Angela Thirkell Knihy

Written with all the charm and wit that are the signature of Thirkell's Barsetshire series, Growing Up is a heartwarming portrait of a close-knit community during the Second World War.

'You read her, laughing, and want to do your best to protect her characters from any reality but their own' New York Times It is summer 1939 and the social event of the year is about to take place: Rose Birkett, a flighty beauty with a penchant for breaking engagements and hearts, is finally getting married, and the whole village - especially her parents - breathes a sigh of relief. By autumn, however, summer weddings seem a distant memory as war reaches Barsetshire. While the younger generation throws itself into the war effort with cheerful aplomb, older residents remember the last war keenly, and are fearful. When an entire London school of evacuees arrive, as well as a number of refugees, the village rallies round to accommodate them. Some inhabitants, though, fail to welcome the newcomers with open arms. First published in 1940, this is a humorous and poignant picture of wartime in a rural community.

Alice Barton finds adventure during a Friday-to-Monday at a grand country house in Angela Thirkell's classic, deliciously diverting 1930s romantic comedy.

Barsetshire in the war years. The next Angela Thirkell novel in the hugely successful series of charming English comedies set in the fictional county of Barsetshire. Perfect for fans of Stella Gibbons, PG Wodehouse or E. F. Benson.

Pretty, impecunious Mary Preston, newly arrived as a guest of her Aunt Agnes at the magnificent wooded estate of Rushwater, falls head over heels for handsome playboy David Leslie. Meanwhile, Agnes and her mother, the eccentric matriarch Lady Emily, have hopes of a different, more suitable match for Mary. At the lavish Rushwater dance party, her future happiness hangs in the balance . . .

Successful lady novelist Laura Morland and her boisterous young son Tony set off to spend Christmas at her country home in the sleepy surrounds of High Rising. But Laura's wealthy friend and neighbour George Knox has taken on a scheming secretary whose designs on marriage to her employer threaten the delicate social fabric of the village. Can clever, practical Laura rescue George from Miss Grey's clutches and, what's more, help his daughter Miss Sibyl Knox to secure her longed-for engagement? Utterly charming and very funny, High Rising is irresistible comic entertainment.