Angela Thirkell

Author profile

born

January 30, 1890 in London, The United Kingdom

died

January 29, 1961

gender

female

website

http://www.angelathirkell.org/

genre

Literature & Fiction, Biographies & Memoirs

influences

Anthony Trollope

About this author

edit data

Angela Margaret Mackail was born on January 30, 1890 at 27 Young Street, Kensington Square, London. Her grandfather was Sir Edward Burne-Jones the pre-Raphaelite painter and partner in the design firm of Morris and Company for whom he designed many stained glass windows - seven of which are in St Margaret's Church in Rottingdean, West Sussex. Her grandmother was Georgiana Macdonald, one of a precocious family which included among others, Stanley Baldwin, the Prime Minister, and Rudyard Kipling. Angela's brother, Denis Mackail, was also a prolific and successful novelist. Angela's mother, Margaret Burne-Jones, married John Mackail - an administrator at the Ministry of Education and Professor of Poetry at Oxford University.

Angela married Jam...more Angela Margaret Mackail was born on January 30, 1890 at 27 Young Street, Kensington Square, London. Her grandfather was Sir Edward Burne-Jones the pre-Raphaelite painter and partner in the design firm of Morris and Company for whom he designed many stained glass windows - seven of which are in St Margaret's Church in Rottingdean, West Sussex. Her grandmother was Georgiana Macdonald, one of a precocious family which included among others, Stanley Baldwin, the Prime Minister, and Rudyard Kipling. Angela's brother, Denis Mackail, was also a prolific and successful novelist. Angela's mother, Margaret Burne-Jones, married John Mackail - an administrator at the Ministry of Education and Professor of Poetry at Oxford University.

Angela married James Campbell McInnes in 1911. James was a professional Baritone and performed at concert halls throughout the UK. In 1912 their first son Graham was born and in 1914 a second son, Colin. A daughter was born in 1917 at the same time her marriage was breaking up. In November 1917 a divorce was granted and Angela and the children went to live with her parents in Pembroke Gardens in London. The child, Mary, died the next year.

Angela then met and married George Lancelot Thirkell in 1918 and in 1920 they traveled on a troop ship to George's hometown in Australia. Their adventures on the "Friedricksruh" are recounted in her Trooper to the Southern Cross published in 1934. In 1921, in Melbourne Australia, her youngest son Lancelot George was born. Angela left Australia in 1929 with 8 year old Lance and never returned. Although living with her parents in London she badly needed to earn a living so she set forth on the difficult road of the professional writer. Her first book, Three Houses, a memoir of her happy childhood was published in 1931 and was an immediate success. The first of her novels set in Trollope's mythical county of Barsetshire was Demon in the House, followed by 28 others, one each year.

Angela also wrote a book of children's stories entitled The Grateful Sparrow using Ludwig Richter's illustrations; a biography of Harriette Wilson, The Fortunes of Harriette; an historical novel, Coronation Summer, an account of the events in London during Queen Victoria's Coronation in 1838; and three semi-autobiographical novels, Ankle Deep and Oh, These Men, These Men and Trooper to the Southern Cross. When Angela died on the 29th of January 1961 she left unfinished the last of her books, Three Score and Ten which was completed by her friend, Caroline LeJeune. Angela is buried in Rottingdean alongside her daughter Mary and her Burne-Jones grandparents.(less)

combine editions
Books by Angela Thirkell

Average rating: 3.92 · 2,302 ratings · 201 reviews · 40 distinct works

	High Rising 3.91 avg rating — 181 ratings — published 1933 — 10 editions	My rating:
	Wild Strawberries 3.84 avg rating — 150 ratings — published 1934 — 7 editions	My rating:
	The Brandons 4.03 avg rating — 147 ratings — published 1939 — 13 editions	My rating:
	August Folly 4.04 avg rating — 133 ratings — published 1936 — 10 editions	My rating:
	Pomfret Towers 4.11 avg rating — 114 ratings — published 1938 — 6 editions	My rating:
	Cheerfulness Breaks in 4.02 avg rating — 102 ratings — published 1940 — 6 editions	My rating:
	Before Lunch 3.98 avg rating — 99 ratings — published 1939 — 7 editions	My rating:
	Summer Half 4.00 avg rating — 98 ratings — published 1937 — 7 editions	My rating:
	Marling Hall: A Baretshire Novel 4.10 avg rating — 78 ratings — published 1942 — 5 editions	My rating:
	Miss Bunting 4.04 avg rating — 71 ratings — published 1945	My rating:

More books by Angela Thirkell…

Series by Angela Thirkell

Barsetshire (29 books)
by Angela Thirkell

3.96 avg rating — 2,133 ratings

Quotes by Angela Thirkell

“I suppose everybody has a mental picture of the days of the week, some seeing them as a circle, some as an endless line, and others again, for all I know, as triangles and cubes. Mine is a wavy line proceeding to infinity, dipping to Wednesday which is the colour of old silver dark with polishing and rising again to a pale gold Sunday. This day has a feeling in my picture of warmth and light breezes and sunshine and afternoons that stretch to infinity and mornings full of far-off bells.”
― Angela Thirkell, Three Houses

2 people liked it

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Seasonal Read...: Fall Challenge 2011 Completed Tasks - DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC!	2299	447	Nov 30, 2011 09:05pm
The Seasonal Read...: Spring Challenge 2012: Completed Tasks -DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC	2205	388	22 minutes ago