Thirkell welcomes us back to the beloved precinct of Barsetshire in this novel set in the mid-century. Old friends and new faces join the community conversation which ranges from Sir Cecil Waring’s plans for a home for boys of naval men killed in the war to the relocation of the Priory Preparatory School; from Charles Belton’s hesitant courtship and headlong marriage to the spoiled Clarissa Graham, and to Grace Grantley’s betrothment to Lord Lufton, with much discussion in between of gardens, dogs, and other country matters.

The older generation observes the younger with affection and concern while the younger settles into its own middle age, its prospects still shadowed by the war and its aftermath. Thirkell’s marshaling of story across generations show- to quote her own praise of Lady Lufton- “all her excellent qualities to the best advantage.”

“Mrs. Thirkell is in triumphant form in her return to Barsetshire and its rituals. She is one of the subtlest of social historians, in that the reader can seldom be quite sure which of the county values she endorses and which she is laughing at.” - Times [London] Literary Supplement

“In this latest Thirkell chronicle we gladly meet once more the friends we loved and admired and laughed at in twenty-two preceding volumes.” – Saturday Review

About the Author: Angela Thirkell