The Headmistress (Virago Modern Classics Book 378)

This one has the usual cast of characters and circumstances, but her war years novels seem a bit more realistic. She isn’t for everyone, but I enjoy most of her novels.

Some algorithm brought up this book after I'd read some Barbara Pym, and this is several steps below Pym in literary quality. It is a story of a headmistress, but we don't really get to know her, nor any other character, very deeply. I kept reading, thinking there would be more development of the characters and the plot, but no, it is lacks the rise in conflict and is more like a long narrative of life in a British village -- with the vicar, the doctor, the wives, adult children, the servants, etc. -- which goes on and on and then ends. I enjoyed parts of it. Read Pym for a richer reading experience.

I enjoy reading Thirkell's rather rambling stories of a loosely-interconnected web of gentry living in the English countryside. They give an amusing and somewhat idealized view of the upper-class society of her time. Her characters, if stereotyped, are nonetheless intriguing and have moments of depth. Unfortunately, Thirkell's books reflect the class, gender, and racial prejudices of her time. Most of the time I can set these aside and enjoy the stories, but once in a while they become painful, and I must walk away or skip over those parts. Perhaps Thirkell intended to satirize the prejudices - the books could be read this way - but she portrays the prejudices with too much sympathy for me to be convinced.

This book took me months to read, I never quite got into it, didn't quite give up on it and suddenly I blinked and it ended! Umm, what, where, why, umm who? Yes it was all neatly tied up; but not with a ribbon and a bow, more like a Blue Peterish "and here's one I finished earlier." It certainly wouldn't tempt me to pick up another Thirkell, although I have enjoyed other books she wrote. All that being said ( and why I didn't give up) it is an excellent social comment on its time...early WW2, in a rural village.

I thoroughly enjoyed Pomfret Towers, but this book lacked any characters who were engaging or likeable or even relatable or amusing. Charmingly written, but a letdown, on the whole.

Nothing like a novel by Thirkell to cheer the day. Funny, romantic, and historically interesting for a fresh look at WW2 on the English homefront.

I love this book. Angela Thirkell is one of my favorite authors. I also love Elizabeth Cadell, whose books are being republished on kindle now. I also love D E Stevenson and I am hoping they will continue to republish her books on kindle.

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The picture of ordinary life in wartime is indelible; the humour is both pointed and delicate; the division of humanity into notices and the oblivious ones—all these are vintage Thirkell. The portrait of another strong and interesting woman who does not leap instantly to marriage is not unusual for Thirkell, but here it stems not from weariness with men but from the interesting work and life of her own making.

Great read. Thirkell was amazing at writing humour.

A delightful tale. Thirkell wittily observes the manners of the English Middle and Upper Middle Classes of eighty odd years ago. She gently points the finger at, and takes the rise out of, the Social Mores of yesteryear.Recommended.

Later Thirkell books are, to my mind, not as sharp or amusing as her earlier works. I'd pass on this one.

good