Growing Up

Was there ever such an England as the England found in Angela Thirkell's novels or characters like the ones that inhabit it? "Growing Up" takes place during World War II, but the denizens of Thirkell's Barsetshire are nearly unfazed by the cataclysmic events taking place in the world. They have a cozy little universe of their own where everyone--at least tangentially--knows everyone else, where everyone knows his or her place and is content to inhabit it, where comedy infects every corner and even an arm lost in battle can be a source of humor. Even Thirkell herself seems to be a source of humor as portrayed in the character Mrs. Morland, writer of potboilers, who in a lecture on how to write a novel to recuperating wounded soldiers says, "...and I'm perfectly sure none of you have read any of my books and I really don't see why you should." Many of the soldiers had, indeed, read her books, just as readers of every sort have become fans of Angela Thirkell. For them, there are novels galore, 17 in the Barsetshire series alone. For me, one was enough.