In August Folly, the village of Worsted is staging Hippolytus. Inevitably, the most absurd romances bloom. Boorish young Richard Tebbins, just down from Oxford, falls in love with Mrs. Dean, mother of nine, whose oldest son loves Richard's sister, who in turn loves another. And round and round it goes. Amidst a series of comic catastrophes, everyone manages to redeem themselves.
Witty, snobbish, sweet, and evocative, Mrs. Thirkell's Barsetshire novels provide a bemused scrutiny of British manners in the most delightfully entertaining doses.
"It is the essence of her humor that her people mean well even when they are exposed at their most insufferable."
ANGELA THIRKELL (1890–1961) granddaughter of Sir Edward Burne-Jones, was born in London. At age twenty-eight, she moved to Melbourne, Australia, where she became involved in broadcasting and was a frequent contributor to British periodicals. She began writing novels after her return to Britain in 1930 and from then on produced a new book almost every year. Her stylish prose and deft portrayal of the human comedy in the imaginary county of Barsetshire have amused readers for decades.
