I needed another trip with Angela Thirkell down Barsetshire way and I thought this book would hit the spot, and it did. First published in 1940, the Second World War is just beginning to change everybody’s lives with lots of the young men joining the various armed forces and the ones not in uniform feeling guilty for having reserved occupations which are keeping them safe from harm for the moment.
Rose Birkett, the beautiful but dim daughter of the headmaster of Southbridge School, is swanning down the church aisle at last, after several failed engagements which had driven her parents mad with worry and has caused mayhem within the school as she worked her way through the junior masters. At last they are going to get rid of her. Rose has met her match in the Royal Navy, in the shape of Lieutenant Fairweather, who seems to be able to take command of Rose and navigates her through her foul and dispiriting experiences unperturbed.
As usual there are quite a few romantic matches before the end of the book, some of them amazingly hasty but such was life at that time as young folks ‘carpe diemed’ like crazy in case there was no tomorrow for them.
The villages are inundated with cockney children who have been evacuated there along with their colonies of head lice!
Even in 1940 the East European refugees were obviously an annoyance to the locals, which makes it seem quite up to date, given the recent changes in Britain’s demographics and the large amounts of Poles/Lithuanians and the like which now make up part of our population.
As it says on the cover – England is on the brink of war, but the people of rural Barsetshire are not down-hearted.
There’s plenty of humour as well as romance. The only complaint I have is that the book does end very abruptly. In fact the last chapter is called – story without an end. It left me feeling that I wanted to go on and read the next Thirkell book immediately but, I don’t have that one – typical, I have about five of her later books. I’m going to have to buy Northbridge Rectory.