Miss Bunting

Barsetshire #14

by Angela Thirkell

Barsetshire in the war years. Miss Bunting, governess of choice to generations of Barsetshire aristocracy, has been coaxed out of retirement by Sir Robert and Lady Fielding to tutor their daughter Anne, delicate, sixteen years old, and totally lacking in confidence.

When Anne makes friends with Heather Adams, the gauche daughter of a nouveau riche entrepreneur, her mother is appalled. Miss Bunting, however, shows an instinctive understanding of the younger generation - perhaps, having lost so many of her former pupils to the war, she is more sympathetic to their needs. She may be a part of the old social order, where everyone knows their place, but is wise enough to realise that the war has turned everything on its head and nothing will ever be the same again - even in rural Barsetshire.
First published in 1945, Miss Bunting is a charming social comedy of village life during the Second World War.

Genres: Fiction, British Literature, Historical Fiction, Classics, Humor, Ebooks, World War II

277 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1945

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Mela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I simply adore Angela Thirkell's pen, her wit, her observant eye, her sensibility. Her books show me every time what is the true value and power of a novel. You don't need a melodrama, you don't need an action, you don't need even a plot/story. I don't care if Thirkell's characters could have lived. All I care is the world she created in her series. I love this world. I live there when I read her books.

From the first pages, I liked Jane, Robin and Frank. Frank reminded me very much of Tony (one of my favorite characters of series). I had so much fun when he and his friend Tom showed up. Mrs. Thirkell had a talent for describing young boys and their points of views, their plays and so on.

There were also another marvelous descriptions of Mixo-Lydians. I come from Central Europe and I know also Balkan nations a little and I can tell that a satire of them all in Thirkell's novels is one of the best.

I was enchanted by a parallel between Jane's and Robin's losses. Their discussions about it were priceless. The whole issue of being the family of someone who is 'missing in action' was shown in a very moving and truthful way.

We have here also again a nostalgy after the old world which was dying before characters eyes.

This piece had a bit more snobbery than other. But it is a satire, also of British society and snobbery.

Mr. Adams reminded me about Mr. Chawleigh from A Civil Contract by G. Heyer (but Heather definitely wasn't like Jenny).

I liked also how Anne's growing up was going on.

The relationship between Robin and his father, and the relationship/acquaintance between Jane and Mr. Adams... Both were brilliant.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 14th entry in Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire series had a lot of references to the Trollope series, especially in the families - the Frank Greshams and the Dales in particular. While knowing the Trollope series isn't required to enjoy this novel, it does add a spice to the storyline revolving about Mr. Adams of Hogglestock. Although I laughed aloud at several points while reading this, this novel (written at the end of WW2) has a feeling of sadness, not just about the dead & wounded men but for the loss of a state of society Thirkell had captured so wonderfully in the early books in the series. As she says

"...Jane Gresham, who felt as the Fieldings
did that another piece of the pre-war world had 
gone and the tide of a Brave and Horrible New 
World was lapping at her feet."

While I understand this feeling, not being from that time and place I cannot truly sympathise & can only hope that the light humour I enjoy so much will continue in the rest of the series.

[eghzarw · Rating 5 out of 5]

С возрастом и опытом Анджела Тиркелл писала все лучше, хотя некоторые дешевые приемы никуда не делись -- надо понимать, имели успех у публики. Она отлично видела своего идеального читателя и знала, что ему нравится: мир деревенской аристократии и приближенных, где иностранцы смешны, а аутсайдеры навсегда останутся чужими. Зато все друг другу кузены и крестные и бесконечно передаривают тетушкины жемчуга и прабабкин сапфировый перстень.

Miss Bunting -- поздний роман, и читать его лучше не первым у Тиркелл, так как в нем постоянно передаются приветы от персонажей предыдущих книг, и если вы их читали, вам будет приятно узнать, например, что мальчик, который когда-то увлекался паровозами, вырос, пошел на войну, выжил в ней и по-прежнему не унывает, или что у семейной четы, которую вы в последний раз видели в компании трех детей, теперь их уже шесть. А если не читали, то наберетесь ретроспективных спойлеров.

Лето 1945 года -- казалось бы, война закончилась, время ликовать, но нет, все скупее карточки, все больше гнетет ожидание пропавших без вести; собственно, если бы не строчки о кораблях, на которых прибывают освобожденные из японских лагерей, можно было бы подумать, что война продолжается. Впрочем, из текста не понятно, завершилось ли действие до 15 августа -- видимо, нет, и день окончательной победы еще впереди.

Это хороший, не веселый, но и не гнетущий роман, о -- в целом -- приятных людях, которые живут, как могут, в непростые времена. И еще они понимают, что эти дни -- последние недели войны -- закат довоенного образа жизни и довоенного мира, который они так любили и который казался бесконечным. После войны -- уже заметны признаки -- хозяевами жизни станут другие люди, люди "не нашего круга", а провинциальные лорды и бароны, епископы, гувернантки и секретари ученых обществ побледнеют, разойдутся по углам и сольются с обивкой своих гостиных.

Очень хорошая книга. Пожалуй, на этот момент -- моя любимая у Тиркелл.

[Ellie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the earlier Barsetshire books (pre-war), but this one definitely wasn't one of my favourites - too much glaring elitism!

If you're interested in reading anything by Thirkell, I highly recommend you try High Rising, The Brandons and/or Wild Strawberries :)

Anyhow, back to Miss Bunting:

The treatment of Mr. Adams and Heather particularly troubled me. Thirkell continuously reminded us of their gaucheness and that they throw money around. Seriously, they're trying to be nice, and people are looking down on them because of the [stupid!] class hierarchy. I got so sick of the patronizing way people were 'putting up' with their unorthodox manners. Thank goodness Anne was making an effort to be friendly.

Of course, it wouldn't be a war book without copious amounts of racism... Towards the Germans in particular, but to be honest, towards pretty much every other country mentioned as well.
It frustrates me that xenophobia when labelled as 'patriotism' becomes a virtue. And of course, every person with true English blood must be patriotic...

'...and Jane again felt ashamed that the word 'patriotic' which heaven knew we all were, or ought to be, or wished to be, should make her feel uncomfortable...'

On another note, historical books are often sexist, although it's generally quite subtle. Considering that, I could hardly believe this quote:

'The Admiral...had always liked his womenfolk good-looking or smart, preferably both.'

I don't recommend this particular book, but she's written some other brilliant ones.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first Thirkell I couldn't like and quite possibly the most boring book I've ever read.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anne Fielding being an invalid for most of her early teens is leaving her home in Barchester to come to her family's county home with her governess, Miss Bunting. At the same time, Heather Adams is coming with Miss Holly to do some studying before entering Cambridge. Mrs. Jane Gresham, not quite a widow but most definitely a mother, is charged with finding Heather Adams a suitable place to live and thus makes the acquaintance of the girl and her robust father. Jane's friend Robin Dale, a schoolmaster, has returned from the Italian theater of the war without a foot. He teaches Jane's young son Frank, Frank's best friend Tom Watson and a few other boys to prepare them for Southbridge and other preparatory schools and looks after his elderly clergyman father. As the summer flies by, the county families are thrown together with the Adamses and see the war upset the ordered lives they've always lived.

This book has to be read as a product of a certain time and place. I really disliked the social snobbery displayed in the novel. That sort of thing worked before the war but most especially before the Industrial Revolution when land was most important. I wasn't really sure why Mrs. Merivale was higher up on the social ladder than Mr. Adams. He may be overzealous at times but he means well. He's a doting single father trying to do the best he can for his little girl. Some of the characters' feelings could be justified if he was trying to social climb or thrust his daughter on Society, but he wasn't trying to do either. He didn't understand the subtleties of the social scale and was just happy to see his daughter making friends. Mr. Adams is an excellent businessman and probably more ruthless than he appears but he isn't a buffoon to be made fun of.

This book also has a lot of extraneous details. Not having read Trollope's novels, I didn't know or care about the genealogy and history of the area and its inhabitants. All that bogged down the story. I was confused by it all. Jane's Papa seems to be related somehow to Trollope's characters. I did like hearing about all the old familiar characters from Barsetshire.

The two characters I liked in this novel were Anne and Robin. Anne is sweet and kind, a bit shy and once she started devouring literature, she sounded a lot like me in my younger days! Robin is a great character. I liked the complications in his life and how he just dealt with everything calmly. He has a nice sense of humor about his foot and is very kind to young and old. I want these two to get married when Anne is a little older!

The rest of the characters I found rather annoying. I sensed something about Miss Bunting that made me sad. She's one of the last of a bygone era. I didn't dislike her as much as I did in the previous book she was in but I wasn't crazy about her. I would have liked Jane if she wasn't such a snob. Just be rude to someone's face. Don't talk about them behind their backs. I felt the strain she was under but she almost turns into a wet blanket towards the end. Her son Frank is enough to drive any mother crazy! He models himself after his "Uncle" Tony Morland. If you loved Tony (I can't stand him) you'll love Frank. I can actually see my nephews getting into some of the trouble Frank and Tom get into here.

The story ends kind of on a cliffhanger so I want to know what happens next!

[Alisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in the last year of the war, the characters of Barsetshire are still in the thick of it. This book focuses on Jane Gresham, a young mother whose husband has been missing in action for four years. Also part of the action are Robin Dale, a schoolmaster who's back from the front with an amputated foot; Anne Fielding, a 17-year-old who's just on the cusp of grown-up-ness; Miss Bunting, an aging governess who represents the end of an era; and Sam and Heather Adams, a father and daughter who are nouveau riche, good at heart, but not fitting in very well.
Interesting thing about British books written in this time period by a certain class of author. They are chock full of literary allusions, only some of which I get. An acquaintance with Dickens helps, but there's so much more. The author takes it for granted that if you're reading her books, you have at least a smattering of French and a working knowledge of whatever was considered classic and also popular literature 50 to 100 years ago. Doesn't impede enjoyment, though.
A standout in this book is Gradka, the Mixo-Lydian cook hired by the Fieldings. She is hilariously and horrifyingly militant with a sense of humor that is NOT.

Again I have a copy where the synopsis on the back reads like some scandalous romance novel. Stupid, ridiculous synopsis. It's not remotely. One young couple gets vaguely engaged by the end, and the wife of the MIA man pines for news of her husband and appreciates the solid assistance of Sam Adams, who becomes protective towards her on occasion. If anybody picked this up thinking they were getting something salacious, all they got was tea parties, tennis matches, and a lesson on the British social system during the war. Yay!

[Susan in NC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Angela Thirkell's books and pick them up wherever I can find them; as another reviewer noted here, yes, she is a snob of the first order, but honestly so for her class and time. The deprivations of World War II and subsequent rebuilding took a huge toll on British society and caused great upheaval in social class and expectations; perfectly understandable that people of Thirkell's class would long for an idealized past (she's like today's Tea Partiers!) At least she's got a sense of humor about it, and typically dry as one would expect. I enjoy her satirical eye, her characters, and her portrayal of everyday life in the small English villages of Barsetshire at the end of WWII; I would recommend her to fans of Trollope, Gaskell, Austen, Wodehouse and E.F. Benson - not in their league, perhaps, but fun all the same.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This month's book for the Angela Thirkell reading group. I love contemporary British fiction from this era, particularly books that take place during the Second World War. While she is a snob of the first order,Angela Thirkell is one of the few authors who chronicled the war year by year through her fiction.

[Katharine Holden · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think I'm going to continue reading Thirkell's books. She's lost the sparkle and wit I loved in her pre-war and early-war novels. Her characters now spend much of their time sitting around and talking openly about how lower class every one is these days. It may have been how she felt after the war, and it may have been true, but the repetition becomes dreary to read.

[Janelle Fallan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why has it taken me so long to find Angela Thirkell? She is a 20th Century successor to Elizabeth Gaskell -- whom I LOVE -- using many of the same fictional settings as Anthony Trollope in his Barchester series. I am looking forward to many happy hours with both Thirkell and Trollope.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quit about a quarter of the way through. Had some of the feel of a book written 100 years earlier, but without much wit or developed depth of character. Just didn't care enough about any of it to finish.

[Bryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always when Miss Bunting is on-screen, Thirkell seems to be both gently mocking her snobbery and buying into it whole-heartedly, so in order to enjoy this gentle & charming tale of Anne Fielding's growing up I had to simply accept all the built-in ideas of 'correct families' and 'right people' and 'ways of life soon to be lost forever which should be mourned' -- and unlike some of Thirkell's other novels, it is easier to do with this one, since she didn't go on any rants about how horrible the working-class is.

So, all of that being said, the part of this which appealed to me the most is the story of Anne Fielding starting to emerge into adult life, and a study of the different ways young women do that across classes -- she's contrasted with Heather Adams, who is of the same age (but from a wealthy working-class background that aspires to the upper middle classes) and wants to go to university and then into her father's business, and also with the daughters of Mrs. Merivale who are cheerfully lower-middle class and all off in war work. There's a particular moment when one of the Right People of Good Family realises how different her understanding of the class system is from that of Mr. Adams:

It appeared, not to put too fine a point upon it, that to Mr Adams’s mind Mrs Merivale and her daughters were not quite good enough for his daughter. The terrifying and to her almost unexplored hierarchy of the great mass of English people rose before her with all its gins and snares. Belonging as she did to a level upon which the Duke of Omnium at one end and, say, Robin Dale, the crippled schoolmaster, at the other, were in essentials equal, being, though a duke was always a duke, gentlemen, she had never really troubled to conceive the gradations, far greater than those between peer and private gentleman, which seamed and rent the sub-middle classes. Evidently Mr Adams, while not wishing to conceal his humble beginnings, considered himself and even more his daughter, a good deal above Mrs Merivale and her daughters.

This is Jane Gresham's point-of-view but it is clearly not exactly Thirkell's, because Mr Adams makes a fine distinction between where he is (working class made good) and where he'd like to put his daughter (upper-middle class), and it is within the fineness of that distinction that Mrs Merivale's cheerfully lower-middle daughters aren't good enough for his daughter, although as Jane reflects:

But the Merivale girls would far more likely marry well than Heather Adams, for all her brains and her father’s money, and that Mrs Merivale would, if unconsciously, realize. Mr Adams, she felt, could not realize it, and she would be sorry for the person who tried to explain it to him.

We don't see Heather's marriage until a future book and even then it's off-screen -- and indeed, she marries within her own unique situation, the son of another working class man made good, rather than what Jane Gresham would consider a 'good' marriage into one of the established families of Barsetshire -- because Heather Adams is a picture of the future that this book sets the groundwork for mourning, the future in which there is not just class mobility, but in which traditional communities begin to dissolve because people do not know each other's family histories (regardless of class) back for six or eight generations. I have no idea if these sorts of communities Thirkell imagined still existed in 1944, or even for decades before that -- Victorian authors were writing similar novels about the threat of individuals without history coming into traditional communities and corrupting them -- but it is at least something I can imagine the pleasures of, and it seems much more worth mourning than a lot of the stuff she rants about in later books.

So why Miss Bunting? Well, she is there to pass the torch to one last girl (Anne Fielding) and in so doing to be a voice of Thirkell's late-Victorian upbringing, reminding the other characters (and thus teaching the reader) about the lost world of breeding and splendour which has largely already passed. And also, I think, she is there to make it clear why a particular type of social mobility is imaginary; Anne and Heather might like each other a great deal, but their difference of background means a fundamental difference in values -- they can play tennis or pick blackberries or giggle a little, but the things Anne loves (poetry, traditional community, family) and the things Heather loves (harmless luxuries of wealth, maths, engineering, work) are inherently different and while the twain can mix, they cannot truly blend. This is a long-running thread of Thirkell's through much of the series and it is presented in a gentle form here which is largely respectful, seeing class differences almost as separate cultures which should not be expected to assimilate each to the other.

I had no idea I had so many thoughts about this book, but there it is! I may come back and edit later on since this has been largely stream-of-consciousness; I would say that this is the last book of Thirkell's that one can enjoy without having to ignore her actually reprehensible views; I am pretty sure it is all downhill from here, but I am slowly continuing to reread anyway and will keep reviewing as I go.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this, one of Thirkell’s wartime books that I especially enjoyed, the formidable governess Miss Bunting comes out of semi-retirement to work with Anne Fielding, whose delicate health has left her sheltered and only sporadically educated. With Anne’s parents away during the week, Miss Bunting is mostly in charge, and Anne blossoms into a voracious student of literature. Her health also improves markedly under Miss Bunting’s sensible regime, as does her knowledge of decorum for a well-bred daughter of the gentry.

Against this backdrop we get to know a whole variety of characters. Thirkell is also wrestling mightily with changes in the class system: if Miss Bunting represents a world that is fading, the rough-and-tumble factory owner Sam Adams has the proxy for the new class of wealthy self-made men. While Adams is often presented as gauche, he is also tremendously helpful, earning him the reluctant gratitude of several characters. An exhausted woman of a higher social class even finds herself beginning to fall for him, which I think was a massive step in imagination for the class-bound Thirkell. Most of all, we see Adams’ decency and sense of honor at a crisis point when it matters most.

Interestingly. while Anne’s parents, Sir Robert and Lady Fielding, try to minimize contact between Adams’ daughter and their own child (the Adamses being not the right sort), Miss Bunting is just as firm (albeit to herself) that the Fieldings may be respectable but they are “not county.” The New Year’s Honors may trump new money, but in Thirkell’s world neither can really penetrate the society of gentry families who have been on the land seemingly since Agincourt.

Lots more happens in the book—it wouldn’t be Thirkell without a cast of thousands. I also enjoyed learning about an old-fashioned type of jewelry called a REGARD ring: ruby, emerald, garnet, amethyst, ruby, diamond.

An engaging, often sweet, look at a changing world as WWII raged on in the background.

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Angela Thirkell's "Miss Bunting" from the Barsetshire series about the older governess of many over the years, many are serving in the military, as WW II is ongoing and Hitler still alive, Miss Bunting has a recurring dream about her students. Miss Bunting has been asked to help Anne Fielding in her studies, after a long illness and recovery. Miss Maud Bunting (Bunny) who was first mentioned in “The Marlings”. Bunny had been to many prominent houses but her place of residence had been offered by the Marlings. David Leslie being her favorite student. The comic relief of young Frank Gresham and Master Watson eerily reminiscent of young Tony Morland and his friend Dunk. I loved it in the first of the series and once again revived.

Story in short- The Fieldings, Admiral Palliser and his daughter Jane and finally rector Dale and his son Robin are the focus of this novel. The returning Mr. Adams and his daughter, Heather, first introduced in the previous book, “The Headmistress”, though this time a female heroine to be worshipped by the young lady.

**standard Thirkell fare-

-the authors are again characterized, Laura Moreland is again visiting. George Knox and his wife.
-the slightly befuddled woman whose husband is missing in action
-class and society changes which makes Miss Bunting, very old school and the new generation
-the first time socialism and Russia is not glamorized



❌❌❌❌❌❌list of characters that might be a spoiler,
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
-Duke of Omnium- this name and Palliser quite a reminder of the original Barsetshire series by Trollope.

-Plantagent Palliser -Duke the successor

-Lord Stoke -stone deaf and energetic - half brother Lady Bond- Barsetshire Archaeological Society

-Admiral Palliser- distant connection to the Duke of Omnium
widower -2 sons in the Navy; both daughters married Navy men

-Lieutenant Francis Gresham - married the youngest Jane Palliser and is missing in the Far East lost battleship

-Mr. Freeman- the verger and newspaper reporter

-Percy Bodger- grandson of Old Bodger at Harefield

-Jane Gresham- formerly Palliser

-Frank Gresham - boy of 8 - taught by Robin Dale until he goes to boarding school

-Sir Edmund Pridham - locate magnate

-Mr. Adams and daughter- Heather- owner of rolling mills and engineering shops

-Mr. Pattern- married into bank manager’s family

-Mrs. Wandle- butcher’s wife

-Mrs. Merivale- widow with a boarding house and 4 daughters who have enlisted in different wartime jobs.
(Elsie, Evie, Peggy and )

-Canon Banister - mother stayed with Mrs. Merivale for a time

-Mrs. Crawley- daughters stayed with Merivale too.

-Robin Dale - teaching Frank Gresham and lost foot in the war, accepted teaching at Southbridge

-Mr. Dale- rector -and father to Robin

-Mr. Charlie Watson- the solicitor and wife

-Mrs. Molly Watson- attends to the needs of Hallbury town

-Tom Watson-young son attended Robin Dale’s class

-Tony Morland- fighting up north

-Laura Morland- author and mother to four boys including Tony; 54 years old

-Sir Robert and Dora Fielding-chancellor to Diocese if Barchester- parents to Anne

-Anne Fiedling- daughter 17, Miss Bunting teaching helping the weak Anne become strong in mind and body

-Robert Tebben- working but turned out of the army

-Philip Winter- colonel and serving- married Leslie Waring

-Mrs. Tory - old cook

-Enoch Arden- Mrs. Tory’s pastor

-Freeman- old palourmaid -

-Mrs. Freeman- helps Mrs. Watso with community war work

-Mrs. Marling-

-Lucy Marling- daughter going abroad for the Red Cross

-Mrs. Perry - doctor’s wife at Harefield

-Gradka -the Fielding’s mixo lydian cook

-Brownscu- mixo-lydia also mentioned only

-Lady Graham- invited Miss Bunting for a week

-Miss Bunting- teaching Anne Fielding and has had many students

-Mrs. Turner - takes charge of her orphaned nieces

-Mr. Pilman - eye doctor for Oliver Marling and Laura Morland

-Dr. Madeleine Sparling- the headmistress of the Hoiser’s Girls’ foundation

-Miss Holly - Sparling’s secretary

-Mrs. Belton- whose daughter married

-Everard Carters - had another baby named it Noel after Noel Merton

-Captain Fairweather and Rose- had baby three and living in Portugal

-Mrs. George Knox- WVS secretary and married to Anne.

-Mr. Packer- a taxi driver, is free with his time in driving Adams around.

-Molly Glover- old schoolmates of Cicely Holly and Mrs. Watson

-Ed Pollet married Mille- had a lot of mentally challenged kids.

-Ted Pilward -son of businessman Pilward, is friendly with Heather Adams.

-Sister Chiffinch- The nurse that takes care of the Cottage Hospital, wanted the goat and cart for the hospital.

-Miss Hampton and friend, Miss Bent- gave goat to raffle— familiar particular maidens

❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert

Jane Gresham and dealing with four years not knowing whether Francis Gresham is alive and captured or dead. Jane has been asked by her father Admiral Palliser to find a place for Heather Adams, Miss Holly and Mr. Adams in the vicinity. She finds a place with the widowed Mrs. Merivale, whose four daughters are doing their patriotic duty and several find husbands by the end. Mr. Adams is as bombastic and more so then in the previous book. Heather has a hero worship for Jane until she thinks her father has been bewitched by her. Jane is confused but soon finds her way out after Mr. Adams finds out that her husband is coming back soon. Heather returns to her happy self and has a young man that maybe something to her in the future. Anne Fiedling who has blossomed after the care of Gradka's cooking and Miss Bunting. Robin Dale and his older father finally find an understanding, where Mr. Dale will be okay alone and Robin to start at the school for boys headed by Birketts and the Carters. Robin and Anne have an understanding that she might marry him at some point, but I have a feeling that she will end up with David Leslie. Miss Bunting has a stroke right before she was going to go back to the Marlings. She ends up dying but with her dream ending the way she wanted and her boys coming home.

[Jocelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best of Thirkell's Barsetshire series, written in 1945. A tribute to wounded veterans, cottage industries that supported the British war effort, wives whose husbands were MIA for months and years on end, and a hierarchical society being undermined by manufacturing and war. Thirkell gets her characters just right, not to mention all the clever humor.

I have been familiar for this series for many years, and just today I had an interesting revelation: take Sam Adams, the self-confident, self-made, generous engineer; then subtract most of his money and add a bit more education, and you have my paternal grandfather.

[Jacomijn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read a lot of reviews about this author beforehand and choose this book to start with.

Rated this book 1 star; that is because I like the cover. I'm currently on page 96 and am not sure I'm going to finish it. The book is called Miss Bunting but until now there hasn't been much action by this Miss Bunting.
Also the style of writing is not my favorite. Very long sentences because the author is constantly giving additional information. A bit tiresome! And I'm not thrilled by the patronizing tone that's often used.

I understand that there are other books by this author that are better readable, but after this one I'm not sure if I'm ever going to try another one.

[Larry Piper · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure if I'll finish this. It's ok, but not exactly gripping. Betsy-Tacy is more engaging.

God, I got about 15% through this and gave up. It was mostly idle blather, meant to be funny, but it wasn't much doing it for me. Boy have I hit a dark patch, something like 4 give-ups in a row, and I can generally force myself to read almost anything. Thank God I have more Betsy-Tacy.

[LDuchess · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOT Moyer Bell version shown above. Mine is Hamish Hamilton, hardbound, 1945/1974. With dust jacket.

Sweet...continuing the closeness of Barsetshire society. Anne Fielding, Jane Gresham, Miss B, of course...and all the others. Begins the redemption of Sam Adams (and Heather--sort of).

[Kay Robart · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my review here:

https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2015...

Here's a second review:

https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2022...

[Michael Bafford · Rating 3 out of 5]

The war drags on into 1944. Things are looking very hopeful in Europe and the far east but on the home front things have not improved; rationing, refugees, shortages, even the weather is bad.
"It was an unpleasant morning in July, though no more unpleasant than most, for Providence in its inscrutable incompetency had altogether given up the question of summer for the duration of the war..."

To make things worse there is not a single romance in the offing – not really – and at the end, two do not find one another.

This book, more than earlier novels in the series, seems – to me – to be about caste. Sam Adams, the rich and dynamic owner and director of the "rolling mills" at Hogglestock, is pushing himself into Barsetshire society. He does not do this selfishly or with the aim of socially "improving" himself or his daughter Heather; but as he is energetic and ambitious he often comes into contact – at times conflict – with the ruling class.

They think: "He is a good enough fellow,’ said the Admiral, by which his daughter perfectly understood that Mr Adams was, not to put too fine a point upon it, by no means a gentleman, ‘and I’ve a great respect for his business methods..."

The daughter is Mrs Jane Gresham, young and pretty with an eight year-old son. Her husband has been missing in the far east for four years. "...if she saw a real Japanese she hoped she would be brave enough to hit him with the first sharp and heavy object she could find, or throw him down the bricked-up well in the churchyard. Full of these reasonable thoughts she telephoned to several people..."
She is further characterized as "...though intelligent and practical, she was better as a worker than an organizer, and knew it..." which is surprising as the upper caste are very nearly always just the opposite.

One of the main characters is, of course, Miss Bunting: "Bunny was Miss Bunting, an elderly ex-governess of high reputation, who had taught Mrs Marling and her brothers in their schoolroom days, and had come as an honoured and very useful refugee to Marling Hall soon after the outbreak of war..." She is described as "A short spare elderly woman who had spent 40 years instructing the early gilded youth of England...." from the book Marling Hall where she is a major minor character.

Lady Fielding and her husband Sir Robert live in the Barchester Cathedral Close where their dwelling is damp and cold. They send their invalid daughter Anne to live in the healthier environment of their house in the village of Hallbury. They have luck in acquiring Miss Bunting to come and help her with her studies. Anne is one of our heroes, just turning seventeen, suddenly discovering the world of literature: "Never had Miss Bunting in her long career had a pupil who had tasted honey-dew with such vehemence, or drunk the milk of Paradise with such deep breaths and loud gulps..." As the summer and the novel progresses Anne grow stronger and better.

Much farther down the social scale is the Mixo-Lydian refugee, Gradka their excellent cook and maid. "She was an unusually plain and unattractive young woman of dwarfish and lumpish stature, with manners that struck an odious note between cringing and arrogance..." Miss Bunting helps her pass her English examination.

The Rector, Dr Dale, and Miss Bunting gossip:
"...for say what you will, to know who is whose mother-in-law or cousin among what we shall continue to call the right people is as fascinating as relativity and much more useful..."

The popular novelist, Mrs Morland, an entertaining character in many of Ms Thirkell's books, and borrowing features from her author, is very much in evidence. Talking about her books: "...I’m afraid they are all exactly alike. You see I wrote my first book by mistake, I mean I didn’t know how to write a book so I just wrote it, and then all the others seemed to come out the same..."
"...said Mrs Morland. ‘I have nothing particular against the Russians apart from not liking them, but I do think to call God Bog is just silly.’..."
Another author, a central European, is named: "Gudold Legpul".

Ever since Trollope first presented Mrs Proudie, the Barchester Bishop and his wife have been objects of censure. "...‘If it was by the Bishop, I can understand it’s not attracting my attention,’ said Dr Dale, who in common with the whole body of Barsetshire clergy regarded his Bishop as specially sent to try him and to encourage the Disestablishment of the Church..."

Mr Adams' daughter Heather has won a scholarship to Cambridge and has come to Hallbury with one of her former teachers to study. She meets Anne; Lady Fielding does not approve:
"...‘I don’t want to be too snobbish,’ she said. ‘At least, to be truthful I really do, and though I am sure Mr Adams is a much more useful member of society than I am – or at least I don’t honestly think that, but I suppose I ought to think it – I don’t frightfully want to be implicated. It all sounds so horrid, but with Anne I expect you see what I mean.’ Miss Bunting, who was freer from illusions than most people, took no notice at all of her employer’s foolish and well-meant efforts towards democracy..."
"...certainly Heather Adams is probably not a suitable companion for Anne, [says Miss Bunting]. The Hosiers’ Girls, though the school has an excellent record of scholarships, are not quite what one would wish.’..."
"Lady Fielding might have thought that her daughter’s governess had stopped short before the end of her sentence, as indeed occasionally happened owing to difficulty with her uppers, but she didn’t; appreciating the fine shade conveyed by the lacuna...."
"I know one oughtn’t to be stuffy about it, but Anne is so easily impressed by people and her father doesn’t really want to meet Mr Adams much apart from business..."
Sir Robert is the cathedral chancellor, a sort of church accountant.

Ms Thirkell apparently, like myself, finds mathematics impenetrable. Unlike myself she considers this no hindrance to commenting on the subject, as this is Heather's major field of interest:
"Finally she had won the best open mathematical scholarship for Newton College, beating all other candidates in Duodenal Sections and Impacted Roots..."
I think that means 'Intestinal bits and decayed teeth'. Later we learn about:
"Indifferential Relations, with a table of Kindred Affinities and graphs of Nepotic Constants..."
Which is 'mere familial acquaintances, family fondnesses, and family hierarchy'.

Mr Adams:
"...I’ve bicycled as far as most people in my young days before I could afford a car,’ which piece of autobiography rather depressed his hearers as showing clearly that he regarded them as, on the whole, effete plutocrats..." Being a kind man, he probably thought no such thing.

One aspect of the caste system is that one is never free from judging others. Here Mr Adams is regarded: "...Miss Bunting who simply sat, accumulating evidence, waiting the right time to weigh it, unbiased, clear of mind..."

"Packer was sitting in his car, reading the Sunday paper folded very small, thus betraying his standard of intelligence to anyone who cared to take notes. Though why to read the Times with the sheets flapping about like animated bed-clothes should be the mark of caste, as against reading other organs which it would be invidious to mention very neatly packed into what almost becomes a cube, we cannot say. Are we to judge our fellow creatures by their capacity to read rapidly, with the eye rather than the mind, as against reading line upon line with practically no mind at all? The answer would appear to be that a good many of us do..."
Packer, the taxi driver, waiting patiently for his fare, Mr Adams.

Hallbury is divided into two parts. In the New Town they have a chapel.
"In the Old Town, which had been there in some kind of form when the New Town was a wolf-infested swamp, there was not this variety of religious experience. You went to church or you didn’t."

"...Mr Arden, [The "chapel reverend" from New Town], went home and prepared a powerful discourse upon animals that cleave the hoof and lead the weaker brethren into what is abominable before the Lord; only he delivered it as ab-hominable, which is far more frightening...".

Jane Gresham in conversation with Sam Adams:
"...The terrifying and to her almost unexplored hierarchy of the great mass of English people rose before her with all its gins and snares. Belonging as she did to a level upon which the Duke of Omnium at one end and, say, Robin Dale, the crippled schoolmaster, at the other, were in essentials equal, being, though a duke was always a duke, gentlemen, she had never really troubled to conceive the gradations, far greater than those between peer and private gentleman, which seamed and rent the sub-middle classes. Evidently Mr Adams, while not wishing to conceal his humble beginnings, considered himself and even more his daughter, a good deal above Mrs Merivale, [his landlady], and her daughters. What Mrs Merivale and her girls, all with good high-school education and all doing good war jobs, would think of the wealthy manufacturer and his girl with little background and few graces, she couldn't guess. That is to say, she had a pretty shrewd idea..."

"Miss Bunting, whether it was the long cold windy summer after the dry windy spring, or a slight homesickness for county surroundings, or her years, had been feeling very tired of late and thought with regret of a more ordered life when well-trained servants announced the right people and the wheels of life ran easily."

The Archaeological Society excursion brings all of the ruling class together.
"‘The reason we all had such good nerves during the Napoleonic wars and Miss Austen was able totally to ignore current events was that communications were slow..." said Mr Birkett,

"...‘I don’t agree with you, Middleton,’ said Mr Tebben in the mild voice of the scholar who will go to the stake for his self-formed convictions, the fruit of study and thought and not taken from the Press or a voice prancing with supercilious earnestness out of a box..."

"‘I wouldn’t have missed the meeting to-day for worlds,’ said Lord Stoke shaking hands with Mrs Middleton and then, to the reverent joy of all his old friends, taking a large red bandana with white spots out of his coat pocket, removing his brown flat-topped billycock and mopping his head. ‘Finest little bull calf I’ve seen since Bond’s Staple Jupiter..."
Being old as well as an aristocrat Lord Stoke can be eccentric without losing caste. Sam Adams wiping his face with a bandanna would not have caused reverent joy.
"‘Bad thing all those Dagoes getting our bulls,’ said Lord Stoke..." Also he is allowed racial epithets.

Jane Gresham is slightly more sympathetic than others: "...it was in a way comforting to think of a man who, even if not one’s own sort, was ready to help and in a position to know and do a good deal. There was something about Mr Adams that made it impossible to dislike him, and he was a person upon whom, she felt certain, she could rely for anything that he promised..."

Gradka has strong views on most things, being a staunch nationalist she naturally hates the neighbouring realm of Slavo-Lydia. Here are her views on the electric carpet sweeper.
"...this machine which shrieks like a damned-up soul in devils’ land. Ha! I would like to hear the jolly old Slavo-Lydians shriek when they are dead; ollso when they are alive too. Openly, I find quite detest worthy this sweeping-machine, Prodshka Fielding, and for two lydions, which a lydion is one sixtieth part of your farthing, I would crash it with the wood-axe..."

One day Gradka oversleeps and Anne wakes up to the doorbell ringing:
"...she dashed into a dressing-gown and slippers and ran down to see if anything was the matter, though without any real apprehension, for misfortune had not yet touched her with the dread of a bell, a letter, a telegram, which most of us have, and had even before the war made every sound a menace."
The visitor was Greta, bringing the mail. Then came Ernie with the bread and Effie with the milk. Anne invited them all to have tea with her in the kitchen where they are discovered:
"Miss Bunting took her pince-nez from a pocket, put them on, and looked searchingly at the intruders. Most willingly would they have bowed, scraped, curtsied, made a leg, bobbed, tugged a forelock; but civilization in its backward progress has eliminated all these forms of respect to age or position as uneducated, undemocratic and shameful. So they all went red in the face and looked up, down, around; anywhere but at the newcomer..."

"...Lady Fielding did not dislike Mr Adams and found Heather inoffensive, but the feeling of wealth, the extravagant presents, made her uneasy; it was a design for living too far removed from her own quiet standards for her to feel comfortable..."
This is Lady Fielding's most human moment, showing feelings not based on snobbery.

"Jane... knew, as a fact of life not to be disregarded or avoided, that Mr Adams was not of her class, nor even of Mrs Merivale’s. One might say nature’s gentleman, but nature, to judge by the way people’s teeth decayed and cuckoos threw young hedge-sparrows out of nests and cats played with mice, was not really a good judge... Mr Adams who was not a gentleman and never would be. And when she said gentleman, she meant what her father and friends would mean and all her own instincts knew..."
Perhaps not really a fact of life...

Jane dines with her father, the Admiral. both are aware that Jane's husband has finally been found and is on his way home
"Lunch at Hallbury House was as embarrassing as a lunch must be where father and daughter, both trained to suppress their emotions, both with emotion very near the brim, are alone together. But they managed pretty well..." Is this the true test of caste? Suppressed emotions?

There are several good scenes here, Anne and Robin, the crippled schoolmaster, are generally worth reading about, as is Gradka. Mrs Gresham – Jane is tiresome – understandably – as she hardly dares hope her husband can still be alive after four years absence and would in fact welcome confirmation one way or the other. Mrs Merivale, Heather's landlord is fun as is Mrs Watson. Mr Adams and Heather – almost always described as ugly or in some way repellent – are more than a bit trying. Generally speaking this is much ado about nothing.

[Bridget · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say up front that I a) have no idea why I had this book on my Nook, and b) didn't know who the author was. But I saw that I had it, read about the author (who is often compared to Anthony Trollope), and figured what the heck?

Miss Bunting is an elderly, respected governess who is employed for a summer to work with Anne Fielding, a young woman of some means whose parents want her to get some extra help. They spend the summer in a small village in England and the book is more about the village and the various events of the summer than it really is about Anne.

Those who live in the Old Town are members of families who have impressive pedigrees. They bemoan the fact that the New Town residents are tradesmen, and industrialists, without the proper manners and nuances of class. The book basically takes the framework of Miss Bunting and Anne, and brings in others of the Old Town and New Town who enter and leave their universe during the summer of the book.

This was an enjoyable read, to some extent a comedy of manners. It was also interesting to read about the effects of World War II and increasing industrialization in the town. The story is very indicative of how the society is starting to change, and the reactions of various characters, based largely on their position in society.

Angela Thirkell has apparently written a lot of books about life in the Barsetshire region. Including one that takes place at Christmastime, so I see at least one more of her books in my future!

[Mbuye · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a far more haunting novel than the earlier ones in the series, although there are flashes of the old Thirkellian wit. 'Miss Bunting' is about nostalgia, fear, loss and worry much more than before, although the story line is as light.

As a former schoolmaster-turned-soldier returns home minus a foot, a young mother waits not knowing if her husband, a war prisoner of the Japanese, is alive or not, whether he will ever return, and what kind of life awaits them if he does return.

In contrast, two young women just starting out in life, look forward to far more hopeful futures: one girl, brilliant at mathematics and with a mechanical turn of mind, has been accepted for Cambridge, and waits out the holidays, knowing that after Cambridge, her father's firm will fulfill her aspirations. The other, recovering strength after a lifetime of poor health, gains self-confidence and social poise under the gentle tutelage of old Miss Bunting, who hates Hitler with a boundless violence for having cost her the lives of so many of her former charges, and their children too.

Mixed with this are the usual cast of oddities, eccentrics, blood-thirsty Mixo-Lydians, and the grandchildren of Trollope's vast cast of characters, including Dr Omicron Pie, grandson of Sir Omicron Pie, who gets a mention, if not an appearance. The sad litany of wartime shortages continues, and one repeated theme is that things will never be the same again.

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF.

I tried with this, I really did. But it's even worse than the previous one. I got halfway and just couldn't cope with one more xenophobic or class-conscious conversation - according to Thirkell, all central Europeans are ugly, nasty and stupid (one character is regularly referred to as an 'inferior' who needs keeping in her place, and this is fine with all the 'well bred and polite' people!!!) and all working class people are also ugly, stupid and insensitive.

There is one moment when one of the 'well bred upper class' families start making fun of a local working class woman, assuming that she won't understand the literary allusions they are bandying around. She dumfounds them by recognising the allusion and responding to it, and they are momentarily embarrassed when they realise she's less ignorant than they'd assumed. But they don't learn. A few pages on and it's back to ridiculing someone as being 'not one of us'.

I can usually ignore a few crass comments as being of their time - but take out the crass comments from this book and you have no book left. Ironically, the only characters I found myself warming to were the despised 'lower classes'! I'm done with Thirkell.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are a graduate student of mid-twentieth century class structures of the white upper classes of the United Kingdom (a narrowly focused category, I know), than this is the book for you.

This story is almost entirely focused on class, with romance, World War II, and village life, creating the somewhat pallid backdrop for the discussion. The narrative voice identifies the structures of class, often quite consciously, and mourns their passing, yet also admires, just a little, little bit, the powerful rising class, in the form of Mr Adams, a huge and hugely rich, industrialist.

Thirkell's frothy, discursive, lighthearted style contrasts with repeated references to loss, displacement, and death. It is, in short, a very odd and really intensely snobbish book, that can be cruel in its depiction of those who are not of the 'right' class, but that can also, weirdly, recognise a genuine intelligence and strength of character in the outsider classes.

The ending, which suddenly brings in references to British colonialism in Africa is just one more strange touch to this strange little story, and is worth an essay all on its own.

[Hilary Tesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another ramble in Barsetshire - and this book was rather rambling, set over the summer in Hallbury and involving the residents of both the Old and New Town. Miss Bunting herself is really part of the background, mostly an observer of events. The character of Frank Gresham resembles the incorrigible Tony Morland from earlier books, whilst his mother soldiers resolutely on, not knowing if her naval husband is alive or not. Robin Dale is coming to terms with having lost his foot and has to decide what he should do in the future and for Anne Fielding it’s a summer of growing more confident. Industrialist Sam Adam and his daughter Heather, from “The Headmistress” reappear and are regarded as “not quite the thing” by the old order. So this is a time of change whilst living through the war in a rural town.

If you know your Trollope, there are several references to his works in the family names - I only picked up “Palliser”,

[Angela Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am the treasurer for the Massachusetts Region of the Jane Austen Society. One of our members offered to do a talk on this book for our latest meeting and I wanted to be prepared. I picked it up for the library and dove in. I was not immediately drawn into the book and struggled with it for the first several chapters. There are several characters introduced at the same time with very little background information. What I noticed the most was the the title character was barely present in the first half of the book. By the second half of the book it seemed to flow much better and I began to enjoy it. The talk offered some additional insight while helped to add more to the overall experience of the book.

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

wanted so much to like it

I was hoping Thirkell would be my next favorite; alas. I’m trying to pin down what it was exactly that I didn’t care for- it certainly is not that nothing in particular happens, because that is my favorite type of 1920-1950 English story. It might have been the bitter in your face racial/class hatred’s, which in other authors are toned down by sliding one’s gaze away. The whole Mixo Lydian thing was just jarring and odd. And I grew up next door to Czechs who were NOT Slavs! and there was in their minds no such thing as Czechoslovakia
I liked Anne and her interior ambiguities; and Robin also but no one lease was at all real. Fluf, fluff and cotton wool.

[Molly]

She's the nanny. She loves the whole idea of aristocracy and upper classes, and serving them. She has raised a lot of them. Her charges and ex-charges call her Bunny and obey her in everything. Very strange society indeed. She also helps lost young ladies to find themselves in society.

I'm re-reading all of Angela Thirkell that is available in Kindle, in order of publication. This is one I hadn't read before.
If you're old fashioned, and need something reassuring to read in a stormy time, I recommend Angela Thirkell. Almost like heaven as described by the Talking Heads: nothing, nothing every happens.

[Verity W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite of the series - and displaying some of the more dated attitudes of the time - but still a lot of fun to read. Definitely a class comedy and musings on the changes that the Second World War brought - even beyond the upheaval of the First World War. I liked it, although it took a bit of getting in to. I definitely wouldn't recommend it as a starting point for the series though.