From the Bookshelf of Retro Reads

High Rising
by
Start date
May 2, 2018
Finish date
May 31, 2018
Discussion leader
Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂

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What Members Thought

Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂
I loved this cover. High Rising by Angela Thirkell Just charming. I didn't love much else about this book.

I think I was expecting too much from this early work. Very few authors are immediately brilliant. But for me there were a lot of characters at the start, a lot of not much happening in the middle & a predictable ending that wrapped things up a bit too tidily.

I don't think Alexander McCall Smith's introduction of my edition added much to my understanding. However, Wikipedia's biography of Mrs Thirkell is fascinating
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Mela
A wonderful comedy.

Like most healthy men he thought that any illness was death.

So he dismissed her from his mind, where indeed she had never held any very prominent place

A language and humor of Thirkell is simply splendid. It is a great example of an intelligent comedy.

Marvellous characters which reader meets in one period of their life. There is a little romance but for me the novel is built of two things:

1. perfectly chosen and described characters
2. parts with child's point of view.

I
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LeahBethany
Jul 30, 2019 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
High Rising was a delightful British comedy with some laugh out loud moments – especially in regards to one of the main characters’ observations about her son and thoughts on motherhood.
Old Scot
Jan 14, 2024 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: light-fiction
This was a nice, comforting read on a chilly Sunday afternoon. Our protagonist, the widowed Mrs Morland is the authoress of high quality, un-literary, fiction. She is successful at what she does, to the extent of putting her four sons through boarding school, and keeping a mansion flat in London and a cottage in High Rising (I don't think Barsetshire is mentioned in the book). I suspect Angela Thirkell identified herself with her protagonist. The plot involves various village upsets, some romanc ...more
Wayne Jordaan
Aug 22, 2022 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
What a great introduction to a different cast of Barsetshire characters, about a century after Anthony Trollope's Victorian creation. Light, easy reading, with lots of chuckles along the way. Looking forward to reading Pomfret Towers, the next book in the Thirkell series. Thanks for the recommendation Carolien. ...more
Joanie
Nov 12, 2018 rated it really liked it
I thought it was delightful! We live in such grim times that it's wonderful to find something frothy and fun to distract one. ...more
Caroline
Apr 17, 2017 rated it really liked it
Emmy B.
Jan 11, 2017 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Lisa Brantly
Aug 17, 2017 rated it really liked it
Shelves: fiction
Qamar M'Hiri
Jan 21, 2018 marked it as to-read
Kate
May 04, 2018 rated it it was ok
Liz Treacher
May 11, 2018 rated it really liked it
Shelves: literary-fiction
Barbara
Apr 25, 2018 marked it as to-read
Leslie
May 03, 2018 marked it as to-read
Julie Murray
Jun 18, 2018 rated it really liked it
SG
Aug 24, 2018 marked it as to-read
Hillary
Oct 29, 2018 marked it as to-read
Kavan
Dec 29, 2019 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Kirsten
Feb 15, 2021 rated it it was amazing
Caroline
Sep 18, 2021 marked it as to-read
Anne
Jul 07, 2022 rated it really liked it
Imogen Reeves
Jul 05, 2022 marked it as to-read
Sharon
Oct 08, 2025 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
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