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P.G. Wodehouse fans, rejoice! Sebastian Faulks will pen a new Bertie Wooster novel

With permission of the Wodehouse estate, Sebastian Faulks – who was also the author of the estate-approved James Bond novel 'Devil May Care' – will come out with a new story of Bertie and Jeeves in November.

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Actor Hugh Laurie (l.) and Stephen Fry (r.) portrayed aristocrat Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves in a TV adaptation of P.G. Wodehouse's novels.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

The story of aristocrat Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves is being revived in a new novel by British author Sebastian Faulks, who is writing the book with the permission of the P.G. Wodehouse estate.

Faulks’ novel “Jeeves and the Wedding Bells” will be the first-ever story about the duo authorized by Wodehouse’s estate, according to the Guardian. The estate approached Faulks, who has created new stories for British literary icons before with his authorized James Bond novel “Devil May Care,” and asked him to create an original Jeeve and Wooster story.

in an interview with the BBC, Faulks called the request an “honor.”

“Wodehouse is inimitable,” the author said. “But I will do the very best I can…. I hope my story will ring bells with aficionados, but also bring new readers to these wonderful books.”

Of Faulks’ selection, the Wodehouse estate said in a statement that “we are thrilled that so skilful and stylish a novelist, and so perceptive and discerning a reader, has agreed to bring to life the immortal characters Jeeves and Bertie Wooster for the enjoyment of today's audience in a homage to PG Wodehouse.”

“Bells” will be published in the US Nov. 5 and the UK Nov. 6. St. Martin’s Press will release the book in America, while the British version will come from publisher Hutchinson.

Jeeves and Wooster first appeared in a 1915 short story titled “Extricating Young Gussie” and were the subject of numerous books and short stories by Wodehouse. They were also portrayed in a recent TV adaptation with Hugh Laurie taking the role of Wooster and Stephen Fry playing Jeeves. The series, titled “Jeeves and Wooster,” ran from 1990 to 1993.

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