Love Among the Ruins

Thirkell (1890-1961) wrote some 30 highly entertaining novels about life in the imaginary English county of Barsetshire (a setting invented by Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope). Her books achieved enormous popularity for their humorous style, subtle characterization and sympathetic portrayal of a class-conscious society. First published in 1948, Thirkell's ninth Barsetshire novel is, like her other confections, a story of English ladies and gentlemen and their irrepressible children, all of whom live in such fabulous country towns as Winter Overcotes and High Rising, where they talk delightful nonsense, fall acutely but not painfully in love and in general find life worth living despite the shortages and rationing of postwar Britain. The story begins at Beliers Priory, Barsetshire's preparatory school for boys. Prominent in the charming cast of eligible young men and women are Charles Belton, newly hired junior master; his elder brother, Freddy; the Dean sisters, Susan and Jessica; and the elegant young Clarissa Graham. Woven skillfully into the daily rounds of county life, their courtships and comic mishaps culminate at the tradition-shattering fair which for the first time combines the annual meeting of the Barsetshire Pig Breeders Association and a Conservative Party rally. This is vintage Thirkell, to be welcomed by longtime devotees as well as newcomers to her engaging fiction. (Sept.)