The British reading public retain an inextinguishable fondness for Jerome K Jerome. Other worthy humorists of the period – Barry Pain, W W Jacobs, Eden Phillpotts, William Pett Ridge – have fallen by the way. Not so the writer with the odd, self-chosen middle name – ‘Klapka’ – whose origin remains a perennial topic of dispute among his admirers. (Any suggestions may be referred to the thriving Jerome K Jerome Society, whose president, Jeremy Nicholas, writes a warm foreword to this biography.)

Subscribe or Sign In to read the full article