Angela Thirkell: A Writer's Life

by Anne Hall

A biography of the author Angela Thirkell, known for her portrayals of English country life.

Angela Thirkell, born in 1890, lived an exciting and fascinating life. She was the granddaughter of Georgiana and Edward Burne-Jones, the goddaughter of J. M. Barrie, a cousin of Rudyard Kipling and Stanley Baldwin, and the mother of Absolute Beginners author Colin MacInnes. She was painted by John Collier and drawn by John Singer Sargent and Thea Proctor. And between 1931 and her death in 1961, she published more than thirty books across a variety of genres.

Anne Hall tells the story of the writer’s life, starting with her Kensington childhood, weaving through her two marriages and the births of her three sons, following her decade in Australia, and eventually returning to London, where her fortuitous meeting with a young publisher called Jamie Hamilton would launch her career as a novelist.

160 pages, Hardcover

Published June 30, 2021

About the author

Anne Hall taught French at the University of Washington and the University of California, Berkeley, and later English at the Université de Tours and the Université de Provence in France, where she still lives.

Reviews

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is full of beautiful illustrations, but it's not exactly an in depth study of her life. Most of it is fairly skimmed through, with only two chapters devoted to get long writing career, and 3 pages to the years leading up to get death. I don't even know what the long illness was that caused it. Personally, I was quite happy with that .I had gone into the book knowing little other than something of her family tree. I think I'd rather whizz through her life than read something too bogged down with details, but perhaps there is a happy medium.

[A J HOOPER · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was left, at the end of this biography, unable to decide whether Angela Thirkell was really a monster or just a very modern woman with an independence and individuality unable to fit into her time. Today I think her refusal to kowtow to two extremely unsatisfactory husbands and to cope (pretty well) as a single parent, would be seen as entirely normal. Sadly the sons didn't think so.

She did possess many of the prejudices of the upper class at the time, which would not have gone down well with her colonial sons. She could be waspish and critical. And she did turn friends and acquaintances into cartoon characters. But so did many other novelists of the time, most of them being male, (think Evelyn Waugh here) and yet they have managed to live on with our memories fixed firmly on their humour and story telling brilliance.

The use of letters and references in the biography is impressively thorough and if you want to learn about this reputation-resurrected author I can recommend it. Better still, I can recommend Thirkell's very amusing novels virtually all republished by Virago.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A biography of Angela Thrikell can be a matter of controversy; this book makes mention of one that appeared and caused a lot of unhappiness. Happily this book gives a fair and honest account of a life that was perhaps full of challenges, but also of a skilful and able writer who created a world of gentle humour and incisive observations. It is beautifully illustrated with pictures that illuminate the text, showing not only the pictures of Angela which are brilliant reminders of her family’s artistic links, but also the pictures which show the lifestyle which she recorded. It tells the story of a child born into a family which was interlinked with the celebrity artists and writers of the time; Edward Burne - Jones was her grandfather, J.M. Barrie was her godfather, Ruyard Kipling and Stanley Baldwin were cousins. This account of Angela’s life goes further than listing the names and dates, events and dry facts of a life; it sparks the stories and anecdotes of a woman’s experiences. It presents a vivid picture of her life and times and the relationships which were not always easy. Amid the life events which Hall details with care and sensitivity, there are the references to the writing career which Angela not only aspired to, but which she freely admitted gave her a vital source of income. This is a rich book in terms of presentation, but also in its use of a wealth of research and style, and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to read and review it on its publication day.

The Foreword by Hilary Temple draws attention to Angela’s resistance to higher education, and also how her wartime novels featured the burdens of rationing rather than the terrors of bombing raids; the courage of women coping with men forced to depart with no guarantee of return, the injuries that affected their lives for ever afterwards. The highlight of Angela’s Barsetshire novels is given attention, the humour and the wit with which she draws her portrayal of a society not only of gentry and minor aristocracy, but also the people who keep the often gently deteriorating houses and homes going. Angel’s own life story sees her drawing up as the indulged daughter and granddaughter, sometimes demanding attention, always sure of what she wanted from life. Her difficult first marriage produced two sons which she would seek to support even when their choices and attitude was painful; Angela is portrayed as a flesh and blood woman who demonstrated a keen insight into those around her, and was capable of creating multi- dimensional characters as a result. Like many of her characters, huge dramatic reactions to events and trying circumstances was not apparently her style as she coped with her second husband’s decision to return to his home in Australia. Using memories of her relatives, friends and other contacts provided the inspiration for her first articles in Australian publications for people eager to understand what was going on in Britain, just as a potentially dangerous voyage gave her the material for a novel. As Hall points out, there were those who complained about being used as the basis of characters but as Angela continued to write she constructed a cast of people who were rarely nasty and usually mutually supportive.

Hall makes extensive use of both Angela’s own letters and other correspondence which relates to others connected to her. Thus the reader learns first hand of her attitudes to others, gains insight into her genuine wit and written style, and learns much of her view of circumstances. Every quotation is carefully noted and sourced in an impressive “Endnotes” section, there is a list of illustrations apart from the captions, and a full list of her own books is given. The comprehensive index covers a extensive range of people, places and more of the entire book. This is a serious work of biography, and has so many academic credentials. My own favourite is the quotation from “The Duke’s Daughter”, as Angela uses her alternative identity of the novelist Laura Morland to remember the Prime Minister of the day, Attlee’s, mistaken reference to William Morris. It encapsulates the gently wicked wit that permeates Angela Thirkell’s novels, and the well written style of this fascinating and very readable biography which I thoroughly recommend.

[Caro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Likely much more accurate than the Strickland biography (known to her youngest son Lance as "the assassination of an authoress"), but ultimately unsatisfying. The illustrations are wonderful, as are the many quotes from Angela's letters to friends and family. But the wit found in her best novels is not much on display here, and Hall seems reluctant to offer any insights or draw any conclusions about a woman whose life was so different from the lives in her books.

[Margaret Conmey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Good biography but something lacking
I felt this needed more depth especially into Angela’s character
I would also have liked more info how she developed her novels and what she felt about her books - eg was she pleased, did she have a favourite etc
I would also have liked more info on her relationships with her sons
But I would recommend any fans of her Barsetshire series but a definitive biography of Angela Thirkell is still to be written