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Barsetshire #5
Summer Half
The denouement of Philip Winter's ill begotten engagement to featherbrained Rose Birkett is enacted in full view of Southbridge School's extended family during a holiday break. Everyone, including her parents, is rooting for Philip's escape which occurs when Rose breaks it off as the utter dullness of being engaged overwhelms her. Along the way, we enjoy the tea party where Rose, "through sheer want of personality brings the talk to her own level" and confounds her audience by insisting that Hamlet and Shakespeare are both names of plays (and probably the same one).
As in many of Thirkell's books, the characters refer to a body of literature, both classic and modern, with a casualness that would be improbable today; the assumption of a shared background and culture having been lost. The ceremony of the "Cleaning of the Pond" by Lydia, Eric Swan and a much improved Tony Morland brings the holiday to a satisfactory conclusion.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1937
39 people are currently reading
560 people want to read
About the author
Angela Thirkell
58 books258 followers 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
July 11, 2021
3.5★
I was so hoping this would be a Thirkell that I could wholeheartedly recommend, as I found the beginning very amusing. Minor character Edith reminded me greatly of a family member of my husband's who never listens properly!
You get the idea!
There were parts that showed a quite magical England in the countryside.
But the book for me had three faults;
• The supposed main character Colin was the least interesting in the book.
• Nothing much happened for very long periods of time.
• A piece of really appalling racism in Chapter 6. Normally I am very good at shrugging this stuff off as a product of it's time, but this was really bad & frankly, really unnecessary.
I could still laugh at dim bulb Rose & I do hope to meet the outspoken Lydia again some time, but I have had to reduce the rating for this book.
A pity. The parts I enjoyed, I enjoyed very much.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
I was so hoping this would be a Thirkell that I could wholeheartedly recommend, as I found the beginning very amusing. Minor character Edith reminded me greatly of a family member of my husband's who never listens properly!
"Well," said Colin, "I went over to Southbridge today and saw the headmaster. I think..."
"I don't know him well but I know his wife," said Edith, "She is charming. My brothers were there when Mr Birkett was the headmaster of the preparatory school, and they adored him."
"I liked him very much. We had quite a long talk and he said..."
"Then you can give me really good advice about sending Henry there..."
You get the idea!
There were parts that showed a quite magical England in the countryside.
But the book for me had three faults;
• The supposed main character Colin was the least interesting in the book.
• Nothing much happened for very long periods of time.
• A piece of really appalling racism in Chapter 6. Normally I am very good at shrugging this stuff off as a product of it's time, but this was really bad & frankly, really unnecessary.
I could still laugh at dim bulb Rose & I do hope to meet the outspoken Lydia again some time, but I have had to reduce the rating for this book.
A pity. The parts I enjoyed, I enjoyed very much.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
August 26, 2015
Written at a time when the adventures of Bulldog Drummond, (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...), were widely and avidly read, enjoyed and re-enacted with an ear open for the approach of Matron (p.80)) this is a witty, entertaining, situational country tale of the British upper-middle classes between the wars.
Despite possessing a “neck like a prep-school boy”, i.e. less than fifteen inches, Colin Keith, the eighth of eight men interviewed is appointed to the vacancy of Junior Classical Master at Southbridge (Preparatory) School, in Barchester; thus ensuring that he does not follow his father’s plans for him to become a barrister. Lydia, Colin’s very down-to-earth younger sister and budding thespian (Ferdinand in “The Tempest”) is delighted. If not already written, I do hope that someone, someday will write and publish a scholarly but entertaining paper on the older-brother / younger sister relationship in English literature 1875 – 1975.
A paean penned to Rose, the “ravishing” eighteen year old daughter of Mr Birkett, the newly installed Headmaster of Southbridge School, drops like a stone on mention of the girl’s “unexceptional legs”. Indeed the reader is later reassured that really Rose’s only weaknesses are, as Philip Winter discovers, a tendency to foolishness and a propensity to get engaged. Sublime subtle romantic moments include “Even tennis shoes on grass are heard by lovers’ ears” (p.205); and the delicious sensuality of sharing a (1662) Book of Common Prayer; the India pages of which were “notoriously unconductive”. (p.215)
On the other hand, lofty Mixed-Fifth Formers (an intriguing categorisation, describing a “cooler man”) Eric Swan and Tony Morland (the latter known to readers of “High Rising”) apply native cunning to persuade Matron to increase the hot water content of their baths; a temperature much preferred by the Classical Sixth-Former Hacker’s pet chameleon ….
The situational humour of this book is subtle and deft; poles apart from the crudeness of most popular performance humour in Britain today. “Once or twice before going to sleep he got out of bed, went gently to Philip’s room, and listened at the door in case he had committed suicide. Complete silence gave him no clue as to what was going on, but he found it reassuring.” (p.131).
The body of shared English literature referred to in this book is, sadly, no longer widely shared. That is a cause for regret. However, this novel does make an excellent starter for anyone so minded, perhaps as an interesting summer holiday project, to chase down those literary references and allusions; a rather fun start, or continuation, of a rewarding personal literary education.
This is definitely a book that, with pleasure, I shall read and read again.
Despite possessing a “neck like a prep-school boy”, i.e. less than fifteen inches, Colin Keith, the eighth of eight men interviewed is appointed to the vacancy of Junior Classical Master at Southbridge (Preparatory) School, in Barchester; thus ensuring that he does not follow his father’s plans for him to become a barrister. Lydia, Colin’s very down-to-earth younger sister and budding thespian (Ferdinand in “The Tempest”) is delighted. If not already written, I do hope that someone, someday will write and publish a scholarly but entertaining paper on the older-brother / younger sister relationship in English literature 1875 – 1975.
A paean penned to Rose, the “ravishing” eighteen year old daughter of Mr Birkett, the newly installed Headmaster of Southbridge School, drops like a stone on mention of the girl’s “unexceptional legs”. Indeed the reader is later reassured that really Rose’s only weaknesses are, as Philip Winter discovers, a tendency to foolishness and a propensity to get engaged. Sublime subtle romantic moments include “Even tennis shoes on grass are heard by lovers’ ears” (p.205); and the delicious sensuality of sharing a (1662) Book of Common Prayer; the India pages of which were “notoriously unconductive”. (p.215)
On the other hand, lofty Mixed-Fifth Formers (an intriguing categorisation, describing a “cooler man”) Eric Swan and Tony Morland (the latter known to readers of “High Rising”) apply native cunning to persuade Matron to increase the hot water content of their baths; a temperature much preferred by the Classical Sixth-Former Hacker’s pet chameleon ….
The situational humour of this book is subtle and deft; poles apart from the crudeness of most popular performance humour in Britain today. “Once or twice before going to sleep he got out of bed, went gently to Philip’s room, and listened at the door in case he had committed suicide. Complete silence gave him no clue as to what was going on, but he found it reassuring.” (p.131).
The body of shared English literature referred to in this book is, sadly, no longer widely shared. That is a cause for regret. However, this novel does make an excellent starter for anyone so minded, perhaps as an interesting summer holiday project, to chase down those literary references and allusions; a rather fun start, or continuation, of a rewarding personal literary education.
This is definitely a book that, with pleasure, I shall read and read again.
March 6, 2012
Every time I go to my book guru's little book shop in town (located deliciously and somewhat dangerously nearby) I stumble upon something unexpected. Yesterday I went in to see about a lovely old first edition of Heinrich Harrer's Seven Years In Tibet she foundfor me(try not to notice the bragging) when I discovered that after all this time, she did have some Angela Thirkell! I was gobsmacked. I wish you all had a book guru. Better than Cheers, her establishment even has two cats to greet you, one evil, one sweet. If you like that sort of thing and being spoiled by your bookseller, go visit Ms Bobbie at Baytown Bookbarn.
Proper review to follow.
Now here's my review. I'm happy to report that Angela Thirkell's writing is every bit as delicious as I hoped it would be. Her prose is very witty and intelligent like only the English can be. The setting is a boy's boarding school and a manor house in Barsetshire, England in the 1930's. There's also a lovely rectory and several scenes that take place in the early summer on some lazy river that seems pulled right out of The Wind in The Willows. I am sure that Toad of Toad Hall would approve of the goings-on as there are several young people's antics and escapades that will make you smile in spite of yourself. For example there are floods, fires, people going overboard just for fun, a chamoelian dressed in deep mourning, a beautiful bimbo who only uses two specific adjectives, ever, a sweet girl who darns everyone and anyone's socks compulsively, an Amazonish girl who weeps over Othello one day and declares her admiration for Horace, Hardy and Browning the next days. Of course there are a few strapping young men and boys that have their concerns, that is, when they are not falling in love with one of the young ladies. The adults are all amusing as well and do their best managing this loveable lot. I think if I could ever get "lost in a good book" like Thursday Next does in Jasper Ffordes books, I'd like to spend a summer vacation at their nanny's cottage. She and her charming gardener husband are fun and eat so well I'd never want to leave. This book is a cerebral holiday and a real pleasure. It is at once intelligent and cheerful, dispelling effortlessly the often quoted notion that smart people can't be happy.
Proper review to follow.
Now here's my review. I'm happy to report that Angela Thirkell's writing is every bit as delicious as I hoped it would be. Her prose is very witty and intelligent like only the English can be. The setting is a boy's boarding school and a manor house in Barsetshire, England in the 1930's. There's also a lovely rectory and several scenes that take place in the early summer on some lazy river that seems pulled right out of The Wind in The Willows. I am sure that Toad of Toad Hall would approve of the goings-on as there are several young people's antics and escapades that will make you smile in spite of yourself. For example there are floods, fires, people going overboard just for fun, a chamoelian dressed in deep mourning, a beautiful bimbo who only uses two specific adjectives, ever, a sweet girl who darns everyone and anyone's socks compulsively, an Amazonish girl who weeps over Othello one day and declares her admiration for Horace, Hardy and Browning the next days. Of course there are a few strapping young men and boys that have their concerns, that is, when they are not falling in love with one of the young ladies. The adults are all amusing as well and do their best managing this loveable lot. I think if I could ever get "lost in a good book" like Thursday Next does in Jasper Ffordes books, I'd like to spend a summer vacation at their nanny's cottage. She and her charming gardener husband are fun and eat so well I'd never want to leave. This book is a cerebral holiday and a real pleasure. It is at once intelligent and cheerful, dispelling effortlessly the often quoted notion that smart people can't be happy.
July 25, 2016
Three and half stars. Full review https://bagfullofbooks.com/2016/07/25...
Summer Half’ by Angela Thirkell was my second foray into the Thirkell novels set in the fictional, rural English province of Barsetshire (derivatised from Anthony Trollope’s Barsetshire of the Barchester Chronicles series).
I feel that one must be prepared mentally before embarking upon a Thirkell novel. While she lacks the sharp wit of Barbara Pym, the superior plot of Stella Gibbons, the excellent writing of Nancy Mitford, there is a soft sleepy British humour in her novels that makes them irresistible to me. Therefore, I feel that one should not start reading the novel with a lofty sense of literary expectation.
The books have a weak plot but are filled with a cast of unmistakably middle-class British characters who belong to a bygone era. Some of them are perturbed with the state of political affairs in pre World War 2 Europe, but for the most part, they are engaged in playing tennis, reading literature and enjoying summer picnics.
There are a few characters who share the same names as Trollope’s Barsetshire characters. A favourite of mine-Old Bunce appears in the new avatar of a boatman in ‘Summer Half’- a fact that I derived particular pleasure from.
The characters in ‘Summer Half’ are people who have epicurean qualities and so the book is liberally scattered with references to meals that will make your mouth water.
"The tea in Colin’s room looked perfectly delightful. There were mustard and cress sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches, jam sandwiches, bloater paste sandwiches, cakes with pink icing, chocolate cake. a coffee cake and two plates of biscuits. Colin, poking about in the village, had found a grocer who kept these joys of his early childhood, animal biscuits and alphabet biscuits and had bought a pound of each. There was also a huge bowl of strawberries, a large jug of cream and on the dressing-table beer and sherry for the late comers."
There were two specific points about the plot that drew me to this novel. The first was the school setting of the book (I adore school stories!). The second was the fact that it was set in the summer- and I felt like a month of light summer reading this month, after finishing Bleak House in June.
The story deals with the decision made by young and brilliant Colin Keith, a recent graduate of Oxford and destined for a career in law, to sacrifice his calling in life to take up a teaching job at the local Southbridge School, during the summer term. What he sees as a sacrifice, trying to earn a living instead of studying for the law, his parents see as a temporary summer diversion. Colin packs his bags and takes up a room in Southbridge School and is immediately charged with the difficult task of teaching the classics to the boys of the Mixed Fifth.
We are introduced to a bevy of school characters: the Headmaster Mr Birkett, his beautiful but shallow daughter Rose who is perpetually engaged, this time to another schoolteacher Mr Phillips, Mr Everard Carter- another schoolteacher and three boys from the Mixed Fifth- Tony Morland, Eric Swan and scholarly but absent minded ‘Hacker’.
Not only do we gain admittance to the goings-on at Southbridge School via Colin Keith, we also get to know of his middle-class, respected family: Mr Keith (lawyer), matriarch Mrs Keith (placid and ever welcoming of guests), elder brother and lawyer Robert Keith and his family. sweet-tempered sister Kate and younger schoolgirl sister Lydia-loudvoiced, opinionated and on more than one occasion described as an ‘Amazon’.
When a number of unmarried young men and women meet frequently during summer picnics, school Sport’s Days, house parties during long Bank Holidays, this is most certainly a recipe for romance and matchmaking.
Read if you will, about this perfect snapshot of bucolic provincial life. There will be plenty of talk of sunshine and tennis matches, of the midnight mishaps of errant schoolboys, of scrumptious food where ‘hasty lunches’ consist of ‘salmon mayonnaise, roast beef, potatoes, peas, French beans, salad, chocolate soufflé,charlotte russe, cream cheese, Bath Oliver biscuits and raspberries and cream. ‘Summer Half’, published in 1937 is that perfect escapist novel that I am sure every Britain would have wanted to get lost in, at a time when a nation was poised precariously on the brink of war.
Summer Half’ by Angela Thirkell was my second foray into the Thirkell novels set in the fictional, rural English province of Barsetshire (derivatised from Anthony Trollope’s Barsetshire of the Barchester Chronicles series).
I feel that one must be prepared mentally before embarking upon a Thirkell novel. While she lacks the sharp wit of Barbara Pym, the superior plot of Stella Gibbons, the excellent writing of Nancy Mitford, there is a soft sleepy British humour in her novels that makes them irresistible to me. Therefore, I feel that one should not start reading the novel with a lofty sense of literary expectation.
The books have a weak plot but are filled with a cast of unmistakably middle-class British characters who belong to a bygone era. Some of them are perturbed with the state of political affairs in pre World War 2 Europe, but for the most part, they are engaged in playing tennis, reading literature and enjoying summer picnics.
There are a few characters who share the same names as Trollope’s Barsetshire characters. A favourite of mine-Old Bunce appears in the new avatar of a boatman in ‘Summer Half’- a fact that I derived particular pleasure from.
The characters in ‘Summer Half’ are people who have epicurean qualities and so the book is liberally scattered with references to meals that will make your mouth water.
"The tea in Colin’s room looked perfectly delightful. There were mustard and cress sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches, jam sandwiches, bloater paste sandwiches, cakes with pink icing, chocolate cake. a coffee cake and two plates of biscuits. Colin, poking about in the village, had found a grocer who kept these joys of his early childhood, animal biscuits and alphabet biscuits and had bought a pound of each. There was also a huge bowl of strawberries, a large jug of cream and on the dressing-table beer and sherry for the late comers."
There were two specific points about the plot that drew me to this novel. The first was the school setting of the book (I adore school stories!). The second was the fact that it was set in the summer- and I felt like a month of light summer reading this month, after finishing Bleak House in June.
The story deals with the decision made by young and brilliant Colin Keith, a recent graduate of Oxford and destined for a career in law, to sacrifice his calling in life to take up a teaching job at the local Southbridge School, during the summer term. What he sees as a sacrifice, trying to earn a living instead of studying for the law, his parents see as a temporary summer diversion. Colin packs his bags and takes up a room in Southbridge School and is immediately charged with the difficult task of teaching the classics to the boys of the Mixed Fifth.
We are introduced to a bevy of school characters: the Headmaster Mr Birkett, his beautiful but shallow daughter Rose who is perpetually engaged, this time to another schoolteacher Mr Phillips, Mr Everard Carter- another schoolteacher and three boys from the Mixed Fifth- Tony Morland, Eric Swan and scholarly but absent minded ‘Hacker’.
Not only do we gain admittance to the goings-on at Southbridge School via Colin Keith, we also get to know of his middle-class, respected family: Mr Keith (lawyer), matriarch Mrs Keith (placid and ever welcoming of guests), elder brother and lawyer Robert Keith and his family. sweet-tempered sister Kate and younger schoolgirl sister Lydia-loudvoiced, opinionated and on more than one occasion described as an ‘Amazon’.
When a number of unmarried young men and women meet frequently during summer picnics, school Sport’s Days, house parties during long Bank Holidays, this is most certainly a recipe for romance and matchmaking.
Read if you will, about this perfect snapshot of bucolic provincial life. There will be plenty of talk of sunshine and tennis matches, of the midnight mishaps of errant schoolboys, of scrumptious food where ‘hasty lunches’ consist of ‘salmon mayonnaise, roast beef, potatoes, peas, French beans, salad, chocolate soufflé,charlotte russe, cream cheese, Bath Oliver biscuits and raspberries and cream. ‘Summer Half’, published in 1937 is that perfect escapist novel that I am sure every Britain would have wanted to get lost in, at a time when a nation was poised precariously on the brink of war.
June 17, 2015
I'm quite enchanted. What a pleasure to immerse oneself in Angela Thirkell's 30s world of ordinary but endearing and amusing people.
I particularly loved the subtleness of Kate and Carter's romance: He is introduced to her, and "[he] thought he saw his journey's end". What a lovely and perfect description of the beginning of true love at the first meeting - Kate not being a flashy beauty, so the feeling is certainly not lust-based.
I admired how well they all know their classical literature and quote from it in all the right places, with that self-deprecating humour that saves them from sounding stuffy or snobbish. (That's one of the reasons I like Dorothy Sayers' Peter Wimsey novels, too.)
And I'm happy because there are at least 3-4 more of these books for me to savour.
I particularly loved the subtleness of Kate and Carter's romance: He is introduced to her, and "[he] thought he saw his journey's end". What a lovely and perfect description of the beginning of true love at the first meeting - Kate not being a flashy beauty, so the feeling is certainly not lust-based.
I admired how well they all know their classical literature and quote from it in all the right places, with that self-deprecating humour that saves them from sounding stuffy or snobbish. (That's one of the reasons I like Dorothy Sayers' Peter Wimsey novels, too.)
And I'm happy because there are at least 3-4 more of these books for me to savour.
March 12, 2019
This book provides a comprehensive impression of English gentry life between wars -- with its descriptions of boarding schools, steam trains, country homes, punting on rivers, picnics, tennis, clothes, cooks and housekeepers -- all woven together with a cast of interesting characters who engage in misunderstandings and romantic interludes while speaking brilliant dialogue, frequently using literary quotes and Latin terms to express themselves. Nobody does it better than Thirkell, although I found the main characters slightly less interesting in this fifth novel than those in High Rising, the first Barsetshire novel which set the bar high for the entire series.
August 12, 2015
Love Angela Thirkell!
What a lovely story with a happy ending.
Tony Morland makes another appearance .He is such a wonderful boyish character.
She has an eye for detail which is told with wit and charm.
If I ever need cheering up one of her books are the ones I turn to.
Highly recommended.
A bygone era of class and servants beautifully written.
What a lovely story with a happy ending.
Tony Morland makes another appearance .He is such a wonderful boyish character.
She has an eye for detail which is told with wit and charm.
If I ever need cheering up one of her books are the ones I turn to.
Highly recommended.
A bygone era of class and servants beautifully written.
August 1, 2020
I am finding Angela Thirkell to be my 2020 summer reads author of choice. The pleasant escape to a world where young teens clear ponds for fun to escape going to church, where a youth attempts to gift his beloved chameleon as a gift to his teachers despite his misery at parting with it, where croquet still occurs on the lawn in fierce competition, where young twenty somethings experience love and engagement, where Nanny still knows best, and where detested dresses are made dirty so young girls won't have to wear them again. It's just a simpler, idyllic time that is nice to escape to.
Now that we've established I enjoy escaping when I read. I can share a bit about the book. The book blurb leads you to think this book is about Colin Keith, recently graduated from university and unsure whether he wants to join the family law practice. He decides nobly to sacrifice his allowance and be an adult. Colin applies to for a teaching position for a semester at Southbridge School. The rest of the story really is about the entire cast of individuals he meets and his family interacting over the course of a wonderful spring/summer. We see an appearance of Tony Morland, who I met reading The Brandons, who provides comedic relief throughout the story. This cast of characters includes the spoiled daughter of the headmaster (mild villain in the book), the spirited and perpetually curious Lydia (Colin's younger sister, the calm, maternal minded, sweetly dispositioned Kate (Colin's older sister), Noel Merton ( Colin's future law mentor) and two fellow teachers from Southbridge.
I very much enjoyed that this novel wasn't about Colin Keith. It was perfectly rounded out by the experiences and interactions of all the characters together. Which is something that I feel Thirkell does masterfully. She creates this loosely themed plot that has the entire cast interacting and the reader wants to know what will happen with each of the characters. Very equally distributed and charmingly done in my opinion.
Now that we've established I enjoy escaping when I read. I can share a bit about the book. The book blurb leads you to think this book is about Colin Keith, recently graduated from university and unsure whether he wants to join the family law practice. He decides nobly to sacrifice his allowance and be an adult. Colin applies to for a teaching position for a semester at Southbridge School. The rest of the story really is about the entire cast of individuals he meets and his family interacting over the course of a wonderful spring/summer. We see an appearance of Tony Morland, who I met reading The Brandons, who provides comedic relief throughout the story. This cast of characters includes the spoiled daughter of the headmaster (mild villain in the book), the spirited and perpetually curious Lydia (Colin's younger sister, the calm, maternal minded, sweetly dispositioned Kate (Colin's older sister), Noel Merton ( Colin's future law mentor) and two fellow teachers from Southbridge.
I very much enjoyed that this novel wasn't about Colin Keith. It was perfectly rounded out by the experiences and interactions of all the characters together. Which is something that I feel Thirkell does masterfully. She creates this loosely themed plot that has the entire cast interacting and the reader wants to know what will happen with each of the characters. Very equally distributed and charmingly done in my opinion.
November 7, 2022
Marvelous, as Rose would have said ;-)
How I missed all those people. Most of all: Lydia and Tony - I adore them.
And Thirkell's wit - simply wonderful. The adventures of Hacker with the chameleon... (let's say it again) marvelous ;-)
Of course, there was also the wisdom that is always visible in Angela Thirkell's novels.
On the scale with Thirkell's books that I have read, it wasn't one of the best reading, perhaps because I knew what happened later to the characters. So, 4 stars from me, but comparing with the genre - definitely 5-star book.
How I missed all those people. Most of all: Lydia and Tony - I adore them.
And Thirkell's wit - simply wonderful. The adventures of Hacker with the chameleon... (let's say it again) marvelous ;-)
You’d love the cook. She’s a perfect angel, and doesn’t mind drowning kittens a bit.
Swan and Morland dematerialised, and suddenly reappeared at the far end of the room, absorbed in books.
‘I wish you’d split that frock for me. I loathe it.’
Of course, there was also the wisdom that is always visible in Angela Thirkell's novels.
When we are young we all look through our elders, to see what lies beyond. And when we see what is there, we are the elders ourselves.
On the scale with Thirkell's books that I have read, it wasn't one of the best reading, perhaps because I knew what happened later to the characters. So, 4 stars from me, but comparing with the genre - definitely 5-star book.
July 11, 2021
Summer Half marks the moment when Angela Thirkell really hits her stride in her chosen lane of fiction. She writes lighthearted charmers of novels, with tons of gentle social comedy and a dash of romance. Her previous novels in the series had their moments, but this one kept me going from beginning to end.
She has a particular gift for English schoolboys, and this story is set mostly at a school so there are plenty of rollicking scenes of schoolboy madness and mayhem. Tony Morland, the boy who has featured in several of the previous novels, has come through his more annoying phase and become quite delightful. The masters are almost equally charming and sometimes silly, and among them all they create a whole array of complications.
Thirkell’s characters manage to be simultaneously eccentric and delightfully normal. There are annoying ones and even the nice ones have annoying moments, but all is played for the reader’s amusement. And there are even some low-key moments of gentle pathos to round out the experience. If Thirkell novels aren’t particularly deep they are also not stupid, making for an escapist read that you needn’t be ashamed of.
Although there are recurring characters in her Barsetshire series each book can be read as a standalone, so if you want to try her books, this might be a good place to start.
She has a particular gift for English schoolboys, and this story is set mostly at a school so there are plenty of rollicking scenes of schoolboy madness and mayhem. Tony Morland, the boy who has featured in several of the previous novels, has come through his more annoying phase and become quite delightful. The masters are almost equally charming and sometimes silly, and among them all they create a whole array of complications.
Thirkell’s characters manage to be simultaneously eccentric and delightfully normal. There are annoying ones and even the nice ones have annoying moments, but all is played for the reader’s amusement. And there are even some low-key moments of gentle pathos to round out the experience. If Thirkell novels aren’t particularly deep they are also not stupid, making for an escapist read that you needn’t be ashamed of.
Although there are recurring characters in her Barsetshire series each book can be read as a standalone, so if you want to try her books, this might be a good place to start.
November 12, 2010
Angela Thirkell wrote over a dozen novels set in the English countryside between the wars. Almost all are reliably silly and very light. The characters have grand houses and domestic staff, only a few of them work for a living, and if a man and a woman happen to kiss, they marry soon after. Light as they are, her books also include intelligent, sensitive observations of human behavior and references to literary classics and world history. The language is elegant, and the stories are tasteful and enjoyable (caveat: Thirkell will occasionally express a casual bigotry that is consistent with her own time and place). Summer Half is a fine example of her work, and it's a restful and enjoyable read.
June 13, 2022
This is my favorite Thirkell yet, which surprised me as the book has no leading female character and features more of an ensemble cast. Yet the noisy, silly, erudite group with their foibles ever on display—at some point they became quite endearing. Thirkell also shone here at character development, with even the most annoying, self absorbed characters softening and becoming more sympathetic by the end.
So real did they all become, in the last third of the book I began to feel pangs of sadness wondering which young men would not survive the war that they did not know was on the horizon. Would a summer of Horace and pond cleanings and tea time tables groaning with cakes become an aching, wistful memory?
But that would all be in the future, and the book remains a golden world unto itself in Barsetshire.
I listened to the book on Audible with a wonderful narrator, Penelope Freeman. She has a real knack for boys’ voices and captures Lydia to a T. Highly recommended.
So real did they all become, in the last third of the book I began to feel pangs of sadness wondering which young men would not survive the war that they did not know was on the horizon. Would a summer of Horace and pond cleanings and tea time tables groaning with cakes become an aching, wistful memory?
But that would all be in the future, and the book remains a golden world unto itself in Barsetshire.
I listened to the book on Audible with a wonderful narrator, Penelope Freeman. She has a real knack for boys’ voices and captures Lydia to a T. Highly recommended.
February 18, 2023
A very amusing comedy.
July 23, 2021
3.5 stars. The fifth book of Angela Thirkell's Barchester series. In this instalment the connection to Anthony Trollope's original series is quite pronounced as it is set in the cathedral town of Barchester. Not the most interesting of Thirkell's characters, although Lydia and Toby Morland are gems. A book that suits the languid tempo of a summer holiday.
July 10, 2021
I really enjoyed this reread of one of my favorite early Thirkell novels. As with all of her books, there is little plot, per se, more humorous set pieces of life among the landed gentry in Barsetshire, a fictional rural British county. This one takes place in the 1930s, although she wrote books in this series through World War Two, and into the post-war years.
These early books are lighter in tone, and this one is particularly nostalgic; indeed, this book, set during the summer half-term at a boys school, and at the nearby country home of the Keith family, has an almost dreamy quality in the descriptions of shimmering sunlight on the river, tea and tennis parties for the adults, and frolicking on and in the river for the younger characters. Over the years, I’ve read up to the last few books in the series, but have enjoyed revisiting these earlier books with the Retro Reads group, with the quirky characters and humorous scenes almost reminiscent of Wodehouse.
In this one, Colin Keith has been taken on as a schoolmaster at Southbridge School. He’d much rather be reading law in preparation for joining his family firm, but feels he should be supporting himself; without consulting his father, he interviews and is accepted, but dreads the job teaching and living among the young boys.
Poor Mr. Birkett, the headmaster, has to contend with interfering parents, lovesick schoolmasters, and quirky students. One of his best teachers is engaged to his stunning daughter, Rose, who is one of the most empty-headed, self-centered beauties I’ve ever encountered in print, and a bane to her parents. She thrives on emotional scenes, fast cars, movies, and adoration - until the cleverer admires realize there is very little “there” there with the fair Rose! She makes her moody, Communist-sympathizing fiancé miserable, which arouses the protective instincts of his students (who generally see right through Rose), and any protective females who happen to witness Rose’s casual flirtations. They try to protect or distract the fiancé, embarrassing him and leading to further misery for him. Sounds silly, but in Thirkell’s hands it leads to several ridiculous and funny scenes over the course of the summer.
For fans, it’s a treat to meet an older, much improved Tony Morland, schoolmaster Everard Carter, charming barrister Noel Merton, and the Birkett and Keith families. They all reappear in future Thirkell novels - one of my favorite characters is Lydia Keith, first appearing here as an outspoken, very energetic and entertaining teenaged girl, but I enjoyed following her as she grew up in future books.
A lovely visit to Barsetshire for fans, new and old! I want to finish the series, so I can keep dipping into the earlier books - some of the best are set during the blackouts, rationing and endless committee work of WWII.
These early books are lighter in tone, and this one is particularly nostalgic; indeed, this book, set during the summer half-term at a boys school, and at the nearby country home of the Keith family, has an almost dreamy quality in the descriptions of shimmering sunlight on the river, tea and tennis parties for the adults, and frolicking on and in the river for the younger characters. Over the years, I’ve read up to the last few books in the series, but have enjoyed revisiting these earlier books with the Retro Reads group, with the quirky characters and humorous scenes almost reminiscent of Wodehouse.
In this one, Colin Keith has been taken on as a schoolmaster at Southbridge School. He’d much rather be reading law in preparation for joining his family firm, but feels he should be supporting himself; without consulting his father, he interviews and is accepted, but dreads the job teaching and living among the young boys.
Poor Mr. Birkett, the headmaster, has to contend with interfering parents, lovesick schoolmasters, and quirky students. One of his best teachers is engaged to his stunning daughter, Rose, who is one of the most empty-headed, self-centered beauties I’ve ever encountered in print, and a bane to her parents. She thrives on emotional scenes, fast cars, movies, and adoration - until the cleverer admires realize there is very little “there” there with the fair Rose! She makes her moody, Communist-sympathizing fiancé miserable, which arouses the protective instincts of his students (who generally see right through Rose), and any protective females who happen to witness Rose’s casual flirtations. They try to protect or distract the fiancé, embarrassing him and leading to further misery for him. Sounds silly, but in Thirkell’s hands it leads to several ridiculous and funny scenes over the course of the summer.
For fans, it’s a treat to meet an older, much improved Tony Morland, schoolmaster Everard Carter, charming barrister Noel Merton, and the Birkett and Keith families. They all reappear in future Thirkell novels - one of my favorite characters is Lydia Keith, first appearing here as an outspoken, very energetic and entertaining teenaged girl, but I enjoyed following her as she grew up in future books.
A lovely visit to Barsetshire for fans, new and old! I want to finish the series, so I can keep dipping into the earlier books - some of the best are set during the blackouts, rationing and endless committee work of WWII.
June 11, 2016
Colin Keith thinks it's high time he start earning his keep. It will be ages before he can practice law and though his dad is a generous man, Colin feels he ought to do more to support himself. He takes a job at a boys' school for the spring term until he can take up the study of law with his father's new friend, Mr. Merton. Colin's sister Kate also has plans for her future and his little sister Lydia just wants to read and discuss literature. The boys are sometimes tough to deal with but even harder is dodging Headmaster Birkett's beautiful daughter Rose. Rose is engaged to fellow teacher Philip Winter but flirts with every eligible man around.
This story didn't interest me much. It was way too slow for me and I had to skip over most parts set in the school because the subject is not something I can relate to, not being a boy or having attended boarding school. The parts out of school were more interesting and I really liked the Keith family and wished the story had focused more on the rest of them than Colin. The romantic subplot kind of surprised me. It sort of fizzled at the end. There was also an insane amount of classic literature references, very few I understood, having studied American literature and 19th century British literature.
Colin is the most boring member of his family and the most boring of the staff. His sister Kate fits the stereotype of a proper young lady but teenage Lydia is a hoot. I just loved her. She stole every scene she was in. I found the teachers largely dull as well, especially Winter who is apparently a Communist. The characters like to debate him on the merits of Communism vs. Fascism vs. Imperialism and all their attitudes seem dated and shocking by modern standards. The young boys were amusing at times. I especially liked brainy Hacker and his pet chameleon. He reminded me of Neville Longbottom. My least favorite character was Rose. She's so empty headed, frivolous and vain. She gives women a bad name and I just wanted to smack her.
I won't remember anything about this book by tomorrow and at some point I may pick it up again and won't have any memory of having read it, but it wasn't terrible- just slow and uninteresting.
This story didn't interest me much. It was way too slow for me and I had to skip over most parts set in the school because the subject is not something I can relate to, not being a boy or having attended boarding school. The parts out of school were more interesting and I really liked the Keith family and wished the story had focused more on the rest of them than Colin. The romantic subplot kind of surprised me. It sort of fizzled at the end. There was also an insane amount of classic literature references, very few I understood, having studied American literature and 19th century British literature.
Colin is the most boring member of his family and the most boring of the staff. His sister Kate fits the stereotype of a proper young lady but teenage Lydia is a hoot. I just loved her. She stole every scene she was in. I found the teachers largely dull as well, especially Winter who is apparently a Communist. The characters like to debate him on the merits of Communism vs. Fascism vs. Imperialism and all their attitudes seem dated and shocking by modern standards. The young boys were amusing at times. I especially liked brainy Hacker and his pet chameleon. He reminded me of Neville Longbottom. My least favorite character was Rose. She's so empty headed, frivolous and vain. She gives women a bad name and I just wanted to smack her.
I won't remember anything about this book by tomorrow and at some point I may pick it up again and won't have any memory of having read it, but it wasn't terrible- just slow and uninteresting.
May 6, 2016
An Angela Thirkell book can always lift my spirits. Lovely.
August 13, 2024
I have to admit that I got halfway through this book last summer and then put it down. This was more due to my headspace at the time than the book itself.
Thirkell's sparkling wit shines through in her writing and there's a real pull to discover what comic escapades her characters get up to. Although she pokes fun at some of her characters, there's no meanness in it.
I will say that if you're not British or don't have a thorough understanding of it history during this time period, many of the references, words, and phrases (both English and Latin) may go over your head. It's a lot easier for me to read Austen than it is to parse out some of the things she was referring to.
Thirkell's sparkling wit shines through in her writing and there's a real pull to discover what comic escapades her characters get up to. Although she pokes fun at some of her characters, there's no meanness in it.
I will say that if you're not British or don't have a thorough understanding of it history during this time period, many of the references, words, and phrases (both English and Latin) may go over your head. It's a lot easier for me to read Austen than it is to parse out some of the things she was referring to.
April 12, 2017
This one was a bit more jolly hocky sticks than other books of hers I've read, but I really enjoyed it.
Colin gets a job in a school as he feels he ought to earn some money rather than live off his Father who wants him to become a barrister. There he meets Philip Winter who has become engaged to Rose, the headmasters daughter. Rose is beautiful but has a brain the size of a sparrow and is utterly selfish. Tony Morland also makes an appearance here. It's nice to find him a little more grown up.
Lots of picnics, tea parties, tennis parties and one pond cleaning, make this an easy book to relax into.
Colin gets a job in a school as he feels he ought to earn some money rather than live off his Father who wants him to become a barrister. There he meets Philip Winter who has become engaged to Rose, the headmasters daughter. Rose is beautiful but has a brain the size of a sparrow and is utterly selfish. Tony Morland also makes an appearance here. It's nice to find him a little more grown up.
Lots of picnics, tea parties, tennis parties and one pond cleaning, make this an easy book to relax into.
August 24, 2014
This may be the funniest of the Angela Thirkell books that I've read so far. I loved the characters and the mix of school and family. So much has changed about schools and teaching since this was written, but it's still so easy to identify with.
June 24, 2018
Приятнейшее летнее чтение (дело происходит летом) -- приятные персонажи, некоторые из которых уже знакомы читателю, как водится у Тиркелл. Читать ее стоит не ради сюжетов, а просто для погружения в мир загородных поместий, тенниса и крокета, где все, кому хочется работать, имеют отличную любимую работу с подходящим жалованьем, а те, кто к работе не склонны, располагают собственными средствами; где девушки прелестны, воинственны или хозяйственны, а иногда всё вместе; где юноши порядочны и благородны; где помолвки свершаются быстро и почти без слов, а старая нянюшка печет хлеб к завтраку и называет вас "мой птенчик".
Чудесный, тихий, давно ушедший мир, которого, по большому счету, никогда и не было.
Чудесный, тихий, давно ушедший мир, которого, по большому счету, никогда и не было.
April 8, 2023
This wasn't one of my favorite of Thirkell's books. It had many elements that made her other books wonderful, but the characters seemed more flat, and the action in the book seemed to drag. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series in any case.
June 8, 2018
It's a drawback that there's not one narrator for the series, but many different ones. Some are much better than others. This narrator, Penelope Freeman, didn't work for me - I despise the way she makes young Tony sound. I keep thinking he's an asthmatic old gangster instead of a school-aged boy. I had to turn to ILL to see if they could get a copy for me to read. Fortunately they came through pretty quickly. (I've since learned there's a good audio version with Rosemary Leach, if you can find it any more.)
Once I got a copy to read I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It doesn't rate with my very favorites in the line - High Rising, Before Lunch, Wild Strawberries, for instance. But it was still a delightful read. It focuses on Colin Keith, who signs up to teach in a boy's school for the summer semester, instead of reading law like his parents want him to. There he meets fellow teachers and their families, and they meet his family. Love and high-jinks occur in the typical Thirkell fashion. Don't start here if you're new to her, but if like me you're reading your way through the series you'll find plenty to like.
Once I got a copy to read I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It doesn't rate with my very favorites in the line - High Rising, Before Lunch, Wild Strawberries, for instance. But it was still a delightful read. It focuses on Colin Keith, who signs up to teach in a boy's school for the summer semester, instead of reading law like his parents want him to. There he meets fellow teachers and their families, and they meet his family. Love and high-jinks occur in the typical Thirkell fashion. Don't start here if you're new to her, but if like me you're reading your way through the series you'll find plenty to like.
July 4, 2021
I had a few false starts with this book and put it aside and then had another try at giving this Thirkell book a chance.
The right frame of mind makes all the difference, what previously felt like a 'silly' book ended up being a witty, humorous read filled with literary references.
I really enjoy, Goodreads, Michael Bafford's review of this book: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Extra: There are a few retro, earlier-era, racially inappropriate mentions in this book.
Romances are all clean; though Rose, an immature girl who is described as so entirely foolish, and [...] so absurdly pretty has a history of being a serial fiancé.
The right frame of mind makes all the difference, what previously felt like a 'silly' book ended up being a witty, humorous read filled with literary references.
I really enjoy, Goodreads, Michael Bafford's review of this book: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Extra: There are a few retro, earlier-era, racially inappropriate mentions in this book.
Romances are all clean; though Rose, an immature girl who is described as so entirely foolish, and [...] so absurdly pretty has a history of being a serial fiancé.
August 22, 2019
I think this is my favorite of the Thirkell books I've read so far. Not that it’s any more profound than the others, but I think it has a particularly pleasing set of characters and nice comedic timing.
Thirkell's modus operandi is to create about a dozen upper-middle-class British characters, representing two or more generations; endow them with varying degrees of quirkiness and gravitas; then throw them together for a few dinners, picnics, and long weekends. They interact, and make astute observations about each other. Mildly amusing hijinks ensue, and a few people pair off. It’s a lot of fun.
This begins with Colin having difficulty breaking the news to his amiable, loquacious family that he has accepted a job as a junior master at a boys boarding school, a job which he thinks “will be quite good fun if it weren’t for the boys”. The headmaster thinks Colin will do fine, except for his thin neck. “I never feel a master is up to his work till he takes a fifteen-inch collar.”
One of Colin’s fellow junior masters, an “earnest communist”, is engaged to the headmaster's beautiful, vapid daughter. He's made miserable by her callous treatment, and is humiliated when he realizes that “the whole house, the whole school knows. The boys are kind to me, Everard, kind to me, because they see I’m a useless fool.”
The “boys" are mostly absent from the book, and represented by three upperclassmen who are old enough to socialize with the adults. I loved the teachers. “‘How I loathe boys and their ways,’ said Mr. Lorimer, who had been teaching for thirty-five years and took promising boys to his home in Scotland every holidays.” “‘About mid-term I could kill every boy in my house with joy’, said Mr. Carter, who liked being a housemaster more than anything in the world, and usually enlivened the tedium of the holidays by taking boys to Finland, or Mount Athos.”
There is one good scene with the boys, though, involving a simultaneous fire from a smothered light bulb and flooding from an overflowing bathtub. “Swan came hotfoot upstairs with the agreeable news that a great patch of the kitchen ceiling had fallen down onto the gas oven and water was still dripping from above.”
Colin’s ungraceful younger sister Lydia is hilariously outspoken, and freely gives her unique perspective of Shakespeare and Latin literature; while his demure sister Kate is the sort to be extremely concerned to find that Colin’s black socks have been darned with navy blue wool.
There are other amusing characters, and they all take tea and go punting on the river and play games on the lawn and ride around in terrifyingly dangerous sports cars. Will Philip the earnest communist really marry that awful girl? Will Noel marry Kate, of whom he is very fond, but finds that “except on domestic matters and books she seemed to have no conversation…. If he wanted to rouse her to animation, he had only to … remark carelessly that his housekeeper had twice given him burnt toast for breakfast lately.”
Thirkell's modus operandi is to create about a dozen upper-middle-class British characters, representing two or more generations; endow them with varying degrees of quirkiness and gravitas; then throw them together for a few dinners, picnics, and long weekends. They interact, and make astute observations about each other. Mildly amusing hijinks ensue, and a few people pair off. It’s a lot of fun.
This begins with Colin having difficulty breaking the news to his amiable, loquacious family that he has accepted a job as a junior master at a boys boarding school, a job which he thinks “will be quite good fun if it weren’t for the boys”. The headmaster thinks Colin will do fine, except for his thin neck. “I never feel a master is up to his work till he takes a fifteen-inch collar.”
One of Colin’s fellow junior masters, an “earnest communist”, is engaged to the headmaster's beautiful, vapid daughter. He's made miserable by her callous treatment, and is humiliated when he realizes that “the whole house, the whole school knows. The boys are kind to me, Everard, kind to me, because they see I’m a useless fool.”
The “boys" are mostly absent from the book, and represented by three upperclassmen who are old enough to socialize with the adults. I loved the teachers. “‘How I loathe boys and their ways,’ said Mr. Lorimer, who had been teaching for thirty-five years and took promising boys to his home in Scotland every holidays.” “‘About mid-term I could kill every boy in my house with joy’, said Mr. Carter, who liked being a housemaster more than anything in the world, and usually enlivened the tedium of the holidays by taking boys to Finland, or Mount Athos.”
There is one good scene with the boys, though, involving a simultaneous fire from a smothered light bulb and flooding from an overflowing bathtub. “Swan came hotfoot upstairs with the agreeable news that a great patch of the kitchen ceiling had fallen down onto the gas oven and water was still dripping from above.”
Colin’s ungraceful younger sister Lydia is hilariously outspoken, and freely gives her unique perspective of Shakespeare and Latin literature; while his demure sister Kate is the sort to be extremely concerned to find that Colin’s black socks have been darned with navy blue wool.
There are other amusing characters, and they all take tea and go punting on the river and play games on the lawn and ride around in terrifyingly dangerous sports cars. Will Philip the earnest communist really marry that awful girl? Will Noel marry Kate, of whom he is very fond, but finds that “except on domestic matters and books she seemed to have no conversation…. If he wanted to rouse her to animation, he had only to … remark carelessly that his housekeeper had twice given him burnt toast for breakfast lately.”
May 15, 2022
One of the earliest books in Thirkell's Barsetshire series. Summer Half was published in 1938, and the action takes place with practically no attention international affairs. There is enough going on in Barsetshire. Or it seems that way. As usual, the novel immerses us in a series of routine social events -- dinner parties; afternoon teas; tennis and croquet and punting on the river. The real attraction is the characters, and this installment features some of the best. Rose Birkett, gorgeous and empty-headed; Philip Winter, idealistic yet tentative; Noel Merton, observant and tempted to bait the unwary; Lydia Carter, impulsive and headstrong. As in other Thirkell novels, the love story that leads to an engagement serves as a kind of backdrop to the developing relationships among the more complex characters.
October 27, 2014
I am so glad I have come to Angela Thirkell's party albeit a few decades late. This was a surprisingly absorbing & compelling book - I thought it would be a bit of fluff and although it could be perceived as such, it is so much more. It would be very easy to take it seriously and therefore find it puzzlingly quaint and even dull but once you get the joke, it's hilarious. There isn't a huge amount of plot but instead you are taken into the narrator's confidence and let in on all the local gossip and secrets - none of which are earth-shattering but all the more interesting for that. The characters (there are many - keep up!)are extremely well-drawn and explored. I could cheerfully have slapped at least two of them for completely different reasons and would have thoroughly enjoyed doing so. I have ordered lots more in the series from Abebooks and will look out for them secondhand.
January 30, 2016
ACTUALLY LISTENED TO THE HACHETTE AUDIO VERSION READ BY PENELOPE FREEMAN!
What a terrific story: Thirkell has captured the idiosyncrasies of a variety of people, classes, ages, and professions, and created a story that enchants and entertains. Penelope Freeman, the reader, does a fantastic job bringing it all to life. What a great way to entertain myself through January in Maine and the end of my semester! Anglophile escapism at its finest.
What a terrific story: Thirkell has captured the idiosyncrasies of a variety of people, classes, ages, and professions, and created a story that enchants and entertains. Penelope Freeman, the reader, does a fantastic job bringing it all to life. What a great way to entertain myself through January in Maine and the end of my semester! Anglophile escapism at its finest.
July 11, 2015
God, Thirkell makes me laugh out loud.
Mrs. Birkett looked kindly at him, thinking, as she sometimes did, what fun it would have been to have a son, and how one could guide and help him; a sentiment of whose underlying fallacy she was quite unconscious.
It starts out sounding all sweetly Edwardian and then she just slips the knife in as smooth as can be.
Mrs. Birkett looked kindly at him, thinking, as she sometimes did, what fun it would have been to have a son, and how one could guide and help him; a sentiment of whose underlying fallacy she was quite unconscious.
It starts out sounding all sweetly Edwardian and then she just slips the knife in as smooth as can be.
March 29, 2019
One of my all-time favorites. Rose is ridiculous, Philip is a mess, the boys are wicked.
Re-read in February 2019 and enjoyed just as much.
Re-read in February 2019 and enjoyed just as much.
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