Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Virago (2017), 288 pages
Description
'You read her, laughing, and want to do your best to protect her characters from any reality but their own' New York Times Mr Marling, of Marling Hall, has begun to accept - albeit reluctantly - that he will probably never be able to pass his wonderful old estate on to his children. The Second World War is bringing an end to so many things, but the Marlings carry on as best they can in the face of rationing and a shortage of domestic help. Into their world arrive Geoffrey Harvey and his sister Frances, who have been bombed out of their London home. Bohemian and sophisticated, they rent a local house, and it is not long before they begin to have an effect on their neighbours. Geoffrey begins to court Lettice, the Marlings' widowed daughter, but he finds he has rivals for her affections in dashing David Leslie and Captain Barclay. Observing everything and quietly keeping events on an even keel is the Marlings' sage old governess, Miss Bunting. 'The novels are a delight, with touches of E. F. Benson, E. M. Delafield and P. G. Wodehouse' Independent on Sunday… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member thorold
Thirkell's 1942 book, set in the closing months of 1941. The people of Barsetshire have settled down to the hardships of wartime. The Marlings are trying to run their home with only four servants, aiding the war effort by clearing the table themselves after breakfast. Their daughter Lettice, whose
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husband was killed at Dunkirk, is living in the stable-block, and the retired governess Miss Bunting is helping out with looking after her small daughters. Lettice has reached the point where she is able to think about remarriage, but of the suitors on offer, one is the charming but notoriously unreliable David Leslie (who has complicated the plot of romances in several previous novels already), another is a rather middle-aged and probably gay civil servant with a thing about 16th century poetry, and the third seems to be attached to Lettice's noisy sister Lucy. We have a pretty good idea how it's going to turn out, but there's a lot of worthwhile comedy about chickens, dogs, occasional tables, and the age-old rivalry between Palace and Deanery to come before the happy resolution. Show Less
LibraryThing member leslie.98
I enjoy Angela Thirkell's sense of humor and the view of English county life she portrays in her novels. This, the 11th of her Barsetshire series, is a bit more bittersweet as it is set in the midst of WW2. This is by no means a war book, but even life in the manor house is affected by the
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rationing, the young men off in one branch of service or another, and the evacuees. Show Less
LibraryThing member annejacinta
A lighthearted tale set around the Marling household during World War 2. Lettice is the widowed daughter of the house, being gently brought round to the idea of marriage. The question is, who is most suitable? Her sister Lucy could tell her what, she does so with everyone else. Down the road
Thirkell is wry and cynical here, and the result is a clever and entertaining novel.
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Geoffrey and Frances Harvey are siblings from London engaged in regional war work, but also with an eye to local suitors. Their landlady, the widowed Mrs Smith, is very funny, as she cannot bear to be parted from this house and her belongings. Thirkell is wry and cynical here, and the result is a clever and entertaining novel.
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LibraryThing member Herenya
Marling Hall is about three of the Marlings’ adult children: Lettice, recently widowed, who lives in the converted stables with her young daughters; Oliver, whose eye problems mean he’s working in an office instead of serving in the military; and Lucy who is strong-willed and practical and
There’s a war on but somewhere in the distance: rationing is a minor inconvenience; neighbours’ attempts at owning chickens are merely a source for drama and comedy; Lettice is ready to move on from her husband’s death; Lucy goes out each day to do war work but instead of following her, the story focuses on domestic, familial and social interactions.
Thirkell is delightfully, gently, observant and not wholly predictable, especially when her characters showed unexpected moments of depth.
In hindsight, I think I would have liked it more had the book spent less time with some characters who I didn’t like very, and had it not been for a few small details in the ending (such Lettice needing to be rescued from a foreigner, and mutely pleading her suitor like she were a dog and he her master). But nevertheless, I enjoyed reading it.
”I didn’t know nurses were being sent out,” said Mrs Marling.
A general conversation characterised by partial knowledge hovering on the the verge of ignorance then took place during which it was decided that no one knew if nurses were being sent or not, that if they were it was a shame, and it was a shame if they weren’t. This conversation might have gone on for ever, had not the dean come in with Mrs Morland [...]
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unconventional in a familiar, Thirkell-ish way.There’s a war on but somewhere in the distance: rationing is a minor inconvenience; neighbours’ attempts at owning chickens are merely a source for drama and comedy; Lettice is ready to move on from her husband’s death; Lucy goes out each day to do war work but instead of following her, the story focuses on domestic, familial and social interactions.
Thirkell is delightfully, gently, observant and not wholly predictable, especially when her characters showed unexpected moments of depth.
In hindsight, I think I would have liked it more had the book spent less time with some characters who I didn’t like very, and had it not been for a few small details in the ending (such Lettice needing to be rescued from a foreigner, and mutely pleading her suitor like she were a dog and he her master). But nevertheless, I enjoyed reading it.
”I didn’t know nurses were being sent out,” said Mrs Marling.
A general conversation characterised by partial knowledge hovering on the the verge of ignorance then took place during which it was decided that no one knew if nurses were being sent or not, that if they were it was a shame, and it was a shame if they weren’t. This conversation might have gone on for ever, had not the dean come in with Mrs Morland [...]
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LibraryThing member bunnyjadwiga
Lettice, the widowed daughter of the Marlings, struggles here with her fate, and it's rather touching. (She also struggles with her nanny, which is more amusing.) But if you love the whole series, you will probably be more interested in governess Bunny, irrepressible Lucy Marling (first really
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Telling Us What here), irresistable Lady Emily Leslie and her possesions and her soft-but-capable daughter, and the usual flirtations of David Leslie. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1942
Physical description
288 p.; 7.75 inches
ISBN
0349007446 / 9780349007441