Enter Sir Robert

Barsetshire #24

by Angela Thirkell

Set against the backdrop of two of Barsetshire's less frequented communities, this tale plays out the yearnings and hesitations of a characteristically cross-purposed set of lovers. Each village is home to one of the two families whose unmarried children provide the romantic interest. As the novel ends, the heroine Edith eventually chooses travel over men and leaves for America.

Genres: Fiction, British Literature, Humor, Historical Fiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

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

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

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

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

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last line of this is so funny! I enjoyed spending time with some characters we haven’t seen for a while, like the Hallidays and Lady Graham and her youngest child, Edith. There’s a love triangle too, which doesn’t get resolved in this book. That’s rather unusual! There was a fair amount of repetition in this, whether it be about pigs, old Mr Halliday’s illness, or the difficulty of being titled and a big landowner post WWII, but I just skim some parts and enjoy being with the characters. Thirkell is good at quirky characters. The vicar, Mr Choyce, is especially amusing.

[Mela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much about nothing.

Yes, there was Thirkell's humour (I smiled many times). There were also Thirkell's deeper thoughts about humans and life.

But, although I like to meet old friends (characters from previous books) it was too confusing/overwhelming this time. The worst was almost lack of the plot (at least I felt the lack of it during the reading). It reminded me of Happy Returns. I think that these two novels were written without much idea for a plot, just to meet Thirkell's universe.

Supposedly it is a kind of prelude to the next part of the series, so I hope I will enjoy more the next one.

[Jocelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's see. Whom haven't we married off yet? There's Edith, the youngest of the Grahams. There's also George Halliday, brother-in-law of Edith's cousin Martin. We have forgotten about him for so long, he is already well into his thirties and way too old for Edith. Still, he's an eligible bachelor. To create some conflict, let's invent another one: John-Arthur Cross, thirty-something son of Lord Cross. And we can't forget our old favourite Lord Mellings, who is about Edith's age. We'll start the action at Hatch House and move to the Old Manor House, Holdings, and Cross Hall, add a couple of church scenes, and see what happens.

This book is worth reading for one of the church scenes in which the parishioners are thinking about anything other than the service. "Brother Ass can be, as we all know, a sore trial," says Thirkell, "but Brother Swallow--if we may so describe our wandering mind which darts hither and thither, now perched on the lectern, now wheeling quietly and surely in the high-pitched roof, now darting with exquisite precision through an open window--can be equally trying." Word.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, ignore this cover art! This painting does not resemble any character in this book, especially not retiring career soldier Sir Robert (who enters with the final sentence of the book)!

Unlike many Thirkell novels in this series, the romantic possibilities in this book are left unresolved. Emily Graham has grown into a young woman & is much less annoying than she was at the age of 13.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Those who know and like the Barsetshire novels produced by Angela Thirkell in the middle decade of the last century will know of the semi mystical character of Sir Robert Graham, so often mentioned but rarely if ever seen in the environs of Holdings, his family home. It is his wife, Lady Graham, whose habit is to refer all difficult questions that arise in local or family matters to her husband at least in conversation, who speaks of his good judgement and abilities. In this later novel, first published in 1955, his retirement and permanent return to his home is much looked forward to, especially by those promise to benefit from his presence, such as a vicar in search of a new churchwarden. Called “A novel without a Hero” the usual range of social gatherings take place as people linked by sometimes tenuous family connections meet, making and reviving friendships, having conversations, remembering old friends and some enemies. Edith, the youngest Graham child, is now a young woman who is innocent of her endearing ways, almost waiting for life to begin, and it is her story which features here.

While this series does not have to be read in strict order, there are many references to those who were the main characters in earlier novels, which may temporarily confuse, but it is well not to dwell on the complicated connections between and amongst families, as even firm fans of the series sometimes struggle to reconcile names, ages, and dates among the numerous characters which feature in this book as well as the twenty three books which proceed it; apparently even the author was known to become a little confused as to exactly which character had actually married whom. Like the other books, it is well to relax and enjoy the atmosphere of postwar rural life, where generally well meaning people meet, acknowledge attractions, swop mild gossip and get married. The later novels such as this one share a certain postwar weariness with shortages and memories of war , poor or non existent summers, and memories of some of those no longer present. They are perhaps not as tightly written as those written and published during the Second World War,which were written in a moment when the outcome of the conflict was still far from certain, where some men were absent and in danger, where some of those in Barsetshire never returned. In this book the younger men are sometimes finding hard to settle back into civilian life, with uncertainty of what they want from their future. Not that this book is miserable, as it features Edith’s moments of grown up behaviour, conversations in which the sometimes infuriating but always charming Lady Graham gets distracted, and the general background of agricultural and social life is lovingly described. Place names based on puns still abound, misheard and misunderstood sentences hang in the air, and one of my favourite characters, Mrs Morland, writer of novels, complains that her “typewriter has its own ideas about spelling”.

This novel is not one that has been reprinted by Vigaro in their modern Classics series, and is perhaps therefore a little more difficult to obtain. Those readers who enjoy (along with many of the gentlemen in the book) Lady Graham’s vague appeal will find her at her best in this book, as she exercises her considerable charm on her daughter’s behalf. I enjoyed this episode which ties up a lot of loose ends and spends a lot of time in gentle observation and humour. Perhaps it is not the place to begin a long term acquaintance with Thirkell’s books, but there is much to enjoy in this book, with or without Sir Robert’s promised presence.

[Carolyn Agosta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy all Angela Thirkell books - the small-town activities, the droll humor, the thoughtfulness of the characters - but I especially enjoyed a particular conversation between two women toward the end of the book. They are chatting about a young woman they know who's about to make a trip to America. One says, "Oh, she'll enjoy it so much!" and the other replies (not direct quote), "People always say that about someone traveling. I expect when I die and go to hell, people will say, 'Oh, she'll enjoy it so much. And think of all the interesting people she'll meet!' And I probably will. And I'll probably quite like some of them."

Just love it.

[Eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost nothing at all happens in this book, but it all chunters along in an amiable way. There are the usual amusing asides by Thirkell to the reader, and the characters meet up for afternoon tea, or to inspect a house that has had some renovations done, and enjoy each other's company without achieving anything much.

She pokes fun at various organisations such as the Friends of Beliers Priory, a monastic building whose remains consisted entirely of one end wall of a barn popularly supposed to have been a Refectory, or an Ambulatory, or a Scriptorium, and a chain of picturesque almost stagnant pools known as the Dipping Ponds, fed by a streamlet, tributary to the Woolram, where The Monks were supposed to have Kept Carp in The Olden Times.

Enjoyable enough, but not as good as her earlier books.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic domestic fiction: nothing really happens, in a most satisfying way. In this 24th installment of Thirkell’s Barsetshire series, Edith, the youngest of the Graham children, is the focus, as she begins to shift from child to young woman. Secondary focus on the Hallidays, a gentry family trying to keep the farm and property going without the money to do so; and a new family: the father and son duo of Lord Cross and young Mr Cross.

Both George Halliday and John Arthur Cross fought in WW II, and a sweet, almost boyish friendship develops between them. When it emerges that they are both interested in the same young woman: instead of becoming rivals they agree that their friendship can and must endure while they both court her. And then they have a race or wrestle or something. It’s really rather dear.

Re: the title — will Sir Robert Graham actually make an appearance in the book, in the flesh? One must read to find out!

[Alisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Less plot even than usual for Angela Thirkell. But still some giggles for dialogue from Lady Graham. Lots of connections to other Thirkell books, but not essential to know them all. No resolution at the end (but I know later books keep the stories going and have the same characters).

[Kay Robart · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my review here:

https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2015...

Here's a second review:

https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2023...

[Caro · Rating 4 out of 5]

1955 is getting a bit late for her best books, but it's always a treat to see the Leslies and Grahams in action. The never-seen Sir Robert does enter in the very last sentence.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with the other Barsetshire novels I've read by Angela Thirkell, this book is full of humour and really captures the conversations of people from 'the county.' However, it is a real shaggy dog story. We hear the same stories multiple times - is that purposeful, to demonstrate how 'county' talk goes in circles and the point is not to share new information but to co-create a history and strengthen social bonds? Or was it just sloppy editing?

There is no real story here, although it takes a while to work this out. We follow Edith, the only child left at home with Lady Graham, Sir Robert's (of the title) wife. She goes to stay with another family who has an attractive and friendly son named George. She spends time with her titled cousin of similar age to herself (17). She meets the son of a Lord who is in banking and who finds her attractive. Will Edith be engaged to marry one of these splendid options by the end of the book? Well, the author pulls a fast one (perhaps another joke) and packs her off to America.

The shaggy dog aspect of this book is most apparent in the title. We never meet Sir Robert; he walks in the door in the last sentence of the story. This leads me to think Thirkell was having a laugh with this book, purposefully upending the expectations of her readers. But who knows? Despite the lack of storyline and the repetition, it is still an enjoyable and fun read.

The other criticism I would level at this book is the lighthearted way she deals with the young men who have returned from WWII. They are all FINE. In fact, there is a fair bit of nostalgia for how great it was to serve in the military during the war. The only sadness is around those who were killed.

[Mbuye · Rating 3 out of 5]

More cheerful than those books in the series immediately following the 1939-45 War, this little volume is more about life among the county families struggling to survive despite the odds of heavy taxation and the lack of manpower to run vast houses. The people we first met in 'Wild Strawberries' have grown ten years older - and what a decade they have lived through. Now most of their children, whom we saw then in infancy or as small schoolboys are all set to see their own sons and daughters finish their schooling and begin life. One thread remains from the war years: uncertainty. Although most young men have dropped their military titles and reverted to their civilian status, they are ready to resume these at the first outbreak of another war. A friendly and nostalgic look at a lost civilisation. Incidentally, nobody gets engaged or married in 'Enter Sir Robert', who takes a curtain call only!

A kindly read, with more humour, if less dazzling wit, than a few earlier, almost bitter books. Still, in the Halliday family, Thirkell shows up the psychological disconnect within families, as well a kind of moral exhaustion of the once great and powerful families, who have been driven to a kind of servility to their own family retainers or their parish churchmen.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whoosh: not a heck of a lot happens in this one, and I wasn't very interested in what did. Not one to start with if you're new to Thirkell, for sure!

[Joanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sir Robert, we hardly know ye. And that's why I gave this a 4 star rather than a 3.

[Margaret Conmey · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the weakest in the series,no real plot
Most of book is padding with the verbal wanderings of Lady Agnes and pointless conversations about pigs

Re - read as I am (slowly) reading the Barsetshire series in order. I remembered that I felt it was at this stage in the series that the books become very weak and uninteresting.
I note that another reviewer described this book as ‘much about nothing’ and I agree; Mrs.T has lost the lighthearted sparkle of the pre-war books and the fascinating social commentary of the WW2 and its aftermath.
If you are new to the series Do Not start here.