From the Bookshelf of Retro Reads…

Pomfret Towers (Barsetshire, #6)

Angela Thirkell

Start date: July 7, 2022

Finish date: August 6, 2022

Discussion: Group Reads

Discussion leader: Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂

Why we're reading this: Continuing our read of the Barsetshire series!
[close] Continuing our read of the Barsetshire series!

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What Members Thought

Jul 11, 2022 Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, humour

4.5★

My favourite Thirkell so far!

I will be honest & say that until I devoured this book, I didn't quite get the Thirkell Mania that some of the members of the Retro Reads feel. But this title charmed me! It didn't quite make 5★ because, for me, there was a bit of a lull after an absolutely sparkling beginning.

This book is mainly about shy (extremely shy) Alice Barton receiving a normally much sought after invitation to join a weekend party at Pomfret Towers. While Alice's shyness becomes tiresom ...more

36 likes · Like · see review

Mar 19, 2019 Elinor rated it really liked it

In the sixth Barsetshire novel, a group of quirky characters comes together at a large country house, Pomfret Towers, for a weekend party, including the modest heroine Alice, the gruff and terrifying lord who owns the place, the egotistical would-be artist, his social-climbing mother, and others. Before the book ends, all the loose ends have been tied up -- a couple of romances have been resolved, and various problems have found solutions. The only challenge with reading the Barsetshire novels i ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Jul 13, 2022 Veronique rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read2022, favourites

4.25*

Had only ever read High Rising from Thirkell, a novel I had enjoyed but not loved. Therefore, I was a little apprehensive when I started this one. Obviously, I shouldn’t have been :O)

Pomfret Towers is a light and addictive read, following mostly a very reserved young woman’s first step in society. Alice finds herself ‘forced’ by her parents to attend a house party when she would much rather stay in her studio and paint. Being chronically shy, this social event terrorises her and her resulti ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Jan 13, 2011 Susan in NC rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: tbr-retro, currently-re-reading, my-library, tbr-with-gr-groups, audiobook, favorites

I read this for the first time several years ago, and did not leave a review. This reread with the Retro Reads group was such a delight! I still consider this a five-star read, so I wanted to write a short review to explain what I loved about it.

I have been reading Thirkell’s Barsetshire books slowly over the last 10 to 15 years. I struggled at first to find her books, occasionally finding a used copy at a bookstore. It has become easier in the last five years or so to find her books, either rei I read this for the first time several years ago, and did not leave a review. This reread with the Retro Reads group was such a delight! I still consider this a five-star read, so I wanted to write a short review to explain what I loved about it.

I have been reading Thirkell’s Barsetshire books slowly over the last 10 to 15 years. I struggled at first to find her books, occasionally finding a used copy at a bookstore. It has become easier in the last five years or so to find her books, either reissues or as e-books and audiobooks. Since I started the series so many years ago, I sometimes forget the younger exploits of the ever-increasing cast of characters. That’s why I am enjoying my rereads so much. In the last books of the series, no spoilers, but many characters are parents with adult children or grandparents, or may even have died in World War II. It is wonderful to revisit them when they were so young!

In this story, painfully shy Alice Barton is invited to Pomfret Towers for a weekend house party with her older brother Guy. Always “delicate”, Alice never went away to school, and hasn’t yet had been in society much. She dreads looking foolish, not knowing what to say or how to carry on, but is reassured that Roddy and Sally Wicklow, a brother and sister who are dear childhood friends, will be there too. Roddy is a large, kind, good-natured young man, and Sally is “the best seat in the county”, a superb horsewoman, great with dogs, knows the countryside and Pomfret estate as well as her brother, who is an assistant to the Pomfret land agent. Both are very kind and protective of Alice.

There are many people at the house party, some comical, some ridiculous, and Alice, Guy, Roddy and Sally make new friends, enjoy the weekend, and Alice imagines herself “In Love” with a mannerless, rude young artist, a cousin to Lord and Lady Pomfret. Thirkell, as always, has great fun skewering snobbish, self-important characters, to this reader’s appreciative enjoyment. I laughed out loud a few times, and was very entertained by the audiobook.

I look forward to continuing my rereads of these delightful books, and reacquainting myself with characters that have become old friends. ...more

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Sep 21, 2015 Theresa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Alice Barton is shy, and when she is invited to a weekend party at Pomfret Towers, she is filled with dread and dismay!

"Would people be in the green drawing-room where they had assembled last night, or in the yellow drawing-room where they had played that dreadful game after dinner, or in the library, or in one of the other rooms that she hadn't yet seen? Just then she saw Miss Merriman coming out of a door at the far end, so she went quickly back to the foot of the stairs and began walking acro Alice Barton is shy, and when she is invited to a weekend party at Pomfret Towers, she is filled with dread and dismay!

"Would people be in the green drawing-room where they had assembled last night, or in the yellow drawing-room where they had played that dreadful game after dinner, or in the library, or in one of the other rooms that she hadn't yet seen? Just then she saw Miss Merriman coming out of a door at the far end, so she went quickly back to the foot of the stairs and began walking across the hall again, so that Miss Merriman should think she had only just come down.

'Good morning. You look rather lost,' said Miss Merriman, thus shattering her hopes that she would be taken for a hard-boiled, self-possessed society girl. 'You'll find it warm in the yellow drawing-room.'

She led the way briskly to the other side of the hall, opened the door, almost pushed Alice in, and went off on one of her many household errands."

Who will save Alice Barton from her sea of timidity? Enter Phoebe Rivers, who immediately (and kindly) befriends her, rescues her from dealing with unknown servants, and introduces her to all of the quirks and vagaries of a society weekend.

Thirkell's characterization if both humorous and creative!

"It was Mr. Johns's practice, whenever he went away to a strange house, to have a telegram sent to him every day from his office, containing the words 'Return if possible urgent'. This telegram he tore up if he was enjoying himself, but if he was bored he was able to exhibit it mournfully to his host and ask if he could be sent to the station in time for the best afternoon train."

I found myself enjoying several of the characters, and was suitably dismayed when I came across Mrs. Rivers' pretensions and her son Julian's rude and selfish behavior. My heart was drawn away by Roddy, who has known Alice since childhood and makes for an estimable bodyguard, and I admired Sally (Roddy's sister)'s confidence and self-assurance. I even found myself pleasantly surprised that by the end of the book, I had changed my initial opinion of some of the characters, and it was fun watching Alice grow a backbone.

Pomfret Towers is light, entertaining, and a fast read. I have often noticed reviews of Thirkell that are always positive, and this was my introduction to her writing, but it won't be my last! ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 22, 2021 Tuesdayschild rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021-read, gentle-read, audio, historical-fiction, england, recommended-by-others

I listened to the audiobook at a quicker speed, it made for a much better listening experience.

Alice, to coin Patricia Wentworth, starts out as a spineless dreep, but comes into her own by the end of the story. I’m pleased Gillie choose the wife who was the best match for him. Mrs. Rivers needed to be pushed into one – what an awful mother.
I’m always a little bemused by the amount of “lighting up to smoke” vintage authors felt they must include in their stories.
Extra: The parents, wisely, step i ...more

1 like · Like · see review