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Barsetshire #20
The Duke's Daughter
Several of our favourite characters reappear to play sometimes crucial roles: Lady Norton, the Dreadful Dowager; Gradka of the Mixo-Lydians; the obnoxious Harvey siblings; and the appallingly accident prone Mrs Updike. Lady Norton calls upon recently married Lucy Adams after a nine finger exercise determines that congratulations may be in order. Gradka, now Mixo-Lydian Ambassadress is instrumental (with Maria Lufton) in routing Miss Harvey's matrimonial assault on Oliver Marling. She also helps to rescue Tom Grantly from his ill-advised venture into the clutches of Geoffrey Harvey and the Red Tape Office. Oliver is frightened out of his 'habit' of love for Jessica Dean and perennial unclehood into a real attachment for Maria. Charles Belton and Clarissa Graham advance from 'understanding' to engagement, Tom and Emmy Graham, united in 'cow-mindedness', follow suit as do Lady Cora (the Duke's daughter) and Cecil Waring; all within a twenty four hour period.
357 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1951
54 people are currently reading
208 people want to read
About the author
Angela Thirkell
63 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 - 26 of 27 reviews
October 30, 2014
Reading one of Angela Thirkell’s many novels is to return to Anthony Trollope’s Barsetshire and meet the descendents of the families he wrote about a hundred years earlier. So I always enjoy reading Thirkell and Trollope together as I did this time by pairing the Duke’s Daughter with Trollope’s Framely Parsonage, two novels that feature many of the same families and settings. But even if I’d never read a single Trollope (which would be a great misfortune) I’d love Thirkell anyway because of the fun I’ve had trying to keep up with the Pomfrets, Grantleys, Leslies, Brandons, Grahams, Pallisers, and Marlings, not to mention all the other families, friends, and interesting characters who show up from year to year between 1932 and 1961. Many of them are living in the same country homes, estates and farms as their Trollopian ancestors did – although in some cases they’ve had to sell portions of their land to keep up with the economy. (Note: It’s almost impossible to keep track of the hundreds of people and places that show up in Thirkell’s novels without the help of one or two of the reference guides that have been written for that purpose.) In this novel it’s 1949 and Lady Cora Palliser plays a central role. She’s the daughter of the Duke of Omnium, a descendent of the same duke that shows up in a less than favorable light in Framely Parsonage along with the great great grandparents of many of the other characters we find once again in the Duke’s Daughter. We also meet the current Lady Lufton and her son Ludovic, as well as the Grantleys, Lord Silverbridge and even the descendents of some of Trollopes “scoundrels” and “rascals” like Mssrs. Tozer and Scratcherd who despite their forefathers’ shady past end up running a respectable catering business by the time Angela Thirkell gets a hold of them. Of her many characters one of my favorites is Mrs. Morland, a novelist who happily admits that she writes the same story over and over again and is always amazed that people keep reading them. Thirkell was obviously taking a good natured poke at herself since all her books follow the same predictable pattern: people we have come to know quite well go about living their quite ordinary but decidedly comfortable lives in close proximity to other people we know. Babies are born (although children are usually kept out of the action, safely tucked away in their nurseries or in the care of benevolent headmasters at nearby boarding schools) estates are managed or mismanaged, people are invited for lunch or weekends at each other’s homes. Just about any crisis – and in a Thirkell novel the crises are usually minor – can be handled by sitting down for a nice cup of tea. And every book ends with at least one engagement or marriage. By the last chapter of this book four of the couples we’ve been following for quite some time end up getting engaged….as do four couples from Framely Parsonage a hundred years earlier. It’s just one more similarity between the two novels and another reason I enjoy reading Trollope and Thirkell simultaneously.
August 27, 2022
Cora is a great character, and a good bridge between Trollope and Thirkell's worlds.
November 7, 2022
Reading it I was feeling like I was in the middle of a lovely room and around me came and went people. Some of them I recognized immediately, to recall some of them I had to think a few moments, some of them I didn't remember at all (unfortunately I wasn't able to get all previous parts of series). It was like sitting in a cozy, beloved hive. I didn't catch everything, I didn't understand every remark or comment but it felt like home. (By the way, I can't imagine reading it as a completely standalone book, without reading first at least a dozen previous.)
Again, there was:
--> wit, British charm, e.g. all those 'Department of Efficiency and Purging', 'the Ministry of General Interference' and some dialogues and thoughts -- perfectly hilarious, pure Thirkell
--> a few serious issues (e.g. a bit of politic, a question: what with former soldiers after the war, passing time and generations)
--> in many ways it was the picture of
--> and a romance, more precisely a few romances (like in Cheerfulness Breaks In this one was full of couples).
Again, there was:
--> wit, British charm, e.g. all those 'Department of Efficiency and Purging', 'the Ministry of General Interference' and some dialogues and thoughts -- perfectly hilarious, pure Thirkell
One of the disadvantages of being a man is that sometimes you are called upon to prove your manhood
--> a few serious issues (e.g. a bit of politic, a question: what with former soldiers after the war, passing time and generations)
But most of us, especially as the world is now, will have to learn to be lonely and never perhaps was there a time when so many people, in spite of overcrowding everywhere, felt such loneliness of the spirit
It is most difficult for parents to know how to treat the grown-up children whom they recognize as personages in their own right and yet must partly think of as needing the help and defense of our older generation.
--> in many ways it was the picture of
the county in miniature with its tradition of work, its acceptance of the immutable law that practically all those who depended on one were in their different way lazy, incompetent, untruthful, grasping, but none the less their children to be helped while young and allowed when old to go on living at a very low rent or none at all in cottages that could have been let for enormous sums to outsiders
--> and a romance, more precisely a few romances (like in Cheerfulness Breaks In this one was full of couples).
February 16, 2018
Great fun, as always, to revisit old friends in Barsetshire! I can’t let so much time elapse between books, or I have a hard time sorting out and remembering the ever-increasing county characters...
In this outing Thirkell is busy match-making, marrying off the still unattached but eligible latest generation of county families. Three engagements are announced in one day!
Typical of these books, there is really no plot, just everyday life in the Barsetshire countryside several years after WWII. Some characters have moved on after the deprivations and service of the war while others are struggling. Universally acknowledged, however, is the evil of the current government, known as They or Them, as in They take everyone’s money, or life is awful because of Them (typified in the last several novels by the aptly named offices of “Red Tape and Sealing Wax” and “General Interference”) .
Yes, it’s old-fashioned, and the occasional ethnic or snobbish class slur is jarring, but as the back if my Moyers Bell edition says, “Few reading pleasures are as comforting as making the acquaintance of an entire community and charting the progress of its generations through the rituals of romance and the experiments of time. When changes in the cultural and political landscape admit confusion to the traditional world of the British gentry, it does little to dim the allure of local comedies in Barsetshire.” Delightful!
In this outing Thirkell is busy match-making, marrying off the still unattached but eligible latest generation of county families. Three engagements are announced in one day!
Typical of these books, there is really no plot, just everyday life in the Barsetshire countryside several years after WWII. Some characters have moved on after the deprivations and service of the war while others are struggling. Universally acknowledged, however, is the evil of the current government, known as They or Them, as in They take everyone’s money, or life is awful because of Them (typified in the last several novels by the aptly named offices of “Red Tape and Sealing Wax” and “General Interference”) .
Yes, it’s old-fashioned, and the occasional ethnic or snobbish class slur is jarring, but as the back if my Moyers Bell edition says, “Few reading pleasures are as comforting as making the acquaintance of an entire community and charting the progress of its generations through the rituals of romance and the experiments of time. When changes in the cultural and political landscape admit confusion to the traditional world of the British gentry, it does little to dim the allure of local comedies in Barsetshire.” Delightful!
December 26, 2020
Wavering between 3 and 4 stars though it doesn’t matter much because I always enjoy an Angela Thirkell. The characters, as numerous and varied as Trollope’s own, are dear. I love seeing how characters have changed over time, how they were affected by the war, and how they’re picking up the threads of life post-war in a radically altered world. I feel for the 20-40 year old generation in this book. They are old enough to remember the pre-war years when servants were plentiful, class distinctions were clearer, and the ties to one’s estate and lands could be a life’s work, but they are young enough to still be shaping their lives and careers in a world that their parents struggle to help them navigate. Indeed their parents are grieving the loss of the former way of life and Thirkell shows, subtly, how each character grapples with these changes.
There are subtle traces here of the lingering trauma of wartime too. Mrs. Grantly reflects how her son Tom has experienced the horror of war in ways she will never understand and struggles to know how to help him find his feet in the working world. He makes some wrong decisions, but ultimately grows up and steps into a life that will suit him admirably. He’s a good kid.
In so many ways, this pre-war lifestyle is what modern Americans would call wrong. Indeed, reading the stereotypes in the book is uncomfortable. Thirkell was very much a woman of her time and class. And yet, her compassion for basic human struggles is very present: how decent parents navigate the often tricky relationships with their adult children, how we treat people we don’t like, how we belong to a community, how we handle life’s uncertainties, how we marry and integrate families, how we relate to those in different generations.
This book seems to have a record number of engagements, even for a Thirkell novel. My favorite by far is Lady Cora and Sir Cecil Waring. I want more of them! Especially Lady Cora. She is fascinating. She is deeply shaped by her role as a Duke’s daughter and the social position that goes with it. She’s also deeply shaped by the loss of her brother and many friends in the war. She’s brave, conscientious, kind, and no-nonsense. She is also vulnerable. I hope we get more of her in coming books.
The Barsetshire Archaeological Society meeting in the last couple chapters was a nice way to end because Thirkell got to mention many names of her characters and remind us that, above all, her novels are about the County and its complex interweaving of relationships.
There are subtle traces here of the lingering trauma of wartime too. Mrs. Grantly reflects how her son Tom has experienced the horror of war in ways she will never understand and struggles to know how to help him find his feet in the working world. He makes some wrong decisions, but ultimately grows up and steps into a life that will suit him admirably. He’s a good kid.
In so many ways, this pre-war lifestyle is what modern Americans would call wrong. Indeed, reading the stereotypes in the book is uncomfortable. Thirkell was very much a woman of her time and class. And yet, her compassion for basic human struggles is very present: how decent parents navigate the often tricky relationships with their adult children, how we treat people we don’t like, how we belong to a community, how we handle life’s uncertainties, how we marry and integrate families, how we relate to those in different generations.
This book seems to have a record number of engagements, even for a Thirkell novel. My favorite by far is Lady Cora and Sir Cecil Waring. I want more of them! Especially Lady Cora. She is fascinating. She is deeply shaped by her role as a Duke’s daughter and the social position that goes with it. She’s also deeply shaped by the loss of her brother and many friends in the war. She’s brave, conscientious, kind, and no-nonsense. She is also vulnerable. I hope we get more of her in coming books.
The Barsetshire Archaeological Society meeting in the last couple chapters was a nice way to end because Thirkell got to mention many names of her characters and remind us that, above all, her novels are about the County and its complex interweaving of relationships.
November 13, 2022
Another delight, as Angela Thirkell hit her post-war stride. “They” are still loathed but happily only appear sporadically. Stories are continued for characters we met in the last book, as well as the appearance of a new character who was previously only mentioned by name.
A happy thing: I thought the book was ending at the end of each of the final five chapters (harder to gauge on a Kindle, since some books end before 100%). So it felt like a gift each time I found a new chapter after turning the page. I don’t remember treats like this in previous books, but I hope she kept it up!
Many engagements, and an impressive gathering of the Barsetshire Archaeological Society that includes almost every still-living character from previous books.
A pleasure to read.
A happy thing: I thought the book was ending at the end of each of the final five chapters (harder to gauge on a Kindle, since some books end before 100%). So it felt like a gift each time I found a new chapter after turning the page. I don’t remember treats like this in previous books, but I hope she kept it up!
Many engagements, and an impressive gathering of the Barsetshire Archaeological Society that includes almost every still-living character from previous books.
A pleasure to read.
May 27, 2017
A great way to start the summer is to visit on old friend. Since I am slowly working my way through Trollope's Barsetshire Chronicles, I chose to revisit Mrs. Thirkell. This book has a copyright of 1951. And my copy is a paperback which could have been printed in 1951. The person who wrote the cover blogs must not have read the book, because it is touted as a romance. In actuality it is social commentary from a Conservative point of view on the post WWII changes in English life. There is still rationing, the landowners are losing property through death duties and other taxes, families can no longer sustain the big houses and the social class system is still strong. Mrs. T is not a sentimental person, but she is quite aware of the impact of war on the returning soldiers, that recovery is not quick. She also writes with subtly about the quiet pain of loss. At least 3 characters have experienced huge losses due to the war which they do not whine about. This is the first Mrs. T I have read since I started my Barsetshire read and in this particular novel, she is revisiting many of the families which appear in Trollope. Mrs. Belton is a descendant of the Thornes of Ullathorne, the title heroine is Cora Palliser, the current Lord Lufton appears and characters from Dr. Thorne and Framley Parsonage are referred to. In addition, the author seems to have decided to marry off a number of minor characters from other novels: Tom Grantly and Emmy Graham, Cecil Waring gets Lady Cora, Clarissa Graham and Charles Belton. Plus previous heroines are having children and she is so funny about loving the children and the delight of sending them off to school (her own experience for sure). I started reading these novels in my early 30's. Checking back on authors as an older reader often reveals delights one missed when younger. I upped the stars because Trollope and life have contributed to my appreciation.
July 16, 2009
Cora, the daughter of the Duke of Omnium, has several nice men to choose from, but we are rooting for our old friend Commander Sir Cecil Waring: an admirable man, a war hero learning the responsibilities of his newly inherited estate. Colin's sister Leslie and her husband Phillip need to find a new site for their successful school. We spend time with our old favorites the Beltons and the Leslies. I had missed a crucial book, so it was a delight to find Lucy Marling and the Adamses happily settled. Thirkell suddenly decided to provide partners for several of her young people so they could get on with their lives. At the end there are 4 engagements in a few days.
The most memorable part for me was a wonderful house called The Lodge owned by Cecil Waring. I wanted to live there as much as Cecil did (except he couldn't because it wasn't big enough to be an institution for boys), and as much as Cora's brother did. I think I also missed a crucial book containing the romance of Cora's brother Lord Silverbridge.
The most memorable part for me was a wonderful house called The Lodge owned by Cecil Waring. I wanted to live there as much as Cecil did (except he couldn't because it wasn't big enough to be an institution for boys), and as much as Cora's brother did. I think I also missed a crucial book containing the romance of Cora's brother Lord Silverbridge.
February 17, 2016
This story contains at least FOUR engagements - I guess she got tired of trying to keep track of who is in love with whom. Lady Cora, the duke's daughter of the title, is the principal character, but we meet a lot of old and new friends - Cecil Waring (now Sir Cecil, since his uncle's death, the Winters (Philip and Cecil's sister Leslie), various Grahams, primarily Agnes, Clarissa, and Emmy. A major subplot concerns Tom Grantley, who still doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up - a farmer at Rushwater or a civil servant with the office of Red Tape and Sealing Wax. We also meet Lord Lufton and his family; his two sisters and his sad dependent mother. Mrs. Morland makes an appearance, as do a large number of others from previous books, not all of whom are necessary to this story, but whom it is nice to meet again.
July 10, 2022
We've been waiting a long time for some of our favorite Barsetshire characters to get married. Angela Thirkell must have fielded a lot of complaints from anxious readers because in this book FOUR couples get engaged! Meanwhile the summer weather stays cold and dreary and the Labour government keeps undermining the British class system. Every book just the same, and always terribly funny. I just opened this one at random and came across the following sentence: "You don't go chucking false teeth into ponds for fun."
March 17, 2020
I've read this novel before, but I apparently didn't review it. It's a good Thirkell, grounded by a strong character. The whole series is good reading during this strange time of self-quarantine and schools closing and a general sense of a strange new world--I followed this up with Peace Breaks Out!
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July 13, 2010Thirkell wrote about 30 books, all of which seem to be about small-town England sometime in the first half of the 20th century. This one takes place in 1951 in post-war England and follows the families and goings-on of this little town.
May 26, 2013
Ah, Oliver, Oliver. Finally he is caught....
February 9, 2021
Might have been 4 stars, but this is from the period when there is getting to be a bit too much whingeing on about Them and their Evil NHS and so on among the county set in Barsetshire.
September 20, 2011
Different edition--hardbound.
LOVED this one..... could be titled "4 weddings (and a funeral)"
LOVED this one..... could be titled "4 weddings (and a funeral)"
July 4, 2023
'The Duke's Daughter' is obviously a reference to Trollope's 'The Duke's Children' , and it might be easier to enjoy if the reader were familiar with at least Trollope's Barsetshire and Palliser books, since this particular novel weaves in and out of the places and among the characters of Barchester, Silverbridge, Hogglestock and their environs.
Again we are faced with an enormous list of actors, some of whom are descendents of Trollope's equally imposing casts, along with new Thirkellian-born people like Mrs Morland and her followers. Although the books are all independent of each other, people in them grow up, marry, face war, have children, and die, there are frequent allusions to them or their children in all the books, even if they do not make a personal appearance. Just as Griselda Grantly, the little daughter of Archdeacon Grantly, grows up to marry Lord Dumbello and makes her grand exit as the Marchioness of Hartletop across half a dozen of Trollope's books, while actually getting a kind of speaking part in only one of them, so too do the characters of Thirkell's books flit in and out without ever playing a major role in any of them.
There is no definable plot in these later novels. Most of them deal with the fallout of the war and its effects on the former landed gentry, now crippled by grief with the death or worse of sons and daughters, burdened with enormous taxes on the houses they live in which are practically uninhabitable thanks to labour shortages and a cruel rise in the cost of living. Young men and women who returned from the front find it hard to adjust to civilian life. Worst of all, they are unemployed and unemployable, the new world having no use for a classical education.
Four couples get married without fuss, but deeply in love, and then it looks as if life has some joy after all. News about similar couples from the past fill the pages, but the real delight is the number of new babies that come as if to replace the lost ones.
It helps to appreciate Thirkell's books to read a couple of the earlier ones, where the roll call is less diffuse, and the characters are drawn so clearly that they define all the others in the huge numbers that people the later books. Also, Thirkell's great humour and brilliant wit are more evident in the years before the war, or even during the early years, when the war was simply a nuisance, to brushed off like a gnat at a garden party. After the war, the novels show less resilience, and glom on about the end of civilisation. Thirkell, herself a member of the educated landowning class, and with a normally sunny outlook, hated what was happening around her, and the fact that she had no control over the changes.
But it is precisely these changes that she documents with that sharp clear gaze that still holds a glint of sardonic derision, especially at the Government (They, Them, Their). Coming as she did from a highly cultured family, with Royal Academicians and a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in her immediate family, Thirkell's own writing sparkles with references from Greek and Latin classics, as well as quotations from English (and Scottish, Irish and Welsh) poets, some horrendously obscure, and even, to do her credit, music hall favourites.
Again we are faced with an enormous list of actors, some of whom are descendents of Trollope's equally imposing casts, along with new Thirkellian-born people like Mrs Morland and her followers. Although the books are all independent of each other, people in them grow up, marry, face war, have children, and die, there are frequent allusions to them or their children in all the books, even if they do not make a personal appearance. Just as Griselda Grantly, the little daughter of Archdeacon Grantly, grows up to marry Lord Dumbello and makes her grand exit as the Marchioness of Hartletop across half a dozen of Trollope's books, while actually getting a kind of speaking part in only one of them, so too do the characters of Thirkell's books flit in and out without ever playing a major role in any of them.
There is no definable plot in these later novels. Most of them deal with the fallout of the war and its effects on the former landed gentry, now crippled by grief with the death or worse of sons and daughters, burdened with enormous taxes on the houses they live in which are practically uninhabitable thanks to labour shortages and a cruel rise in the cost of living. Young men and women who returned from the front find it hard to adjust to civilian life. Worst of all, they are unemployed and unemployable, the new world having no use for a classical education.
Four couples get married without fuss, but deeply in love, and then it looks as if life has some joy after all. News about similar couples from the past fill the pages, but the real delight is the number of new babies that come as if to replace the lost ones.
It helps to appreciate Thirkell's books to read a couple of the earlier ones, where the roll call is less diffuse, and the characters are drawn so clearly that they define all the others in the huge numbers that people the later books. Also, Thirkell's great humour and brilliant wit are more evident in the years before the war, or even during the early years, when the war was simply a nuisance, to brushed off like a gnat at a garden party. After the war, the novels show less resilience, and glom on about the end of civilisation. Thirkell, herself a member of the educated landowning class, and with a normally sunny outlook, hated what was happening around her, and the fact that she had no control over the changes.
But it is precisely these changes that she documents with that sharp clear gaze that still holds a glint of sardonic derision, especially at the Government (They, Them, Their). Coming as she did from a highly cultured family, with Royal Academicians and a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in her immediate family, Thirkell's own writing sparkles with references from Greek and Latin classics, as well as quotations from English (and Scottish, Irish and Welsh) poets, some horrendously obscure, and even, to do her credit, music hall favourites.
July 31, 2020
The rare Thirkell that I had last read so long ago that it seems fresh and new. Some of our favorite characters - the dreadful Geoffrey Harvey and his equally dreadful sister, Mrs. Morland of course, young Ludo, Tom Grantly, a good guy if there ever was one, even a glimpse of Swan - make this a happy gathering on the whole. The four marriages are mostly believable (though I could never quite match Oliver with Maria), and Lady Cora is a prime example of a bright artistocrat with a broken heart who ends up marrying the exact right person.
Substitute "hazy, hot and humid" for "cold, damp and disagreeable" and you have the perfect summary of this horrible July of the pandemic.
Saturday arrived, as it usually does, and as it was just as cold, damp and disagreeable a day as the others of that summer we will not say anythng about it.
Substitute "hazy, hot and humid" for "cold, damp and disagreeable" and you have the perfect summary of this horrible July of the pandemic.
March 24, 2020
This delightful continuation of the Barsetshire series follows eight youngish people, still finding their places after the War. It picks up right where County Chronicle leaves off, and needs to be read in order to understand the characters and relationships. Thirkell's prose is witty, sometimes snarky, intelligent, and always entertaining. In the midst of the stories of the county are glimpses of post-World War II struggles, bringing poignant history to life. I fell in love with these gentle novels from the first volume, and have yet to be disappointed as the inhabitants age, mature, and develop with the changes brought about by contemporary events.
December 30, 2023
It had been a while since I last read Thirkell, and the cast of characters was rather intimidating. That, and starting while I still had active Covid, made it difficult to keep track of who everyone was, and what their relations were to everyone else. But eventually I settled (mostly) in.
This is later in the series, and not as strong as her earlier works, but still a reasonably engaging read. A few characters I recall from Miss Bunting show up -- often married -- and it was nice to see them again, though while I've technically spoilered several of the books between then and now, Thirkell does not generally keep Who Marries Who that much of a surprise in her books.
This is later in the series, and not as strong as her earlier works, but still a reasonably engaging read. A few characters I recall from Miss Bunting show up -- often married -- and it was nice to see them again, though while I've technically spoilered several of the books between then and now, Thirkell does not generally keep Who Marries Who that much of a surprise in her books.
November 9, 2018
Thirkell is so much fun when she’s writing light romances about the county, and so appalling when referring to the Labour Government or, as she puts it, ‘Them’. From reading her books one would think that the National Health Service was the worst thing ever to happen, with the possible exception of universal education. But despite this I do enjoy her as a period piece.
June 8, 2024
4 stars. The characters were a bit of a tangle to me at times, there were so many . The author helped out, still I should have made a list. I enjoyed the light plot, dialogue and signs of the times. Rationing of fuel had just ended (1950). ‘THEY’ (the government / civil service) were sprinkled through the book as incompetent and taxing families to oblivion. Plus ca change…
August 7, 2025
Lovely book. So satisfied with Emmy and Cora. So glad we've settled my less favored characters Oliver, Clarissa and Charles too.
January 31, 2023
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2023...
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2023...
September 29, 2024
As I am gradually reading the series in order the change in tone from the 1930s and Wartime set books is very obvious
The light touch of her earlier social comedies and the uplifting , although still serious, tone of the earlier books have gone
Still some likeable characters- Lady Cora Palliser , the Dukes Daughter , is a more memorable character than some of her recent heroines
Mrs Thirkell’s sadness of the Post-war social changes and her bitterness towards the Labour government is more pronounced
I had forgotten how many characters from previous books were included or at least mentioned in this novel.
I had the feeling that Mrs Thirkell might have been considering stopping the series , as there was a feeling of moping up some loose ends with no fewer than 4 engagements and a review of some well known characters from the series
I checked on line and Angela Thirkell was included in the list of best selling authors in the USA in 1951 and obviously continued with the series until her death but I think the books did become weaker after this book
The light touch of her earlier social comedies and the uplifting , although still serious, tone of the earlier books have gone
Still some likeable characters- Lady Cora Palliser , the Dukes Daughter , is a more memorable character than some of her recent heroines
Mrs Thirkell’s sadness of the Post-war social changes and her bitterness towards the Labour government is more pronounced
I had forgotten how many characters from previous books were included or at least mentioned in this novel.
I had the feeling that Mrs Thirkell might have been considering stopping the series , as there was a feeling of moping up some loose ends with no fewer than 4 engagements and a review of some well known characters from the series
I checked on line and Angela Thirkell was included in the list of best selling authors in the USA in 1951 and obviously continued with the series until her death but I think the books did become weaker after this book
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December 15, 2024My mother used to read Angela Thirkell when she had insomnia. The books are bland and comforting, about rich white people in the English countryside. They fall in love and then they get married. For me it's one of the comfort foods of reading.
Apparently, the third reading in 2024, and I didn't remember too much about the plot from the previous reading.
Apparently, the third reading in 2024, and I didn't remember too much about the plot from the previous reading.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 9, 2022
Thirkell seemed to be marking time in this one, though she managed to pair up a number of people. She is still entertaining but it was really just more of the same old stuff being trotted out for her faithful readers.
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