A Window in Thrums

Thrums #2

by J.M. Barrie

On the bump of green round which the brae twists, at the top of the brae, and within cry of T'nowhead Farm, still stands a one-storey house, whose whitewashed walls, streaked with the discoloration that rain leaves, look yellow when the snow comes. In the old days the stiff ascent left Thrums behind, and where is now the making of a suburb was only a poor row of dwellings and a manse, with Hendry's cot to watch the brae. The house stood bare, without a shrub, in a garden whose paling did not go all the way round, the potato pit being only kept out of the road, that here sets off southward, by a broken dyke of stones and earth. On each side of the slate-coloured door was a window of knotted glass. Ropes were flung over the thatch to keep the roof on in wind. Into this humble abode I would take any one who cares to accompany me. But you must not come in a contemptuous mood, thinking that the poor are but a stage removed from beasts of burden, as some cruel writers of these days say; nor will I have you turn over with your foot the shabby horse-hair chairs that Leeby kept so speckless, and Hendry weaved for years to buy, and Jess so loved to look upon.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Scotland

76 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1892

About the author

James Matthew Barrie was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several successful novels and plays.

The son of a weaver, Barrie studied at the University of Edinburgh. He took up journalism for a newspaper in Nottingham and contributed to various London journals before moving there in 1885. His early Auld Licht Idylls (1889) and A Window in Thrums (1889) contain fictional sketches of Scottish life representative of the Kailyard school. The publication of The Little Minister (1891) established his reputation as a novelist. During the next decade, Barrie continued to write novels, but gradually, his interest turned towards the theatre.

In London, he met Llewelyn Davies, who inspired him about magical adventures of a baby boy in gardens of Kensington, included in The Little White Bird, then to a "fairy play" about this ageless adventures of an ordinary girl, named Wendy, in the setting of Neverland. People credited this best-known play with popularizing Wendy, the previously very unpopular name, and quickly overshadowed his previous, and he continued successfully.

Following the deaths of their parents, Barrie unofficially adopted the boys. He gave the rights to great Ormond street hospital, which continues to benefit.

Reviews

[Rigby Dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Matt was excited to choose a book for me to read and chose this one. I strongly suspect he never read the book. The Scottish dialogue written in the accent was extremely hard to follow. Once I loosely got the hang of it, it was a little more smooth. But even then, lots of meaning lost, and at the end pretty disturbed by what I did understand about the family relationships. Other people described this book as “warm and cozy” and I’m at a loss to understand why. The descriptors “smothering” and “incestuous” seem more appropriate.

One star because what just even happened?
🪟

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Completely charming. As the original reviews put it:
"In 'A Window in Thrums' the true pathos and sublime of human life, unsung, scarcely wept, but silently honoured, stands first..."
"It is a delightful, entirely sympathetic, and loyal description of Scotch village life; of religion, courtship, gossip, and the comedy and the tragedy of the weaving village of Thrums."

The usual scanning errors and typos and missing words you often find in cheaply-found digital copies are even more confusing when the characters are using Scottish dialect, but the story is so touching, amusing, and outright charming, that it's well worth the effort to get through.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Working my way through Barrie's collected Novels & Sketches. Some are better than others, but many are very humorous or moving. Be prepared for heavy Scottish dialect, which is most charming, and sometimes unintelligible.

[Uli Vogel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The audiobook is an absolute must. Listen to the Scottish dramatization .

[Margareth8537 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Scots is sometimes difficult to manage, but a beautifully written little book

[Nelleke Plouffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book even more than I loved The Little Minister...until it came to the ending. Yes, I was a little disappointed by how sad it was, but I like, even love, many sad books. I thought the ending seemed rushed. After chapters of wonderful character development, suddenly a loving son unaccountably turns prodigal, and all the characters you’ve come to love die. The end. My edition (an undated antique published by AL Burt) also includes My Lady Nicotine, which is very different in character and tone than A Window in Thrums. I read the first and last chapters, and skimmed the rest. It was clever and mildly funny, but not really worth reading.

[Phil Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful evocation of life in a Scottish weaving town like - and based on - Kirriemuir, where Barrie grew up. At times moving, at times scalpel-sharp hilarious in its characterisations, the first-person narrator holds back in self-references, to the benefit of the portraits drawn, with subtle but inspired strokes, of the central family (Hendy, Jess, Leeby and the mostly absent Jamie) and those within their circle of acquaintances.

[Amanda Rush · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely and touching book depicting life in a rural Scottish town and the folk living there. It allowed me to feel very connected to my family who lived and worked very similarly in Scotland at this time.

The old Scots dialect is at first difficult to decipher if you are not familiar with it, but in my opinion worth it if you are able to get through it.

(Not sure where a reviewer got incestuous from as the book does not even mention sex... odd that would be said of such a read.)

[Marj Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a stuffy, broody wee book that offers a fascinating and warped take on the introspective and wistful yearning of the kailyard genre of Scottish fiction. Take anything you've imagined Scotland to be and watch it get demolished in a sweaty, suffocating tale of neighbourly resentment and the longing of disparate communities to turn back to where they had been uprooted from.

[Kathy Hale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two short novels by the author of J.M. Barrie, author of the play Peter Pan. One is the Window in Thrums and the other Lady Nicotine. Each tells of his life in Scotland or giving up his pipe.

[Glenda. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable period piece.

[Mick Bordet · Rating 2 out of 5]

The setting of this story is the star: a slice of life within a weaving community, good neighbours and gossips, family life on a pittance wage. Language is the co-star: beautifully flowing phrases in many places, with a wonderful array of Scots dialect, much of which has been lost to time.

Unfortunately, constantly switching between the English narration and the heavy dialect of the dialogue makes reading the text a somewhat disjointed affair. There's not much in the way of plot, either, despite some interesting possibilities and things that seemed to be set up to have more impact later.

The title really sums it up; what we have here is a window into a short period in the life of one family in a small town. It is delightful, sad and charming while it lasts, but I was left expecting something more.

[Bruth George]

tales of a small Scottish village where an invalid lady watches her world from her window. Short chapters about various events and personalities in this early 20th century place where small occurrences take on great importance.

Mine is an old copy, no date except 1895 copyright on photo of the author.

[Austen to Zafón]

Own 1896 version. Green binding with red flowers, published by Henry Altemus in US.