Angela Thirkell

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...

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 calm...

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...

A picturesque community in postwar England comes together when it counts in this witty, moving novel in the "beloved" Barsetshire series (Publishers Weekly). Edith Graham is still single when she returns from America to visit Mrs. Morland, and there's no shortage of interested men-until three suitors find each other such good company that they start socializing together and ignoring her. Meanwhile, Mrs. Morland has received a marriage proposal...

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 a changing...