Uncle Dynamite is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 22 October 1948 by Herbert Jenkins, London and in the United States on 29 November 1948 by Didier & Co., New York. It features the mischievous Uncle Fred, who had previously appeared in Uncle Fred in the Springtime (1939).
Plot
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, fifth Earl of Ickenham, known to all as Uncle Fred, is on the loose once again (Lady Ickenham having decamped for a wedding in Trinidad), and Reginald ("Pongo") Twistleton, his long-suffering nephew, has every right to be petrified.
Uncle Fred has just arrived at Ashenden Manor, Ashenden Oakshott, Hampshire. Ashenden Manor is the home of Sir Aylmer Bostock, Pongo's future father-in-law. Pongo is already in residence and has committed two rank floaters: accidentally smashing a whatnot from Sir Aylmer's collection of African curios, and (in the course of demonstrating how Brazilian natives kill birds with rude slings) smashing a coveted bust of his host.
Pongo's solution is to replace the busted bust with another one, abstracted from Ickenham Hall. But unknown to him, the replacement bust was fashioned by his former fiancée Sally Painter, and conceals valuable jewellery that a friend of hers was planning to smuggle through New York Customs.
Sally tries to replace the bust with another of Sir Aylmer she sculpted (but had had returned to her, after an unfortunate incident relating to her brother Otis' publication of Sir Aylmer's memoirs), but this comes to naught, and both busts end up in Sir Aylmer's collection room.
Uncle Fred is unruffled by this setback and decides to infiltrate the house as an imposter. Having met Bill Oakshott (an unassuming young man who is the actual owner of Ashenden Manor, but who shrinks from confronting and displacing his bombastic, overbearing uncle Sir Aylmer) on the train, Uncle Fred contrives to get invited to the house—under the name of Major Brabazon-Plank. Unfortunately, the local Constable, Harold Potter, happens to have grown up with Major Plank (and also happens to remember arresting Uncle Fred and Pongo at the dog races under the names of Edwin Smith and George Robinson). Potter, intimately tied to the household through his fiancée, the housemaid Elsie Bean, becomes suspicious, and watches the house.
Uncle Fred's tasks are: to snatch the bust for Sally Painter; get Sir Aylmer to drop his suit against Otis, so that Sally will not lose the money she invested in his firm; convince Pongo that Hermione Bostock is not the proper wife for him and that Sally is; restore Bill Oakshott to his place as head of his family home and unite him with Hermione, whom he has loved for years; and convince Constable Potter not only to not arrest him, but indeed to quit the force so he and Elsie Bean may live happily ever after. Complications arise, including the arrival of the real Major Brabazon-Plank— but his menace is neutralized because of his horror of judging the Bonnie Babies competition at the Ashenden Oakshott Fête, an honor for which Uncle Fred, as the ersatz Major, has volunteered.
Bill Oakshott finds inspiration in the dominant hero of Ethel M. Dell's The Way of an Eagle.
Main characters
Frederick Twistleton, Lord Ickenham — "Uncle Fred", Pongo's well-intentioned meddling uncle who aims to "spread sweetness and light" Reginald "Pongo" Twistleton — Lord Ickenham's nervous nephew and Drones Club member, engaged to Hermione William "Bill" Oakshott — Diffident owner of Ashenden Manor, Sir Aylmer's nephew, and Pongo's childhood friend who is in love with Hermione Sir Aylmer Bostock — Bill's overbearing uncle, a former colonial governor about to stand for Parliament Lady Emily Bostock — Polite wife of Sir Aylmer and mother of their daughter Hermione Hermione Bostock — Forceful novelist who writes under the name Gwynneth Gould and is engaged to Pongo Sally Painter — American sculptress and ex-fiancée of Pongo who still has feelings for him and regards Lord Ickenham as an uncle Otis Painter — Sally's brother, head of Meriday House, publisher of Sir Aylmer Bostock's memoirs Major Brabazon-Plank — Explorer who led a recent expedition to the Lower Amazon, which included Bill, and who went to school with Lord Ickenham and Sir Aylmer Elsie Bean — Gregarious housemaid at Ashenden Manor Harold Potter — Vigilant police constable engaged to Elsie