Pomfret Towers, Angela Thirkell
Pomfret Towers, Angela Thirkell
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Pomfret Towers
A Virago Modern Classic

Author: Angela Thirkell

Narrator: Yonnie Fraser

Unabridged: 8 hr 30 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/09/2015


Synopsis

Pomfret Towers, Barsetshire seat of the earls of Pomfret, was constructed, with great pomp and want of concern for creature comforts, in the once-fashionable style of Sir Gilbert Scott's St Pancras station. It makes a grand setting for a house party at which gamine Alice Barton and her brother Guy are honoured guests, mixing with the headstrong Rivers family, the tally-ho Wicklows and, most charming of all, Giles Foster, nephew and heir of the present Lord Pomfret. But whose hand will Mr Foster seek in marriage, and who will win Alice's tender heart? Angela Thirkell's classic 1930s comedy is lively, witty and deliciously diverting.

About Angela Thirkell

Angela Thirkell (1890-1961) was the eldest daughter of John William Mackail, a Scottish classical scholar and civil servant, and Margaret Burne-Jones. Her relatives included the pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones, Rudyard Kipling and Stanley Baldwin, and her grandfather was J. M. Barrie. She was educated in London and Paris, and began publishing articles and stories in the 1920s. In 1931 she brought out her first book, a memoir entitled Three Houses, and in 1933 her comic novel High Rising - set in the fictional county of Barsetshire, borrowed from Trollope - met with great success. She went on to write nearly thirty Barsetshire novels, as well as several further works of fiction and non-fiction. She was twice married and had four children.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Melindam on January 19, 2025

4,5 stars So far, I find this has been the best and my favourite instalment of Thirkell's Barsetshire series. “There is no happiness in love, except at the end of an English novel.” - Anthony Trollope What a sparkling, light and totally charming book. Angela Thirkell has joined the ranks of authors......more

Goodreads review by Elinor on June 28, 2022

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. Be......more

Goodreads review by Emily on April 05, 2018

I read Thirkell because of passages like this one: "There's Chloe," said Sally, as a scratching and whining which had been going on ever since the dogs left the room was succeeded by several loud flaps against the door. "Isn't she a lamb? She has taught herself to knock on the door with her tail. Com......more

Goodreads review by QNPoohBear on October 27, 2017

2.75 stars? Mrs. Barton, the absentminded author of historical works and mother of two young adult children is often away from home and absorbed in her work. She keeps in close contact with her neighbor Lord Pomfret for research purposes. On a rare occasion when Lady Pomfret and Mrs. Barton are both......more

Goodreads review by Mela on June 07, 2019

Although I admit, it wasn't as hilarious or bitter-sweet as some other of Thirkell, nonetheless, it was another one of the best by Thirkell I have read. What made it so perfect was the thoughtfulness, integrity of the novel (story). It was easy to see that the author knew how to write a good novel,......more


Quotes

A perfect balance of satirical observation and chocolate-box charm ... one of the cosiest and funniest reads this winter The Lady

Angela Thirkell is perhaps the most Pym-like of any twentieth-century author, after Pym herself