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! ( )

Set during WWII, this focuses on Jane Gresham, whose husband has been missing in action for years; sixteen year old Anne Fielding, who is being tutored by the elderly Miss Bunting (from Marling Hall); Robin Dale, a war amputee now teaching young boys (including Jane’s eight year old); and on their interactions with Heather Adams and her father (from The Headmistress).

I enjoyed reading this, even when the war means the characters’ moods and circumstances are understandably subdued. Thirkell, with her attention to the details and inconveniences of everyday life, gives her stories a strong sense of atmosphere and, having just lived through a year disrupted by a pandemic, I found the atmosphere here rather satisfying.

Saturday dawned bright and fair, but observing that it was still Double Summer Time, took offence and relapsed into chill greyness. As no inhabitant of the British Isles has ever got used to the odious and so-called summer weather which has always been their portion, and far less to the vagaries of D.S.T., there was a good deal of grumbling everywhere, which grumbling was gradually diverted to the less eternal grievances of the fish, the daily woman, that girl at the Food Office, the Government, that noise all night like a mouse just at the head of my bed, and I must set a trap as pussy doesn't seem much good at it, the way the laundry has ironed that nice tablecloth, and other daily food of human nature.

Moreover, even if the characters didn’t know that the war is nearly over, I knew and could be hopeful for them.

(I wonder if Thirkell knew when she finished this... Even if, as Project Gutenberg Canada suggests, this was published in December of 1945, she would have surely had to have turned in the manuscript before Japan surrendered, if not before Victory Day?)

I skimmed the bits with the refugee cook -- I suspect Thirkell’s intention was to portray her positively, but I’ve noticed that when it comes to perceived outsiders to Thirkell’s world, her attempts at humour and at sympathy can feel hampered by stereotypes and prejudice. ( )

Miss Bunting is the fourteenth of Angela Thirkell’s Barsetshire novels and like the other books, is a comedy of manners set in a fictional English country town. Set near the end of World War II, the townspeople have felt the war’s impact. Jane Gresham is raising her impish young son single-handedly while living with uncertainty about her husband, who has gone missing in the Pacific. Robin Dale returned from military service with an artificial foot. While he found work teaching in a primary school, the prolonged absence of men means the pipeline of new students has dwindled.

And yet day-to-day life can be surprisingly normal, providing Thirkell with ample opportunity to poke fun at English culture and customs. Her stories are often set in motion by the introduction of new characters, or well-known characters in new and different situations. In Miss Bunting, a governess is engaged to tutor a young girl for the summer, and a wealthy businessman and his daughter rent rooms from a lonely widow. Their days are filled with small-town rituals like church services and meetings of community organizations. These, along with Sunday lunch and afternoon tea, provide amusing satire of the English class system. Even though it seems like nothing much really happens, Thirkell’s characters and the way they interact with one another make for fun reading. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )