This illustrated third volume of Angela Thirkell’s Barsetshire Chronicles: Complete Collection continues the author’s richly comic and observant portrayal of life in the fictional English county of Barsetshire. Through her signature blend of wit, social satire, and romantic entanglement, Thirkell further develops her interconnected world of families, schools, clergy, and country estates. The collection includes Happy Returns, Jutland Cottage, A Double Affair, Close Quarters, Love at All Ag...

Angela Thirkell's "Miss Bunting" provides a compelling glimpse into the socio-political landscape of early 20th-century England, deftly woven through the threads of humor and character-driven narrative. Set in the idyllic yet tumultuous world of the fictional English village of Brambleford, Thirkell artfully captures the intricacies of class distinctions, the nuances of societal expectations, and the transformative nature of personal relationships. Her signature style combines wit and warm...

Set in a picturesque English village, August Folly follows a summer filled with social mishaps, romance, and a lively amateur theater production. A young man, returning home after university, finds himself reluctantly drawn into the rehearsals, where the eccentric cast—including an imposing matriarch and a group of mischievous locals—stirs up personal and romantic tensions. With her signature wit and keen eye for human nature, Angela Thirkell crafts a lighthearted and affectionate comedy o...

This illustrated second volume of Angela Thirkell’s Barsetshire Chronicles: Complete Collection continues the author’s warmly satirical portrait of English provincial life in the fictional county of Barsetshire. Known for her witty dialogue and gentle social commentary, Thirkell expands her interconnected world of clergy, school staff, landed families, and small-town eccentrics. The collection brings together Marling Hall, Growing Up, The Headmistress, Miss Bunting, Private Enterprise, and...

The headmaster’s wife twisted herself round in her chair to talk to Mrs. Morland, who was sitting in the row just behind her.‘I can’t make out,’ she said reflectively, ‘why all the big boys seem to be at the bottom of preparatory schools and the small ones at the top. All those lower boys who got prizes were quite large, average children, but when we get to the upper forms they all look about seven, and undersized at that. Look at the head of the Remove for instance—he is just comin...

The Vicar of St. Mary’s, Rushwater, looked anxiously through the vestry window which commanded a view of the little gate in the churchyard wall. Through this gate the Leslie family had come to church with varying degrees of unpunctuality ever since the vicar had been at Rushwater, nor did it seem probable that they had been more punctual before his presentation to the living. It was a tribute to the personality of Lady Emily Leslie, the vicar reflected, that everyone who lived with her bec...

'Charming, very funny indeed. Angela Thirkell is perhaps the most Pym-like of any twentieth-century author, after Pym herself' - Alexander McCall SmithEdgewood Rectory may be set in an ancient landscape, but the Grantly family are very much of their time. Caught up in the uncertain world that has emerged since the outbreak of peace, the Rector and Mrs Grantly are bewildered by the challenges facing their eldest children: Eleanor, longing for more excitement than ca...

'Charming, very funny indeed' ALEXANDER McCALL SMITHChange is in the air in Barsetshire. The country may have a new queen, but Greshambury has a new rector, Canon Fewling, and a returned prodigal daughter: the beautiful, frivolous Rose Fairweather. But for lonely Margot Phelps, caring for her elderly parents in Jutland Cottage, the future holds little promise - until a group of benevolent neighbours, led by Rose, decide to take her under their wing. With a new twee...

As it is some time since we were at Hatch End, we will take this opportunity of reminding our Reader (the one who says our books are so nice because it doesn’t matter which you read or where you open it as they are all exactly the same—as indeed they are, with a difference) that it is a small village in the valley of the Rising, which here flows through water-meadows. Hatch House, since 1721 the seat of the Hallidays, local landowners or Squires, is a pleasant red-brick building sheltered ...

The owner of Laverings looked out of his bedroom window on a dewy June morning. Not the large window that commanded a gently sloping view to the south of his garden, his meadows, and a wooded plain with hills beyond, but the side window to the east that overlooked the little lane. In his hand he held a letter, with whose contents he angrily refreshed his mind from time to time. Neither the mild June air, nor the beneficent warmth of the sun, could counteract the evil impression that the mo...

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

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 ...