Once a man of the Hon. Galahad Threepwood's calibre and reputation starts taking pen in hand and writing Reminiscences, the nobility and gentry of all England recall past follies committed in his company and tremble.

All rally to prevent their publication, and the consequences prove somewhat unusual: Lord Emsworth's prize-winning sow, Empress of Blandings, is kidnapped; yet another imposter is introduced into the ancestral home; and once again Blandings Castle proves too much for the Efficient Baxter.