''Berry and Co.'' is a 1921 collection of comic short stories by the English author

Dornford Yates Cecil William Mercer (7 August 1885 – 5 March 1960), known by his pen name Dornford Yates, was an English writer and novelist whose novels and short stories, some humorous (the ''Berry'' books), some Thriller (genre), thrillers (the ''Chandos ...

(Cecil William Mercer), his third book, featuring his recurring characters Bertram ('Berry') Pleydell, his wife and cousin Daphne Pleydell, Daphne's brother Boy Pleydell, another cousin Jonathan ('Jonah') Mansel, and Jonah's younger sister Jill Mansel. The group of five - Berry, Daphne, Boy, Jonah and Jill - are collectively 'Berry and Co.'

Plot

The book consists of short stories featuring Berry, Daphne, Boy, Jonah and Jill, set at 'White Ladies',

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

and at 'Cholmondeley Street',

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

in London in 1919 and 1920. In chapter 4, a

Sealyham Terrier The Sealyham Terrier ( cy, Daeargi Sealyham) is a rare Welsh breed of small to medium-sized terrier that originated in Wales as a working dog. It is principally a white-bodied, rough-coated breed, developed in the mid-to-late-19th century by ...

called Nobby joins the family. In the final story, Boy and Adèle (who had first appeared in '' The Courts of Idleness'') become engaged.

Background

All of the stories in ''Berry and Co.'' had originally appeared in ''

The Windsor Magazine ''The Windsor Magazine'' was a monthly illustrated publication produced by Ward Lock & Co from January 1895 to September 1939 (537 issues). The title page described it as "An Illustrated Monthly for Men and Women". It was bound as six-monthly ...

'' between December 1919 and December 1920. It was with the publication of ''Berry and Co.'' that Mercer finally made his mark as an author: the book proved to be extremely popular and was reprinted almost annually until the outbreak of the Second World War.

Chapters

Illustrations

The illustrations from the ''Windsor'' stories were not included in the book version, although one of the illustrations by Norah Schlegel (1879-1963) from "A Double Event" was used to illustrate the dustjacket of the first edition. Her illustration for "A Trick Of Memory" was used as the basis for the cover illustration by Bill Dare of ''The Best of Berry'' (1989) in the Classic Thrillers series of paperbacks issued by J.M.Dent & Sons Ltd.

Critical reception

In his 1982 biography of the author, AJ Smithers noted that the stories in ''Berry and Co.'' are longer and much funnier than the earlier tales, and he called the book "as fresh as the day it left the printers." His view was that "the reading public of the time revelled in it; their grandchildren still do; very probably the same will be said by their own."

Richard Usborne Richard Alexander Usborne (16 May 1910 – 21 March 2006) was a journalist, advertising executive, schoolmaster and author. After the publication of his book ''Wodehouse at Work'' in 1961 he became regarded as the leading authority on the works ...

in ''Clubland Heroes'' (1974) summarised a typical story: "Argument, persiflage, Berry over-ridden, plot, plot thickens, car chase, Berry goes off on sleeveless errand, Berry's long, 'priceless' Messenger's Speech ... Family tottering with laughter. Berry discomfited .. last word ... with Berry. End."

References

Bibliography

* * {{Books by Dornford Yates 1921 short story collections Ward, Lock & Co. books Short story collections by Dornford Yates