Ebook494 pages6 hours
Happy Returns
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this ebook
“Her writing celebrates the solid parochial English virtues of stiff-upper-lippery, good-sportingness,[and] dislike of fuss. . . . Light, witty, easygoing books.” —The New Yorker
As 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 worries that marriage is not in the cards for him due to an insufficient fortune, while another man does manage to get engaged—but frets that his betrothed doesn’t truly love him. The widow Lady Lufton misses her husband—as well as the money she’s lost to taxes. And an aspiring scholar falls madly in love, but must choose between Oxford and the object of his affections . . .
“[This] characteristically witty, nostalgic . . . novel in the beloved Barsetshire series describes the lingering effects of WWII on the fictional village that Thirkell adapted from its Victorian inventor and chronicler, Anthony Trollope.” —Publishers Weekly
As 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 worries that marriage is not in the cards for him due to an insufficient fortune, while another man does manage to get engaged—but frets that his betrothed doesn’t truly love him. The widow Lady Lufton misses her husband—as well as the money she’s lost to taxes. And an aspiring scholar falls madly in love, but must choose between Oxford and the object of his affections . . .
“[This] characteristically witty, nostalgic . . . novel in the beloved Barsetshire series describes the lingering effects of WWII on the fictional village that Thirkell adapted from its Victorian inventor and chronicler, Anthony Trollope.” —Publishers Weekly
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Reviews for Happy Returns
Rating: 3.652777802777778 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
36 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Pleasant entry in the Barsetshire series, but not one of its best.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The 1952 Thirkell, dominated by the author’s undisguised joy at Churchill’s victory over “Them” (as she always calls Attlee’s Labour Government) in the general election of October 1951. Barsetshire society is mostly settling into marriage and doing its share to contribute to the post-war baby boom, and Thirkell is having trouble finding a few younger characters she hasn't yet hitched up. There isn't a great deal in the way of big scenes this time - it's mostly rather low-key, with the focus more on rhetorical tricks, literary jokes and apostrophes to the reader than on action and dialogue. It's as though Thirkell has got a bit fed up of writing down to her audience and wants to show us that she isn't entirely uneducated.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I guess I'm just too Thirkelled out - again I found it too difficult to follow, and just gave up
Book preview
Happy Returns - Angela Thirkell
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