Three by Thirkell

    I have three of Angela Thirkell's books to read over the next few days, and having never read her before I am greatly looking forward to them.

    High Rising (1933) is the first of Angela Thirkell's "brilliantly satirical English comedies set in the fictional county of Barsetshire. Successful lady novelist Laura Morland and her boisterous young son Tony set off to spend Christmas at her country home in the sleepy surrounds of High Rising. But Laura's wealthy friend and neighbour George Knox has taken on a scheming secretary whose designs on marriage to her employer threaten the delicate social fabric of the village. Can clever, practical Laura rescue George from Miss Grey's clutches and, what's more, help his daughter Miss Sibyl Knox to secure her longed-for engagement?"

    Wild Strawberries (1934) is "a sparkling 1930s English romantic comedy, perfect for fans of Stella Gibbons, PG Wodehouse or EF Benson: Pretty, impecunious Mary Preston, newly arrived as a guest of her Aunt Agnes at the magnificent wooded estate of Rushwater, falls head over heels for handsome playboy David Leslie. Meanwhile, Agnes and her mother, the eccentric matriarch Lady Emily, have hopes of a different, more suitable match for Mary. At the lavish Rushwater dance party, her future happiness hangs in the balance . . ."

    They both sound delightful, and fifty or so pages into the first one, I'm hooked!

    Three Houses (1931) is not a novel but a memoir in which the author recalls "the three houses in which she grew up and the childhood memories their walls contain. Focusing first on ‘The Grange’, where her grandfather, the celebrated Pre-Raphaelite painter Sir Edward Burne-Jones, set the cultivated tone, Thirkell also reminisces over her parents’ home in Kensington Square and the Burne-Jones seaside retreat, where her cousin, Rudyard Kipling, lived across the green. Her elaborate portraits of the three houses and the lives within provide an invaluable insight into late Victorian life, while the personal recollections of Thirkell’s famous grandfather reveal a loving family man behind the renown. A tale of forbidden explorations, Punch and Judy shows, and adventures in the garden, Three Houses is beautifully evocative of the innocent quality of childhood. Providing a snapshot of history from the busy literary centre of London to the English coast, these stunning memoirs are both reminiscent of the golden days of youth and an interesting vision of a writer and the early influences that informed her later work."

    All three books look like real treats, and for those hungering for more on them, Geranium Cat and The Captive Reader have full posts on the novels.

Comments

[Mystica]

These three books sound great.

[Barbara]

You're in for a treat; I do hope you enjoy the books.

Delighted that Three Houses has been reprinted at last. That book here http://callmemadam.livejournal.com/tag/angela%20thirkell plus lots more Thirkell.

[Cornflower]

They do! I've wanted to read AT for ages and never have so I'm very pleased to be discovering her at last.

[Cornflower]

Thankyou for that link, Barbara. I am loving "High Rising" - so far it's delicious!

[LizF]

I am very relieved that you like High Rising so far Cornflower, as I had already invested in all three after seeing a lot of praise for Angela Thirkell on various blogs although I hadn't read anything by her.
Not entirely sure when I will get around to reading them (I manage to acquire books a lot faster than I get around to reading them!)but at least I can anticipate a treat in store which is a relief!

[GeraniumCat]

People might be interested to know that BBC Radio 4 is to broadcast Three Houses as Book of the Week in Christmas week - five 15-minute instalments, starting on 24 December. Three Houses reads wonderfully alongside Diana Holman Hunt's memoir, My Grandmothers and I.

[Cornflower]

Good to know about the broadcast - thankyou - and yes, the Diana Holman Hunt book (which I greatly enjoyed) makes the perfect companion read.

[Cornflower]

Definitely a treat!

[Belle]

Oh Cornflower, I think you will like Ms. Angela. I have only read High Rising and was charmed by Laura Morland and her wayward hair pins. Such fun. I have Wild Strawberries on my TBR list. What a joyous trio to read for the holidays.

[Cornflower]

Laura is charming, Belle, and the whole book so far has been a delight.

[loretta]

Thank you for completing my Christmas list!

[Cornflower]

You are welcome, Loretta!

[Rebecca]

I spent a lovely summer reading as many Thirkells as I could find (in eastern Maine--not always an easy feat!), and I still enjoy rereading them when I'm between new books. Her WWII Barsetshire novels are fascinating, I find--but my, Thirkell is a terrible (wonderful?) snob!

[Margaret Powling]

Several years ago, while visiting Dartington's Ways With Words Lit Fest, I treated myself (in the old bookshop there) to 6 old Penguin editions of Thirkell and then, years later, not having read them, parted with them. Now I wish I hadn't! I do think I might get the first, High Rising, just to get a flavour of Thirkell and see how I get on ... but I borrowed Three Houses from the Library many years ago and really enjoyed it.

[Cornflower]

It's lovely to know there are so many more of AT's books to look forward to, and yes the snobbery is terrible/wonderful!

[Cornflower]

Having read them now, I'd say Three Houses is lovely, and High Rising a delight.