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Angela Thirkell

Matches are being made among the cream of postwar English society in this novel of “warmth, whimsy, quirks, and vinegar with a dash of vitriol”(The New York Times).

The England of old may be fading away (it’s so hard to find good help these days!)—but that doesn’t stop the prominent families of Barsetshire from producing a new generation of genteel brides and grooms in this funny, entertaining portrait of stubbornly cherished traditions in a changing world. 

“It is difficult not to become charmed, amused and engrossed. [Thirkell’s] sense of the ludicrous is enchanting. Perhaps, above all, it is her basic human kindness and her remarkable insight into the delicate relationship between parents and adolescent and grown children, that endear her books to so many people.” —The New York Times

“Thirkell writes with an asperity and wit and glorious clowning that are all her own.” —San Francisco Chronicle

Open Road Media

The Barsetshire Novels

The Duke's Daughter

As Elizabeth II’s coronation draws near, the gentry of Barsetshire engage in preparations, committee meetings, and “their perennially amusing antics” (The New York Times).

A new queen is about to be crowned, and the prominent families of Barsetshire intend to make a good impression amid the festivities. Fortunately, the highly capable Lydia Merton takes the helm of the local committee planning for the big event. All she needs to do is keep calm and carry on through the squabbling, the petty jealousies, and the occasional disaster . . . 

“The Thirkell wit presides with tongue-rolling malice.” —The New York Times

“Where Trollope would have been content to arouse a chuckle, [Thirkell] is constantly provoking us to hilarious laughter. . . . To read her is to get the feeling of knowing Barsetshire folk as well as if one had been born and bred in the county.” —Kirkus Reviews

What Did It Mean?

A picturesque community in postwar England comes together when it counts in this witty, moving novel in the “beloved” Barsetshire series (Publishers Weekly).

Edith Graham is still single when she returns from America to visit Mrs. Morland, and there’s no shortage of interested men—until three suitors find each other such good company that they start socializing together and ignoring her. Meanwhile, Mrs. Morland has received a marriage proposal herself and needs to let the dear man down gently. But while these day-to-day problems preoccupy the two women and their Barsetshire neighbors, they will soon be united by a poignant loss . . . 

“Here are the familiar cross-county conversations, the disentangling of relationships, the good pieces of meddling and the criticisms and comments that embroider this ever-unfolding panorama of English life.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Thirkell writes in a charmingly easy and intimate style.” —The New York Times

“Her writing celebrates the solid parochial English virtues of stiff-upper-lippery, good-sportingness, dislike of fuss, and low-key irony. . . . Light, witty, easygoing books.” —The New Yorker

Never too Late

In 1930s England, a beleaguered mother frets over her twelve-year-old’s “skirmishes with the grown-up world and his schoolmasters . . . amusingly told” (Kirkus Reviews).

Laura Morland loves her son, Tony, unconditionally . . . even when he’s talking everyone’s ear off, accidentally breaking a window, shelling peas in the bathtub, or desperately trying to convince her to buy him a bicycle—the thought of which terrifies her. And of course Laura cherishes their time together when Tony’s home on break, while secretly counting the minutes until he goes back to school . . . 

This twentieth-century tale set in Anthony Trollope’s beloved Barsetshire is a lighthearted and sharp-witted look at the life of the upper class in prewar England, and a funny portrait of the fraught relationship between a long-suffering mother and a demanding, rambunctious, and occasionally infuriating twelve-year-old boy. 

Praise for Angela Thirkell and the Barsetshire novels

“Thirkell writes in a charmingly easy and intimate style.” —The New York Times

“[Thirkell’s] writing celebrates the solid parochial English virtues of stiff-upper-lippery, good-sportingness, dislike of fuss, and low-key irony. . . . Light, witty, easygoing books.” —The New Yorker

The Demon in the House

From a starry-eyed teenager to an elderly clergyman, it seems no one is immune to romance in the county of Barsetshire . . . 

In the long-running and beloved series that brings Anthony Trollope’s Barsetshire into the mid-twentieth century and offers “a fresh, original, witty interpretation of England’s social history,” the quirky inhabitants and well-bred families of the county find themselves navigating the delights and uncertainties of love (The New York Times). Lady Gwendolyn Harcourt, no spring chicken, is courted by the aging Reverend Oriel of Harefield. And on the other end of the generational spectrum, fresh-faced sixteen-year-old Lavinia Merton may have a future marriage prospect in her singing partner Ludovic, Lord Mellings . . . 

“Thirkell’s gently meandering account of the diversions of Barsetshire society leaves nothing to be desired.” —New York Herald Tribune

“To read [Thirkell] is to get the feeling of knowing Barsetshire folk as well as if one had been born and bred in the county.” —Kirkus Reviews

Love at All Ages

Amid food shortages and grumbling, Barsetshire is unsettled by the arrival of a pretty war widow in this “delicately humorous [and] entertaining” novel (The New York Times).

World War II may be over, but its effects linger in the English countryside as the local ladies trade ration coupons for a paltry selection of provisions. It’s feeling like a bleak summer—but it won’t be a boring one, now that flirtatious young widow Peggy Arbuthnot and her sister-in-law, Effie, are on the scene. Peggy has quite a few admirers—including Noel Merton, which is rather unfortunate for his wife. Suspense reigns over who might win Peggy’s hand—and whether the Merton marriage will survive . . . 

“Where Trollope would have been content to arouse a chuckle, [Thirkell] is constantly provoking us to hilarious laughter. . . . To read her is to get the feeling of knowing Barsetshire folk as well as if one had been born and bred in the county.” —Kirkus Reviews

Private Enterprise

A “charming troupe” of Barsetshire inhabitants celebrate a spate of marriages—while one young woman bemoans her prospects—in this novel of 1950s English life (The New York Times).

The locals are all talking about the upcoming wedding of the vicar of Hatch End to the much-loved Miss Merriman—in fact, the couple’s friends and neighbors seem even more excited than the bride- and groom-to-be. But that’s to be expected when a couple of a certain age tie the knot, because it reminds everyone that it’s never too late for love. And though Edith Graham is increasingly gloomy about landing a husband, the romantic spirit of the event just might be contagious . . . 

“Where Trollope would have been content to arouse a chuckle, [Thirkell] is constantly provoking us to hilarious laughter. . . . To read her is to get the feeling of knowing Barsetshire folk as well as if one had been born and bred in the county.” —Kirkus Reviews

“[Thirkell’s] talent for easy, light characterization does not seem to be flagging.” —The Times Literary Supplement

A Double Affair

A widow goes house-hunting in Barsetshire in this witty, moving novel by an author of “graceful stories of upper-class English life” (The New York Times).

One rainy summer, amid the social and cultural changes of postwar England, Mrs. Macfadyen wrestles with the loss of her beloved husband after just five years of happiness. Life has left her uprooted—but where can she replant herself? The hunt for a new house (preferably not too close to her mother’s) will involve everyone from friends and neighbors to an old suitor and the local clergy, but ultimately the decision—and her future—is up to her . . . 

Recreating Anthony Trollope’s fictional county and bringing it into the mid-twentieth century, Angela Thirkell tells a tale filled with heartache, humor, and sharp social observation.

“It is in [Mrs. Macfadyen’s] fitful remembrance, quiet loneliness and gentle acceptance, that one realizes her author’s sense of the poetry in life, and her sympathetic ear for the nuances of pain.” —The New York Times

Close Quarters

The missing lord of the manor looms large in this quirky novel by an author who offers “a fresh, original, witty interpretation of England’s social history” (The New York Times).

Lady Graham is anticipating the long-awaited appearance of Sir Robert, finally retiring from his glorious military career and globetrotting adventures a decade after the end of World War II. In the meantime, life at Holdings goes on and Lady Graham’s youngest, eighteen-year-old Edith, has her pick of suitors. It is unclear, however, if she will make up her mind about them any time soon—and if she will exit Holdings before her father enters . . . 

“Where Trollope would have been content to arouse a chuckle, [Thirkell] is constantly provoking us to hilarious laughter. . . . To read her is to get the feeling of knowing Barsetshire folk as well as if one had been born and bred in the county.” —Kirkus Reviews

Enter Sir Robert

“Her writing celebrates the solid parochial English virtues of stiff-upper-lippery, good-sportingness,[and] dislike of fuss. . . . Light, witty, easygoing books.” —The New Yorker

As 1951 draws to a close, Christmas approaches—but the conservative upper class of Barsetshire have already received the gift they really wanted: Winston Churchill’s re-election as prime minister. Nevertheless, their individual struggles carry on. A member of the House of Lords worries that marriage is not in the cards for him due to an insufficient fortune, while another man does manage to get engaged—but frets that his betrothed doesn’t truly love him. The widow Lady Lufton misses her husband—as well as the money she’s lost to taxes. And an aspiring scholar falls madly in love, but must choose between Oxford and the object of his affections . . . 

“[This] characteristically witty, nostalgic . . . novel in the beloved Barsetshire series describes the lingering effects of WWII on the fictional village that Thirkell adapted from its Victorian inventor and chronicler, Anthony Trollope.” —Publishers Weekly

Happy Returns

Barsetshire gathers to celebrate a milestone birthday at the Old Bank House in this conclusion to the much-loved, long-running series.

A home is saved from destruction, a budding romance takes steps toward the altar, a doctor experiences the return of a former love—and the fine people of Barsetshire make plans for a festive extravaganza to mark Mrs. Morland’s seventieth birthday . . . “Triumphantly completed” by Angela Thirkell’s close friend C. A. Lejeune after Thirkell’s death, Three Score and Ten features a host of new and old friends from the author’s acclaimed series spanning decades of English country life (The New York Times). 

“Her writing celebrates the solid parochial English virtues of stiff-upper-lippery, good-sportingness, dislike of fuss, and low-key irony. . . . Light, witty, easygoing books.” —The New Yorker

“Where Trollope would have been content to arouse a chuckle, [Thirkell] is constantly provoking us to hilarious laughter. . . . To read her is to get the feeling of knowing Barsetshire folk as well as if one had been born and bred in the county.” —Kirkus Reviews

The Barsetshire Novels - The book series

The Barsetshire Novels - The book series

The Barsetshire Novels books in order

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