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...

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

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 thei...

'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...

'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...

'You read her, laughing, and want to do your best to protect her characters from any reality but their own' New York TimesThe county of Barsetshire is aflutter with preparations. With the wedding of Lucy Marling and Sam Adams fast approaching, and Lucy's brother Oliver brooding over his ill-fated tendre for glamorous Jessica Dean, Mrs Marling calls for reinforcements. Help arrives in the form of charming writer Isabel Dale, still mourning the loss...

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...

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 Edi...

"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...

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...

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 ...

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 Thir...