Wild Strawberries

Barsetshire #2

by Angela Thirkell, Alexander McCall Smith (Introduction)

Pretty, impecunious Mary Preston, newly arrived as a guest of her Aunt Agnes at the magnificent wooded estate of Rushwater, falls head over heels for handsome playboy David Leslie. Meanwhile, Agnes and her mother, the eccentric matriarch Lady Emily, have hopes of a different, more suitable match for Mary. At the lavish Rushwater dance party, her future happiness hangs in the balance.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, British Literature, Romance, Humor, Historical Fiction, Historical

275 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

Angela Margaret Mackail was born on January 30, 1890 at 27 Young Street, Kensington Square, London. Her grandfather was Sir Edward Burne-Jones the pre-Raphaelite painter and partner in the design firm of Morris and Company for whom he designed many stained glass windows - seven of which are in St Margaret's Church in Rottingdean, West Sussex. Her grandmother was Georgiana Macdonald, one of a precocious family which included among others, Stanley Baldwin, the Prime Minister, and Rudyard Kipling. Angela's brother, Denis Mackail, was also a prolific and successful novelist. Angela's mother, Margaret Burne-Jones, married John Mackail - an administrator at the Ministry of Education and Professor of Poetry at Oxford University.

Angela married James Campbell McInnes in 1911. James was a professional Baritone and performed at concert halls throughout the UK. In 1912 their first son Graham was born and in 1914 a second son, Colin. A daughter was born in 1917 at the same time her marriage was breaking up. In November 1917 a divorce was granted and Angela and the children went to live with her parents in Pembroke Gardens in London. The child, Mary, died the next year.

Angela then met and married George Lancelot Thirkell in 1918 and in 1920 they traveled on a troop ship to George's hometown in Australia. Their adventures on the "Friedricksruh" are recounted in her Trooper to the Southern Cross published in 1934. In 1921, in Melbourne Australia, her youngest son Lancelot George was born. Angela left Australia in 1929 with 8 year old Lance and never returned. Although living with her parents in London she badly needed to earn a living so she set forth on the difficult road of the professional writer. Her first book, Three Houses, a memoir of her happy childhood was published in 1931 and was an immediate success. The first of her novels set in Trollope's mythical county of Barsetshire was Demon in the House, followed by 28 others, one each year.

Angela also wrote a book of children's stories entitled The Grateful Sparrow using Ludwig Richter's illustrations; a biography of Harriette Wilson, The Fortunes of Harriette; an historical novel, Coronation Summer, an account of the events in London during Queen Victoria's Coronation in 1838; and three semi-autobiographical novels, Ankle Deep and Oh, These Men, These Men and Trooper to the Southern Cross. When Angela died on the 29th of January 1961 she left unfinished the last of her books, Three Score and Ten which was completed by her friend, Caroline LeJeune. Angela is buried in Rottingdean alongside her daughter Mary and her Burne-Jones grandparents.

Reviews

[Magrat Ajostiernos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una comedia muy ligera para leer prácticamente del tirón.
He disfrutado muchísimo de 'Fresas silvestres', la típica comedia inglesa sobre una familia de clase alta, llena de enredos amorosos y situaciones absurdas.
Es cierto que la primera parte resulta un poquito insulsa porque representa un buen número de lugares comunes dentro de la literatura inglesa, pero de la mitad hacia al final simplemente me dejé conquistar por sus personajes típicos pero enternecedores, su mirada irónica sobre la clasista sociedad inglesa y la comedia desatada.
Aunque similar en estilo a Barbara Pym, Thirkell es mucho menos sutil y más clásica, aún así creo que esta novela gustará también a sus fans, así como los que disfrutaron con las novelas de D.E. Stevenson, La dama de provincias o la segunda trilogía de los Forsyte.
Todos los que, como yo, son fans de las screwball comedies de los años 40 sabrán apreciar esta historia sencilla, divertida y completamente feel good. Yo casi podía ver a Katharine Hepburn y Cary Grant mientras estaba leyendo.... ♡

[Christmas Carol ꧁꧂ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a much better experience than Thirkell's first Barsetshire novel . The characters were better realised,(Mr Holt was wonderful!) it was genuinely very funny in parts and there was one scene that moved me to tears.

But there was one page of Thirkell's usual cheerful racism. I had a lot of trouble getting into the book after that. I just couldn't believe what I had read.

The character of Agnes (meant to be endearing) drove me up the wall. Thirkell painted Agnes with very deft strokes, so I am not criticising the quality of her writing. But real life Agneses irritate me too.

The romance had a very fast resolution at the end. It felt like Thirkell was a little bored with the romance herself and just wanted to wrap the book up.

I'm not a Thirkell convert yet, but I am willing to read more of her books.

[Maria Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuando empecé a leer esta novela, no sabía muy bien qué iba a encontrarme en su interior. Vamos, lo desconocía todo. Pero lo que sí sabía es que me llamaba mucho la atención. Así que me adentré en sus páginas cual aventurero se interna en la selva, sin saber los peligros que le asechan desde la oscuridad. Al principio me resultó un poco confuso por la cantidad de personajes que aparecían, pero luego todo se acomodó y la narración se volvió fluida y ágil. Me ha encantado conocer a esta familia, sobre todo a la tía Agnes (qué mujer jajaja), y a Mary y a John... (un suspiro especial por John) y, como no, al resto de los personajes. Si tengo que ponerle un pero, sería a la manera en que la autora retrata a según que las mujeres de la familia, pero aún así éstas consiguen adentrarse en tu corazón y ver las cualidades que tienen. Me encantaría seguir leyendo sobre esta familia tan particular, pero este es el único libro de esta escritora, traducido al castellano.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not exactly what I had hoped for. The characters are extremely lightly done and not very believable. There are some funny situations. I know it is of its time, but I can’t imagine the town folk being impressed let alone respectful of the slight aristocratic people here.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, this is lovely!

‘Wild Strawberries’ is the story of one aristocratic English family and one glorious summer in between the wars. And it is set in Angela Thirkell’s Barchestershire, a place where every single person, however high or low their situation, is happy and accepting of their situation and the role they are to play.

You need to be able to accept that – and I can understand that some might not be able to – but I can, and if you can too, you will find much to enjoy in this light, bright and sparkling social comedy.

Lady Emily is the matriarch, of the Leslie family of Rushwater House. who happily manages everything for her family, even when it doesn’t need managing. She is sweetly oblivious, and wonderfully good natured, so the servants and the family have learned to listen, nod, and carry on managing things themselves.

Sir Henry and Lady Emily lost their eldest son in the Great War, and they still feel his loss, but they are happy with their home, their lives and their family around them.

The story wanders through the summer with just enough narrative threads running through the picture to make it feel like a story.

Agnes, the Leslies’ only daughter had come home for the summer, with her children, because her husband was abroad. She is had a week and tranquil nature, but she could be rather vague, and I suspected she might turn into her mother when she was a little older. It was lovely though to watch her with her children; she found such joy in being a mother, and her offspring gave the story such natural charm and comedy.

Mary was Agnes’s husband’s niece, and Agnes had invited her to Rushwater House for the summer, while her mother was abroad for the sake of her health. She was lovely, and she clearly enjoyed having a place in a large, extended family, and spending her summer in a big house set in glorious countryside. Agnes hoped that Mary would be a companion for her mother, and she also planned a little match-making so that Mary might become an in-law.

The most likely match seemed to be between Mary and David, the younger of her two surviving brother. David was handsome and charming and Mary was soon smitten, but I was not happy with the proposed match. Because David was so caught up with his own interest in concerns and he was terribly thoughtless. There was no malice in him and nothing that couldn’t be fixed by a little more life and experience: he was so blithely confident and it never occurred to him that others weren’t and could be hurt by his thoughtlessness.

Mary was hurt, when David brought another woman to lunch on her day out in London, when he completely forgot the basket of wild strawberries he had promised to bring home for her ….

David’s elder brother, John, saw the situation. He was a wonderfully sensitive and practical man; a widower whose wife died after just one year of marriage; the very model of a quiet hero. John made sure that Mary got her wild strawberries, he saw that David did not understand their significance to Mary, and yet but he let David assume the credit.

Meanwhile, the Leslies’ beloved grandson and heir was home from school for the holidays. There had been a plan for him to go to France for the summer, to learn the language, but he had wiggled out of it when he discovered that a French family would be staying at the vicarage for the summer. The elder son of the family became his tutor, and the younger son became his partner in crime.

The mix of characters – family, staff, visitors – and incidents keep things moving along nicely; the comedy rises and falls beautifully too, from laugh out loud to gentle smile; there are so many wonderful dialogues; and the quiet sorrow, from the loss of a son and a wife, bring just enough balance to stop the story feeling too light and too silly.

It’s a world perfectly realised, and it was lovely to watch for a little while.

There are high jinks at the estate party at the start of the summer, but it is at the end of the summer, at the birthday dance held on Martin’s seventeenth birthday that future paths will be set ….

The ending was right; of course it was.

And the next book in the series is lined up.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was an absolute mess and used the n word to describe a piece of music for just no reason and I know it was written in the 30s, but you should be warned, as it was awful and jarring. There’s also a subplot about French royalists- which is meant to be charming but in the 1930s probably meant allegiance to any number of fascist sympathizing groups. Yes, they are made to look foolish in the end, but it was yet another harsh note that took more of the charm out of this for me. What was left of the charm was finished by the fact that the romantic plot was a fiasco where the girl- who sucked in all romantic scenarios, sorry- could have reasonably ended up with either guy into the last ten pages and therefore I had little to no investment in it. Thirkell could clearly barely be bothered, so neither could I. And Lady Emily... while Thirkell is effective at rendering her a very recognizable type, I wanted to scream every time she walked into a room by the end.

And that’s a shame, because the first pages began with such a kind, empathetic rendering of Emily and why everyone lets her be the way she is, and it was so promising, but then that whole line of inquiry-which was going to be about post WWI loss and grief- got tossed aside for a whole bunch of flurry about nothing.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet, almost silly, romance/comedy of errors. It is one of those pointless tales in which we are given a taste of life in the English gentry. The problem for me was a total lack of engagement with the characters. The mother got on my nerves a bit, I found Agnes a little too unaware for a woman of her age, Mary was silly, David obnoxious, and the plot was very predictable.

This is my second Thirkell, the first being a bit more satisfying than this one. It wasn’t a bad read, just not one I was overly taken with. She is much in the line of D. E. Stevenson, but there is meat to a Stevenson novel and Thirkell is mostly vegetarian.

I have already purchased several more of her novels. I will read her again when I am in the mood for something light and frivolous, but I don’t think I will be rushing to get to them.

[Linda Dobinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of the three Angela Thirkell novels I have read this is my favourite - it is wonderful! 'Wild Strawberries' is set in a Downton Abbey type world. I say 'type' because there is comedy but no drama.
One of the things that fascinates me about classics is the language. As you read books from different periods you notice how the language changes. For example in 19 century novels there are words such as - tolerable, countenance (face), altered. There are none of these words in 'Wild Strawberries' which was published in 1934. Instead there is - awfully, ripping, and delicious - not referring to food but to experiences, conversation, and - Agnes is 'deliciously warm now you have got my shawl' (p249).
Thirkell's observations of the upper middle classes is brilliant. The characters are wonderful. Sometimes wonderfully eccentric.
Lady Emily manners are contrary. On one hand she frets about when she should pay a visit to the French family who are renting the vicarage for the summer - going to soon might be considered sizing them to see if they 'looked good enough'(p151), but going late might be considered rude. Yet she has no qualms about arriving late at church every Sunday and keeping the vicar waiting. And, of course, the vicar will wait - this was an age of deference and Lady Emily is an Earl's daughter.
Agnes Graham is beautiful but apathetic - she has 'a very gentle voice, which she never took the trouble to raise', and now lives 'in a state of perfectly contented subjection to her adoring husband and children' (p30). 'Contented subjection' is a good description. When her children misbehave she will say 'wicked one, wicked one', while hugging and kissing said 'wicked one'.
Of the men in the family Mr. Leslie, John and Martin are normal but David is somewhat incorrigible. He is handsome and has an independent income so he does not have to work. He has tried different jobs but none have worked out. He keeps going on about writing a novel but never gets around to putting pen to paper. Instead he decides to do 'the film version and the dramatic version, then with that success behind (him) it will be easy as anything to write the novel' (p199).
This book is a window on another world and I recommend it.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

The literary equivalent of eating a cream puff, but it made me laugh.

[JimZ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was OK. 2.5 stars for me. Only one likable character if you ask me in this book and that was John. His wife, Gay, had died some years ago and he was still sad over her death. He had an older brother who had died in WWI, a younger brother, David, who was an ass who I guess never worked a day in his life, and an air-head sister, Agnes, who was married to some army guy who was out of the picture for the entire novel…she was mother of 3 children that she cooed over and didn’t do much else because it appears she had two nannies to watch over them, and a mother of them all (Agnes, John, David) who was a total ditz, Lady Emily….I could go on and on. There was a cousin of somebody or other who was the love interest in the novel, Mary. And there were other characters, but I’ll just mention one in particular, Ursule. Angela Thirkell must have had a bug up her butt about people who were overweight. She picked on this young woman mercilessly throughout the book. All Ursule did was giggle, eat, or want to eat. And she was described as fat. Fat-shaming to excess if you ask me.

There was a blurb on the back from Graham Greene: ‘Mrs. Thirkell’s novel is very funny indeed’ (London Times).

Oh, and I found a typo! P. 238 in my Carroll & Grad edition: ‘herself’ was spelled ‘hereslf’. 😧 😮 😲

Reviews
• https://thecaptivereader.com/2011/01/...
• http://changing-pages.com/2018/09/11/...
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[Aida Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es uno de esos libros que llegan para evadirse,que te transportan o otro lugar,a otra época.

🍓 Con Mary,una joven bonita de una familia pudiente venida a menos me fui al condado de ficticio de Barsetshire ,la autora se lo tomó prestado en numerosas ocasiones a Antony Trollope.

🍓 Alli le espera la familia de los ricos Leslie.

Una maravillosa y despistada abuela :Lady Emily,un seductor,un viudo,niños,profesores de francés y como no partidos de tenis , te ,veladas con piano...y un gran baile por el 17 cumpleaños de el tierno Martin.

🍓Asistimos a un despliegue social,las visitas de esta familia me han resultado muy divertidas y el final de mano del “servicio”,un momento estelar.

📌Como anécdota:Entre los parientes de la escritora estaba :Rudyard Kipling .

[Abigail Bok · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angela Thirkell novels come in two main flavors--light but with an undercurrent of sadness to give them a bit of emotional heft; and so light they float away on the breeze. Wild Strawberries falls into the latter category, so it is not a favorite of mine.

That said, it has most of the Thirkell virtues: the dialogue is funny, the characters are charmingly wacky and thoroughly English without falling into stereotypes, the interpersonal dynamics lead the action into deliciously comedic scenes. Still, this one falls short of satisfying for me. The core family, the Leslies, are a delightful group--especially their matriarch, Lady Emily, who has a surpassing gift for derailing whatever is going forward. When the secondary family, the Boulles, came on the scene I didn't enjoy them as much: their absurdities felt overdrawn and a little adolescent-tedious.

But the real issue for me lies in the mandatory romance. I don't really have a problem with the instalove proclivities of light English fiction of this period, but I do feel squeamish when the heroine is in love (and very attracted to) one man throughout the book and then suddenly transfers to another. In this case I was especially uncomfortable because the hero was so decent and so sad, and because the two men are brothers and therefore all three would constantly meet throughout their lives. So this was not the perfect escape I was looking for.

Anyone who has not read Angela Thirkell should do so, but maybe don't start with this one.

[Christina Baehr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was exactly what I hoped—a gently chaotic, funny, hopeful, summery, vintage story about English landed gentry.

I wish there had been a page or two more devoted to Mary’s third act realisation. It was a little unsatisfying for her to change course so quickly and with so little reflection, even if it was what I’d been wanting her to do for the whole novel!

I will definitely be grabbing more of these.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the days between the wars life goes on as usual for Lady Emily and Mr. Leslie and their family. Their grandson Martin is fast becoming a man and will one day take over the estate, second son John is a quiet widower still mourning his late wife, much to his parents' sorrow; youngest son David is jolly and irrepressible as he figures out his path in life; their daughter Agnes is visiting with her brood for the summer as is Agnes' husband's niece Mary. As the summer goes on the Leslies and co. will form new relationships and rearrange old ones.

This is a pleasant, charming novel sure to delight fans of Jane Austen and D.E. Stevenson. I enjoyed the wit and subtle humor in the story. Mr. Holt, the toady, is cut from the same mold as Mr. Collins (Pride and Prejudice). He's so horrible, I almost feel sorry for him! I also found the Boulles too too funny. They're so annoying but make the story fun.

Lady Emily is such a dear, despite her vaugueness. I found her very lovable and endearing. She is just so sweet. Her husband is so patient and calm but also absentminded in his own way. Agnes is even more absentminded than her mother at times. I found her sweet though a bit irritating since all her attention is focused on her babies. The nursery crew didn't appeal to me much. David is young and stupid. I didn't like him very much. He uses his charm and then acts innocent when he finds himself confronted with reality. John is a much better man. I found Martin a little irritating at times. How many times can he say "awfully" in one scene. If he realizes Uncle John is a better person than David at the moment, he'll turn out all right.

Mary is a bit of a Mary Sue but I liked her. I did not like how she spent so much time crushing on someone unworthy of her but she seems like a sensible girl for the most part. I suppose I can forgive her crush because it was bound to happen because he is very charming. I did not like Joan very much. I feel sorry for her because she acts all sophisticated and snobbish but she is really such an innocent.

I know I read this book once before but I have NO memory of it at all. I know many of my Good Reads friends like the series. I look forward to reading more by this author.

[El Convincente · Rating 3 out of 5]

Viene a ser una especie de Orgullo y prejuicio empapada de sentido del humor dickensiano, esto es, con más caricatura de personajes que ironía. Resulta menos alocada de lo que promete en un principio. Tiende a repetir un único chiste por personaje (la despistada lo pierde todo, la glotona come mucho, la imperturbable no se inmuta por nada...). No me hizo reír ni sonreír pero me entretuvo.

[Melindam · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 stars

I am not reading Thirkell's Barsetshire books in order, but for me this has been the weakest instalment so far (even disregarding the flippant racism displayed by one of the characters).

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Fresas silvestres” es una deliciosa comedia ligera con la suficiente dosis de ironía como para ser considerada, a grandes rasgos, una crítica a la alta sociedad británica en periodo de entreguerras. Aunque aquí la única alusión a la primera guerra mundial es el hecho de que uno de los hijos de la familia Leslie, el heredero, murió en dicha guerra. Los Leslie viven en el campo y tienen preocupaciones más bien del tipo social: con quien cenarán, quienes son gente educada, qué hacen cuando van a la iglesia, el trabajo del ahora hijo mayor (segundo), la educación del heredero (hijo del fallecido), la bondad y la absoluta falta de picardía de Agnes, que se ha convertido en madre de una prole abundante, y la encantadora despreocupación del hijo menor, David.

Es imposible que los Leslie, con todas sus virtudes y sus defectos, caigan mal al lector. Son extremadamente divertidos por sus dimes y diretes y su forma de comportarse. No son, en absoluto unos snobs, aunque sí que son enteramente conscientes de su rango. Y es esta familia la que acoge durante un verano a Mary Preston, sobrina del marido de Agnes (la hija-madre antes mencionada), quien de verdad necesita unas vacaciones. Entre los niños, los abuelos y sus rarezas, Agnes que es una mujer plenamente feliz, John que se quedó viudo siendo muy joven, la alegre juventud de David y las travesuras de Martin y los niños, Mary encajará como una más aunque tal vez su creciente fascinación por David no sea de su conveniencia.Tanto la familia como yo deseábamos una union diferente y no era precisamente la que Mary deseaba para si misma.

Para rematar, llega al pueblo una familia francesa a pasar el mes de agosto y son tan extravagantes que no harán sino añadir carne al asador.

No creo que os sea difícil imaginar que este libro me ha encantado. Lo leí casi del tirón, en dos días. Porque es muy adictivo: me recordó a una mezcla entre “Los Cazalet” (sin Edward, por favor) y “Sabrina”, la película de Audrey Hepburn. Es más, en una adaptación al cine yo habría puesto a esa actriz para hacer de Mary. En conclusión, es un libro con mucho humor, ligero, emotivo y enternecedor. Me enamoré de los Leslie, de cada uno por ser como era y de todos como familia, porque la unión entre ellos es muy fuerte y la manera en que acogen a Mary como si fuera una Leslie más desde el principio me pareció preciosa. Los Leslie son buena gente y no tienen malicia alguna.

El libro no llega a “coup de cœur”, pero se acerca muchísimo. Estoy encantadísima con este libro.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with this text on the back cover of the book:

Charming, very funny indeed. Angela Thirkell is perhaps the most Pym-like of any twentieth-century author, after Barbara Pym herself.

Alexander McCall Smith

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read was enjoyable. Original review follows...


This was delightful.
*Possible spoilers? I don't know, I'll try not to give endings away, at least.*
It took me about two chapters to get into it. Evidently one of Angela Thirkell's trademarks is to throw A WHOLE BUNCH of characters at you and then hope that you get them all sorted out pretty quick. This may even be one of her easier ones, but it still took me a little while to settle everyone's role in my mind. The more you read, the easier it gets though, because everyone is quite well defined as a character.
So, this novel focuses on the Leslies, a well-to-do family with lots of characters. The mother cheerfully and lovingly rearranges any and all plans for those around her, however small, until they become an ineffective mess. Fortunately the servants and the family know to just "carry on" while letting her have her say. She's a lovable character. She and her husband had three sons and a daughter. Their oldest son was killed in war, so they are basically raising their teenage grandson. Their second son, John, is a remarkably kind and intelligent man in his mid-30's, whose wife died after just one year of marriage. Their youngest son, David, is a flirt and a man-about-town, with dozens of ideas for a brilliant career, none of which seem to ever pan out.
Agnes, their daughter, married with several small children of her own, somehow manages to be a bit simple-minded in conversation, yet fairly observant and able to occasionally rise to the situation and save the day.
The catalyst for change is when Agnes' niece by marriage, Mary Preston, comes to stay for the summer. She falls in love with David, the flirtatious son, but also strikes a sympathetic chord in the heart of John, who happens to be in the right time and place to provide a shoulder to lean on when she is going through a little crisis.
Most of the characters have their own story arc going on as the narrative drives forward to the climax, the 17th birthday party of the Leslie grandson.
I laughed quite a lot while reading. This book is extremely cleverly written, and there were times when I just had to pause in delighted surprise at some funny and unexpected moment. I also love how Thirkell gives her readers different shades of some of the characters. Mrs. Leslie could have been nothing but a caricature, with all her ridiculous plans and interference. But the author occasionally dwells on the way that she thinks about her son who was killed in war. Things like that make it hard to pigeonhole these characters with just one word. You have to end up saying, "They're this, but they're also that."
Thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Mela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I see the movie, with Stephen Fry of course! I love the British comedies and this book is a great material for a very funny and engaging movie.

I have had so much fun with this piece. I will definitely read more of Angela Thirkell.

When I think of the scene in the church or with the gong I am smiling from ear to ear. There were so ridiculous moments, they are simply delightful. Thirkell seams to be a master of the genre. Lady Emily, Agnes - they are wonderful. One of the best comedies I have ever read. I am not sure if it is more a romantic comedy or a family comedy or a comedy of manners, but it isn't important. The most important is that you will have a great time (or as Martin would have said: awfully splendid time ;-) )

The quotes below aren't maybe the best but I forgot to mark, I was so much focused on reading.

At twelve o'clock David was heard shouting for Martin. At five minutes past twelve Martin was heard shouting for David. By ten minutes past twelve the two shouters had found each other, got into the Ford and driven off.

The world very obligingly did not come to an end before Thursday

when someone takes the trouble to invite themselves one feels one ought at least to be civil

[I love the world of this novel, I would like so much to live in this world. Although, maybe I would have to make breaks occasionally to not feel annoyed by Lady Emily or Agnes ;-).]

PS A great thanks for Mary! I have read it thanks to your review.

[Eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very silly, and very enjoyable to read during these dark days. Thirkell is delightful in her observations of the exploits of children. I laughed out loud at this one, as part of the description of the nursery used by several generations of the same family in their country home:

"A large doll's house stood over by the window, its once elegant contents a mere jumble of wreckage. This regrettable mishap had taken place when David was the spoilt baby. He had decided that his friend the kitchen cat wantedt to be introduced to the joys of domestic life on a small scale. He therefore formed the habit of fetching George, all unwilling, from the kitchen, carrying him upstairs with his arms tightly clasped under George's front legs, while George's furious hind legs clawed the air in vain for support. He would then push George in at the front door and shut it behind him. George, much agitated, would worm his way up the staircase and squeeze his body into each room in turn, vainly seeking some mode of exit. Then David discovered that if he opened the windows George, who was just too large to get through them, would in his frenzy paw all the smaller articles of furniture out of the window and then sit, crossly regarding his kind young benefactor, his large sullen face far larger than the window at which it appeared. The dolls's house had also at various times been used as a home for mice and silkworms, and was rapidly qualifying for demolition under a slum clearance scheme."

[❀⊱RoryReads⊰❀ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 Stars.
Most of the characters in Wild Strawberries are far more likeable than those in the first Barsetshire book, High Rising. Unfortunately, this book, like the first, contains some appallingly racist content. This, combined with a smug, snobbish, and cold blooded tone makes this my last Angela Thirkell. Some may say that these books are of their time, but there are plenty of charming books of this type, written during the 1920s and 1930s, that won't make you ashamed of the author.

[GraceAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

So delicious, like a glass of sweet lemonade on a hot afternoon; or a china cup of darjeeling on a cold one. Completely without guile, with tongue firmly in cheek, and exquisitely written. And very, very funny.

[^ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mary Preston, the unmarried twenty-three year old niece (unrelated by blood) of Lady Agnes Graham (the latter is sweet natured, but alas not over-endowed with brains), is staying awhile at Rushwater House in Barsetshire, a seat strangely overlooked by Pevsner amongst England’s lesser country houses. One almost feels a desire to search the annals of “Country Life”, where surely an article has been published? The exact composition of family resident at any one time fluctuates; this being a house whose inhabitants arrive and depart as and when their interests dictate.
The matriarch of the family, Lady Emily Leslie, is a winsomely irritating meddler in the affairs of others. Her husband’s poor health predicates a quiet life. Their other two surviving children (alongside Lady Graham) are John (a supportive and considerate widower), and David (a gifted but conceited and complete cad, also, alas, something of a wastrel), who compete for Mary’s attention. A nursery-full of grandchildren, ( including Agnes’ progeny, in order of age: Emmy, Clarissa, and James), all show every indication of a genetic pre-disposition of a strong and independently-minded temperament. The 17th birthday of the Leslies orphaned grandson, Martin, lends the perfect opportunity for irrepressible high jinks, aided and abetted by monarchists within a French family. I shall give away nothing of the plot of this novel here, other than to observe that it is a perfect comedic agony of relationships. Definitely not a ‘quiet’ book, “Wild Strawberries” is so very much more refreshing, and more fun, than the anachronistic, accident-prone, apeing “Downton Abbey”. There, that should at least generate some hate email from those ‘Downtonites’ who haven’t yet read this book!
For an author of whom I must admit I’d never heard of until I stumbled across a second-hand recent reprint, “Wild Strawberries” really has been rather fun to read. I have additionally been charmed to discover an entire society devoted to the works of this author; through whose auspices a delightful set of “relusions” to this work (amongst Thirkell’s others), can be found located at http://www.angelathirkellsociety.co.u... Elsewhere on the Web, a fuller cast list than I have outlined is located at http://www.angelathirkell.org/compan/...
I shouldn’t be in the least surprised if Angela Thirkell attracts the same proportion of male to female readership as Anthony Trollope. “Wild Strawberries” is emphatically not to be dismissed as 1930s ‘chick-lit’. The inheritance of the nineteenth century within the covers of this book is recognisable, but modernised (1934). In their own way, the male of our species will, I believe, find this book every bit as much of an engaging pleasure to read as both Trollope’s commentaries on Society and the racier adventures of Dornford Yates. “ “Do you mind?” he [David] asked. I’ve asked a friend of mine, Joan Stevenson. She’s a highly educated female, but otherwise harmless.” ”(p.106)!

[Molinos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fresas silvestres esuna novela que no te cambia la vida, ni te hace pensar ni te descubre algo que no sabías pero que mientras la estás leyendo te saca de tu vida y te lleva a una casa inglesa con una gran familia y sus líos. Sé que alguien pensará ¿se parece a los Cazalet? Esta novela es muchísimo más ligera y con muchísimo más humor. Se me está ocurriendo que si tuviera que hacer un ranking de novelas de familias inglesas con grandes casas en función de su seriedad irían asi: Retorno a Bridshead, El Domingo de las madres, Las Crónicas de los Cazalet y Fresas Silvestres. Esto no quiere decir que Retorno sea mejor que Fresas, son novelas diferentes que tienen intereses distintos y que no se pueden leer esperando de todas lo mismo. Dicho esto, corred a leer Fresas silvestres y a desear tener vestidos con vuelo y fiestas a las que ir.

[Hana · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amusing, mildly diverting portrait of a family and a village in the year just before World War II. The impossibly scatterbrained Lady Emily and her large extended family make for an entertaining weekend visit to the Great House, though I would find them all vastly annoying for much longer than that! A few adumbrations of the horrors to come give the story just enough of a hidden edge--one wonders what became of them all when the bombs began to fall on their idyllic world.

G: A clean read.

[Shopgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cette parenthèse anglaise délicieusement rétro doit se lire assez rapidement pour ne pas lasser : elle vous parle d'une époque révolue pendant laquelle le monde se voulait aussi léger que possible.

Downton Abbey par certains côtés, avec l'humour qu'il faut et l'éternelle question des relations amoureuses ... Le parfum des fraises sauvages est aussi rafraîchissant que promis !

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

From their earliest days the Leslie children had thought of their mother as doing or making something, handling brush, pencil, needle with equal enthusiasm, coming in late to lunch with clay in her hair, devastating the drawing-room with her far-flung painting materials, taking cumbersome pieces of embroidery on picnics, disgracing everyone by a determination to paint the village cricket pavilion with scenes from the life of St Francis for which she made the gardeners pose. What Mr Leslie thought no one actually knew, for Mr Leslie had his own ways of life and rarely interfered. Once only had he been known to make a protest. In the fever of an enamelling craze, Lady Emily had a furnace put up in the service-room, thus making it extremely difficult for Gudgeon and the footman to get past, and moreover pressing the footman as her assistant when he should have been laying lunch.”

I enjoyed this as much or more than many of Angela Thirkell’s books. It was fairly short and the world in which I found myself was fairly confined and not bursting with various characters which were hard to keep straight, nor was I roaming from one country house or family circle to another. I was most definitely helped by my trusty copy of Angela Thirkell’s World by Barbara Burrell, which traces all of the characters in her Barsetshire Novels from the early 1930s, through WWII to the late 1950s.
So when Dodo Bingham and her twin daughters show up for Martin’s 17th birthday party, learning that the carefree David actually married one of those twins in book 15 , Peace Breaks Out, it was a laugh. Wild Strawberries is book #2 in the Barsetshire universe.

We are introduced to the Leslie Family: Lady Emily, her curmudgeonly husband, and their grown children, John, Agnes, and David. Also, their grandson, Martin, whom they are raising since his father was killed in WWI. His mother is not in the picture. Apparently not in a bad way, necessarily, because according to ATW, the future children of Martin’s Uncle David stay with her in America. Visiting for the summer is Mary. A meek and mild second cousin (reminded me of Jane Austen’s Fanny Price), she is young, pretty, and very nice. The book centers around her crush on David, the Leslies’ entitled and irresponsible younger son. Her heart is destined to be broken but for David’s very responsible and very good older brother John. As the book opens, he is a sad widower, but when he falls for the shy and reticent Mary as she plays and sings at the piano when she thinks no one is paying attention, the path to the happy ending becomes clear. All is straightened out, as well as some other unrelated developments, on the night of Martin “Thanks Awfully” Leslie’s 17th birthday party.

But that bare bones of a plot, if you can call it that, is really just foundation to sketch, reveal, and affectionately skewer the personalities of the family and their friends. I grew fond of all of the Leslies but my favorite characters were Lady Emily (who reminded me of an older Laura Morland), Agnes, and Martin. I didn’t care for or approve of David much, but we aren’t meant to. He is the type who, instead of being gainfully employed like his older brother, fancies himself a novelist. Luckily for him he has an independent income “ owing to the ill-judged partiality of an aunt.” He doesn’t doubt that his awful novel will be a bestseller, and although it isn’t even finished, is already confidently planning a play and a film script. Lady Emily, the benign and gentle matriarch, floats through her home, Rushwater, swathed in myriad shawls and scarves, frequently calling on her adoring family and protective servants to retrieve them and any other various accoutrements that she realizes she has mislaid. Usually they are within arm’s reach. When she inevitably trails a scarf through her soup, she rinses it in her wine glass. Her daughter Agnes, married to the always absent Colonel Graham, is lovely and sweet-natured. She dotes on her 3 lively children, and nothing can shake her out of her calm and placid approach to life. When her children cause upset in the house, whether it is which cereal they will or will not eat or falling in the goldfish pond, her response is to laugh “Oh Wicked Ones!” with pride and affection and call for Nannie. In a bit of a side plot, she is totally oblivious to the wild passion she has inspired in the 19-year-old son of the Leslies’ new French neighbors. This is a common Thirkell trope. He’ll get over it.

Wild Strawberries is the type of book where several pages are devoted to a servant’s relationship to the dinner gong. If you’re up for that type of book, you will find yourself transported to another world of which you might certainly disapprove and even look upon with disdain. But while disapproving, you are in the hands of a very talented writer. So you might also find yourself chuckling and being charmed by the frivolity of it all. In 2024 it is a fantasy world, but it’s important to remember that less than 100 years ago it was an authentic slice of life.
https://rebekahsreadingsandwatchings....

[Pages & Cup · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lighthearted comic romance. I prefer High Rising, but this one was wonderful as well.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deliciously funny, to use a Thirkellism. This book is absolutely perfect to read when you are feeling glum and under the weather -- it will make you laugh out loud. The upper-class characters at its centre are ridiculously wonderful, all so self-absorbed that they pay no attention to other people and are constantly getting hold of the wrong end of the stick. Lady Emily's attempts to organise everyone and everything are sensibly ignored by the lower-class characters who actually get things done. The bunch of French royalists seemed a bit of a bizarre idea, but just added to the joyful chaos. I think my favourite scene was the lunch in the restaurant with David, Joan and Mary -- sparks fly from Thirkell's pen in a positively Austenish way. I think I liked this even more than High Rising. You wouldn't want to read a lot of Thirkell back to back, but occasional dips are very refreshing.