Plot Summary:As ever, all Clarence wants is to be left in peace with his beloved pig, the Empress of Blandings. But events conspire against him as never before. On top of his imperious sister Connie and his feeble-witted, fun-loving son Freddie, the paradisal beauty of Blandings Castle is invaded by the poker-wielding, egg-throwing Duke of Dunstable, the most odious man in Shropshire. With the help of his faithful, port-fuelled butler, Beach, Clarence is obliged to navigate a cavalcade of impossible guests and impostors including a scandalous Hollywood actress, a saxophone-playing secretary, a leather-gusseted religious maniac, Clarence's frankly terrifying sister Charlotte and - worst of all - his incorrigibly rakish brother Galahad, on the prowl with a glittering monocle and a case full of shocking memoirs which threaten to ruin the entire family. Will tranquillity ever reign at Blandings Castle, even for an afternoon?