house with the real Bella and Aunt Selina while her friends blame her for their predicament wasn’t bad enough, jewelry starts going missing and Kit finds herself on the trail of a jewel thief while falling for Mr. Harbison, but it’s awfully hard to flirt with him while pretending to be another man’s wife! And what’s she going to do when everyone else begins to suspect him as the thief among them? As Kit narrows in on the jewel thief her charade begins to unravel, with some hilarious and surprising consequences!
Bonus Content: Introduction, Image Gallery
Legacy Vintage Collection Enhanced eBooks have been professionally edited for readability and professionally formatted for your favorite e-reader! View more on The Vintage Reader.
216 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1909
36 people are currently reading
144 people want to read
About the author
Mary Roberts Rinehart
526 books423 followersMysteries of the well-known American writer Mary Roberts Rinehart include
The Circular Staircase
(1908) and
The Door
(1930).
People often called this prolific author the American version of Agatha Christie. She is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it," though the exact phrase doesn't appear in her works, and she invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing.
Rinehart wrote hundreds of short stories, poems, travelogues, and special articles. Many of her books and plays were adapted for movies, such as The Bat (1926), The Bat Whispers (1930), and The Bat (1959). Critics most appreciated her murder mysteries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ro...
People often called this prolific author the American version of Agatha Christie. She is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it," though the exact phrase doesn't appear in her works, and she invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing.
Rinehart wrote hundreds of short stories, poems, travelogues, and special articles. Many of her books and plays were adapted for movies, such as The Bat (1926), The Bat Whispers (1930), and The Bat (1959). Critics most appreciated her murder mysteries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ro...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
June 17, 2013
3.5 stars
Mary Roberts Rinehart is best remembered today as a mystery writer, but When a Man Marries is a classic screwball comedy - complete with a feisty female lead, mistaken identities, romance, witty repartee and a cast of befuddled high-society types. Jewelry thefts and mysterious happenings are part of the plot, but what kept me turning the pages was the humor, the improbable twists and turns and the desire to see if two obviously mad-for-each-other couples would stop being stubborn, already.
Kit McNair just wants to help a friend distraught over the approaching second anniversary of his divorce. She encourages Jimmy Wilson to host a small dinner party at his fashionable New York home. As the group gathers, a frantic Jimmy informs them his wealthy Aunt Selina is coming for an unexpected visit. Aunt Selina disapproves strongly of divorce - and she holds Jimmy's purse strings. The rest of the group persuades the reluctant Kit to pose as Jimmy's wife, just for the duration of Aunt Selina's short stay.
Of course, a whole host of complications ensue. Jimmy's butler falls ill with what appears to be smallpox, and the rest of the frightened servants flee the house. Jimmy's REAL ex-wife, Bella, shows up unannounced, forcing Kit to hide her in the basement. Then the public-health authorities arrive to lock up the entire dinner party in quarantine.
Thus the stage is set for an outrageous, wild romp. Used to being fed and dressed by servants, the trapped guests muddle along as best they can. Aunt Selina unleashes her domestic tyranny on the household. Jimmy tries to give Bella the cold shoulder, but it soon becomes obvious he still adores her (all while he's supposed to be playing the part of Kit's devoted husband). And while pretending to be Jim's wife, Kit finds herself increasingly attracted to a handsome new acquaintance, Tom Harbison, an engineer with little use for the "non-producing parasites" of the upper crust.
The characters are all appealingly human as they tease, quarrel and flirt with one another. After awhile, I felt like I was stuck in the house with them, laughing one moment and growing exasperated the next. I wanted to shake Kit at times for so relentlessly denying her feelings and doubting her own judgment. Then a chapter or two later I would be chuckling at her quips or admiring her pluck. I despaired of the coldly arrogant Bella until she unexpectedly and touchingly revealed she had a heart.
Think too much about a story like this, and it falls apart. It's just too ridiculous to take seriously. This breezy novel is best enjoyed as the tongue-in-cheek, fun romp that it is.
First published in 1910, When a Man Marries is in the public domain and available for free, but I opted for the 99-cent Kindle edition by Legacy Vintage Collection, which includes an introduction and a gorgeous gallery of period photographs and artwork.
Mary Roberts Rinehart is best remembered today as a mystery writer, but When a Man Marries is a classic screwball comedy - complete with a feisty female lead, mistaken identities, romance, witty repartee and a cast of befuddled high-society types. Jewelry thefts and mysterious happenings are part of the plot, but what kept me turning the pages was the humor, the improbable twists and turns and the desire to see if two obviously mad-for-each-other couples would stop being stubborn, already.
Kit McNair just wants to help a friend distraught over the approaching second anniversary of his divorce. She encourages Jimmy Wilson to host a small dinner party at his fashionable New York home. As the group gathers, a frantic Jimmy informs them his wealthy Aunt Selina is coming for an unexpected visit. Aunt Selina disapproves strongly of divorce - and she holds Jimmy's purse strings. The rest of the group persuades the reluctant Kit to pose as Jimmy's wife, just for the duration of Aunt Selina's short stay.
Of course, a whole host of complications ensue. Jimmy's butler falls ill with what appears to be smallpox, and the rest of the frightened servants flee the house. Jimmy's REAL ex-wife, Bella, shows up unannounced, forcing Kit to hide her in the basement. Then the public-health authorities arrive to lock up the entire dinner party in quarantine.
Thus the stage is set for an outrageous, wild romp. Used to being fed and dressed by servants, the trapped guests muddle along as best they can. Aunt Selina unleashes her domestic tyranny on the household. Jimmy tries to give Bella the cold shoulder, but it soon becomes obvious he still adores her (all while he's supposed to be playing the part of Kit's devoted husband). And while pretending to be Jim's wife, Kit finds herself increasingly attracted to a handsome new acquaintance, Tom Harbison, an engineer with little use for the "non-producing parasites" of the upper crust.
The characters are all appealingly human as they tease, quarrel and flirt with one another. After awhile, I felt like I was stuck in the house with them, laughing one moment and growing exasperated the next. I wanted to shake Kit at times for so relentlessly denying her feelings and doubting her own judgment. Then a chapter or two later I would be chuckling at her quips or admiring her pluck. I despaired of the coldly arrogant Bella until she unexpectedly and touchingly revealed she had a heart.
Think too much about a story like this, and it falls apart. It's just too ridiculous to take seriously. This breezy novel is best enjoyed as the tongue-in-cheek, fun romp that it is.
First published in 1910, When a Man Marries is in the public domain and available for free, but I opted for the 99-cent Kindle edition by Legacy Vintage Collection, which includes an introduction and a gorgeous gallery of period photographs and artwork.
May 8, 2016
3.5 stars
This was my first Rinehart book. In comedic elements it is reminiscent of Frank Stockton or Harold MacGrath, and a couple times I found myself chuckling audibly. But there's also a strong mystery thread running beneath it, as nine people are quarantined in a house together and a pearl necklace vanishes. The mystery will definitely keep you guessing.
There's also a romantic thread. It's rather funny, as each is baffled by the lies they began to tell at the beginning of the ill-fated dinner party. It's definitely a good lesson on what horrid complications can result from a "tiny bit of help to a friend," otherwise known as a great lie.
I listened to the Librivox version, and the narrator had some odd opinions of pronunciation. "Excape" for escape, "comferably" for comfortably, "yoomer" for humor, "yowers" for hours...that got on my nerves a bit. Otherwise, I liked her slower Southern voice.
This was my first Rinehart book. In comedic elements it is reminiscent of Frank Stockton or Harold MacGrath, and a couple times I found myself chuckling audibly. But there's also a strong mystery thread running beneath it, as nine people are quarantined in a house together and a pearl necklace vanishes. The mystery will definitely keep you guessing.
There's also a romantic thread. It's rather funny, as each is baffled by the lies they began to tell at the beginning of the ill-fated dinner party. It's definitely a good lesson on what horrid complications can result from a "tiny bit of help to a friend," otherwise known as a great lie.
I listened to the Librivox version, and the narrator had some odd opinions of pronunciation. "Excape" for escape, "comferably" for comfortably, "yoomer" for humor, "yowers" for hours...that got on my nerves a bit. Otherwise, I liked her slower Southern voice.
Want to read
September 15, 2016Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
September 19, 2016
4 1/2 stars
Now this is my kind of humor! Madcap to be sure, but not inane and NOT just a parade of snappy one-liners. This is exactly what a farce should be. I found it laugh-out-loud funny in places.
The only farce I have read that was any better than this is 'The Grand Sophy' by Georgette Heyer.
NOTE: At Rinehart's death her books had sold more than 10 million copies. The phrase "the bulter did it" originated from one of her books. How have I never heard of this author?
Now this is my kind of humor! Madcap to be sure, but not inane and NOT just a parade of snappy one-liners. This is exactly what a farce should be. I found it laugh-out-loud funny in places.
The only farce I have read that was any better than this is 'The Grand Sophy' by Georgette Heyer.
NOTE: At Rinehart's death her books had sold more than 10 million copies. The phrase "the bulter did it" originated from one of her books. How have I never heard of this author?
Read
July 18, 2018Kit assumes she's doing her friend Jim a favor, throwing a cheerful dinner party to distract the distraught divorcé on the anniversary of his divorce. What could go wrong? In very little time, through the zinging pinball-y series of silly happenstances, the group of helpless socialites is quarantined (and stranded without their servants) due to the possibility of smallpox exposure, Kit is impersonating Jim's ex-wife and pretending to still be happily married in order to secure Jim's financial future, Jim's actual ex-wife is hiding in the basement and only Kit knows she's there, a very expensive piece of jewelry is stolen, and, oh yeah, there's a surprise policeman locked in the cellar.
I don't know how I ended up with this book. I think I might have been hunting for stuff-that-reminds-people-of-Wodehouse; Mary Roberts Rinehart was writing around the same time as he was, and she too wrote for Broadway. In fact, this book was a novelization of her play Seven Days, though I didn't learn that until after I finished. This is a fireworks display of a comic mystery, with lots of sparky (and usually fun) drama, good suspense, and some breathless farce. Sure, there's a lot of ridiculousness in it (remember, comic mystery!), but it was fun. Kit's vibrant and hilariously put-upon voice and narration was a large part of what kept me reading.
I wanted to hug the cranky old lady who was a vocal Suffragette, confident in the vote coming soon. This book was written in 1910, and even though I know Aunt Selina's fictional, I sure hope she lived long enough to benefit from the Nineteenth Amendment.
The racism in the book is bluntly overt and too frequent. It sucked to get knocked over the head with it every so often.
I don't know how I ended up with this book. I think I might have been hunting for stuff-that-reminds-people-of-Wodehouse; Mary Roberts Rinehart was writing around the same time as he was, and she too wrote for Broadway. In fact, this book was a novelization of her play Seven Days, though I didn't learn that until after I finished. This is a fireworks display of a comic mystery, with lots of sparky (and usually fun) drama, good suspense, and some breathless farce. Sure, there's a lot of ridiculousness in it (remember, comic mystery!), but it was fun. Kit's vibrant and hilariously put-upon voice and narration was a large part of what kept me reading.
I wanted to hug the cranky old lady who was a vocal Suffragette, confident in the vote coming soon. This book was written in 1910, and even though I know Aunt Selina's fictional, I sure hope she lived long enough to benefit from the Nineteenth Amendment.
The racism in the book is bluntly overt and too frequent. It sucked to get knocked over the head with it every so often.
February 2, 2016
Society girl Kit tries to help a friend by pretending to be his wife at a dinner party so his aunt doesn’t find out he’s divorced and cut the purse strings. The real ex shows up, they end up quarantined, and a comedy of errors ensues. For me, the problem is that I have a very low tolerance for drama that comes when simply telling the truth could fix everything. I realize there would be no story that way, but there you have it. Kit trying to fake knowing how to cook eggs was pretty funny, but otherwise I thought most of the characters were an unlikeable mess. It was supposed to be a comedy, but I was mostly bored.
November 6, 2016
This is a fun story - a bunch of friends, upper crust types, get quarantined in a house together while having a party where they are trying to fool the home owner's aunt into believing the heroine is his wife, which she is not. Lies, misunderstandings, domestic troubles (none of them can take care of themselves without servants!), jewelry thefts, romantic interludes, and other general hijinks ensue. Great characters, and the story keeps you turning the page.
Read
September 26, 2011Hilarious comedy with a touch of mystery and a romance thrown in to make it even more interesting. Mary Roberts Rinehart is much better at comedy than serious mysteries, so this was a light, entertaining read.
Ten upper class socialites are quarantined in a house after the Japanese butler at a dinner party falls ill with the smallpox. Misunderstandings, tension and drama mount as expensive pieces of jewelry mysteriously vanish, but all in good humor. Escape attempts only result in their pictures being published in the newspaper by ecstatic reporters who think this is one of their best stories yet. Deserted by all their servants, they are forced to do fend for themselves and do household chores to keep things running smoothly. All ends well: the mystery is solved and everyone gets to go home, with some added surprises.
Ten upper class socialites are quarantined in a house after the Japanese butler at a dinner party falls ill with the smallpox. Misunderstandings, tension and drama mount as expensive pieces of jewelry mysteriously vanish, but all in good humor. Escape attempts only result in their pictures being published in the newspaper by ecstatic reporters who think this is one of their best stories yet. Deserted by all their servants, they are forced to do fend for themselves and do household chores to keep things running smoothly. All ends well: the mystery is solved and everyone gets to go home, with some added surprises.
November 30, 2011
This book really should have been called What a Tangled Web or maybe It Wasn't My Fault or even The Upper-Crust in Captivity. It is NOT about someone who gets married. A fun, light-hearted read, though. This house must have been HUGE...
November 20, 2009
1909 Book
June 21, 2010
More farce than mystery. I thought it was great fun.
March 27, 2016
Originally published in 1910.
The story is as much fun as an old 1930's movie farce or a Chevy Chase movie. The humor is only partly from the snarks and wiseassery, but situational as well. Pretty much along the lines of "if anything can go wrong--it will".
Take a group of friends of the privileged class with good intentions (but no one with brains except the main protagonist) in a big old house in NYC. Add in a cantankerous aunt and a visiting civil engineer, a hastily concocted scheme crafted of good intentions, enforced medical quarantine and no servants, paparazzi, missing jewels, and you have the basic elements. Well worth the read!!
Karen Commins gives a fantastic audio performance as narrator! She has all of the audio emotions down perfectly, and it's easy to know which *character* is verbalizing.
"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast."
The story is as much fun as an old 1930's movie farce or a Chevy Chase movie. The humor is only partly from the snarks and wiseassery, but situational as well. Pretty much along the lines of "if anything can go wrong--it will".
Take a group of friends of the privileged class with good intentions (but no one with brains except the main protagonist) in a big old house in NYC. Add in a cantankerous aunt and a visiting civil engineer, a hastily concocted scheme crafted of good intentions, enforced medical quarantine and no servants, paparazzi, missing jewels, and you have the basic elements. Well worth the read!!
Karen Commins gives a fantastic audio performance as narrator! She has all of the audio emotions down perfectly, and it's easy to know which *character* is verbalizing.
"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast."
October 3, 2015
A lively, humorous, romantic mystery, told with fine wit: Kit invites a batch of society types to help cheer up Jim, who's despondent over his divorce. Then she's talked into posing as his wife during the sudden visit of his wealthy aunt, who must be kept from knowing about the break-up. Unfortunately, the entire crew — and several other unexpected characters — find themselves cooped up together when the butler takes ill and the house is quarantined for smallpox. Meanwhile, the guests' jewels begin disappearing.
March 20, 2016
"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast."
This was a fun look into the lives of upper society, when they are thrown into unexpected circumstances. The orginal novel is in the public domain, so you know it was written many years ago but it makes you contemplate what would happen in our era. I found myself chuckling often while I listened.
The narration was well done, The characters were excellently portrayed.
This was a fun look into the lives of upper society, when they are thrown into unexpected circumstances. The orginal novel is in the public domain, so you know it was written many years ago but it makes you contemplate what would happen in our era. I found myself chuckling often while I listened.
The narration was well done, The characters were excellently portrayed.
February 15, 2011
Entertaining mystery-comedy-romance. The plot was a bit contrived but it held my interest to the end. 3 1/2 stars.
December 4, 2012
It has been a while since I read this but I remember it being not too bad of a read..
January 5, 2019
Entertaining comic mystery
This is my favorite MRR. It was like watching an old black and white movie. It was old fashion classic comedy with a bit of mystery.
This is my favorite MRR. It was like watching an old black and white movie. It was old fashion classic comedy with a bit of mystery.
February 4, 2022
What a delightful book. I giggled way too much. And the tongue-in-cheek humor is right up my alley.
March 1, 2024
This turn-of-the-nineteenth century novel, a precursor of Hollywood's screwball comedies of the 1930s, is a laugh-out-loud misadventure that is well-written, engaging and completely entertaining. Telling the plot would spoil it, I think, as so much of the pleasure is derived from wondering just WHAT could possibly happen next?! The best thing to do, is to let Kit (the narrator) tell it in her own words:
It began with Jimmy Wilson and a conspiracy, was helped on by a foot-square piece of yellow paper and a Japanese butler, and it enmeshed and mixed up generally ten respectable members of society and a policeman. Incidentally, it involved a pearl collar and a box of soap, which sounds incongruous, doesn’t it?
Rinehart, known for her popular mysteries, has a wonderful knack for writing conversation and ridiculous situations, both of which made When a Man Marries such fun. It is not perfect, and there are a few bits that could have been smoothed out better or explained more, as well as some dated, now offensive, language. Despite that, I got five stars worth of enjoyment out of it, and am truly sad that I can't honestly give it the full five rating.
It began with Jimmy Wilson and a conspiracy, was helped on by a foot-square piece of yellow paper and a Japanese butler, and it enmeshed and mixed up generally ten respectable members of society and a policeman. Incidentally, it involved a pearl collar and a box of soap, which sounds incongruous, doesn’t it?
Rinehart, known for her popular mysteries, has a wonderful knack for writing conversation and ridiculous situations, both of which made When a Man Marries such fun. It is not perfect, and there are a few bits that could have been smoothed out better or explained more, as well as some dated, now offensive, language. Despite that, I got five stars worth of enjoyment out of it, and am truly sad that I can't honestly give it the full five rating.
February 20, 2025
An entertaining book. A spontaneous dinner party to cheer Jim up turns into a fiasco when Kit is forced to pretend to be Jim's wife in order to fool his maiden aunt who shows up unexpectedly. Things go from bad to worse when the ex-wife shows up. Then the house is placed under quarantine because the manservant gets smallpox. I'll stop there because then the jewels began to disappear.
Set in the early 1920s, this is an amusing glimpse into the past. Be prepared for silly romantic notions and prejudices of the period. However, unless you're triggered by such things, you'll have fun with this if you're snowed in like I was. Rinehart was an excellent writer.
Set in the early 1920s, this is an amusing glimpse into the past. Be prepared for silly romantic notions and prejudices of the period. However, unless you're triggered by such things, you'll have fun with this if you're snowed in like I was. Rinehart was an excellent writer.
December 23, 2023
A witty mystery with romantic elements and classic-style writing; it’s another nice and short introduction to get into stories or novels from the 1900’s. It was a good listen on the audiobook, but I feel I could’ve enjoyed it better by physically reading it. There were parts that I loved and parts that left me unimpressed to continue forward. At the end of it all, it was a fine listen with some twists, a fairly good cast of characters, and a well-done ending!
December 24, 2023
I don't know why my old review was deleted. So I am posting it again.
A harmless deception gets unwittingly prolonged leading to heartache but it all gets tied up in the end, so don't worry.
Moral:
1. Don't try to fool aunts.
2. Don't get caught up in friends' stupid ideas.
Verdict: One of the funniest books I've ever had the pleasure of reading.
April 19, 2025
This was a very fun book to read, my first Mary Roberts Rinehart. It can be listened to on YouTube at https://youtu.be/vO3fiMb9ugQ
The narrator at the Scrub Oak Acorns channel on YouTube does a pretty good job!
The narrator at the Scrub Oak Acorns channel on YouTube does a pretty good job!
August 23, 2025
3.5 ⭐️
June 1, 2025
Pretty good plot if you ignore the blatant racism in certain parts. ut it's hard to ignore at times.
June 10, 2023
This was (largely) an absolute delight. Reminiscent of the screwball films from the 1930's, it seems to be set about 20 years earlier among a crowd of upper-class friends (and an acquaintance). Getting together for dinner to cheer up Jim on the anniversary of his unwanted divorce, they are interrupted by his maiden aunt who disapproves generally of and hasn't yet heard of the sad event.
Desperate to retain the approval of and his sizeable allowance from said aunt, Jim prevails on our narrator to pretend to be his wife for the evening. As a favor, she agrees but things get a bit more complicated when they all end up quarantined for scarlet fever and several pricey sets of jewelry go missing.
It's not perfect, but it's fun! My only issue is several bits of overt racism that would easily be edited out and fixed with a more diverse cast should Hollywood decide to make it into a film(hint, hint).
Easily accessible. Pretty sure it's in the public domain.
Desperate to retain the approval of and his sizeable allowance from said aunt, Jim prevails on our narrator to pretend to be his wife for the evening. As a favor, she agrees but things get a bit more complicated when they all end up quarantined for scarlet fever and several pricey sets of jewelry go missing.
It's not perfect, but it's fun! My only issue is several bits of overt racism that would easily be edited out and fixed with a more diverse cast should Hollywood decide to make it into a film(hint, hint).
Easily accessible. Pretty sure it's in the public domain.
August 8, 2011
Entertaining and funny. One of my favorites of this author.
February 10, 2015
4.5 Stars! Kit is freakin' hilarious.
September 3, 2018
Funny tale with twists and well narrated (LibriVox) by Sharon Kilmer.
March 23, 2020
Enjoyed the book, but there were lots of plot holes and inconsistencies.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews