Summer Half by Angela Thirkell

Here it is Tuesday and I am finished reading the second book in my Angela Thirkell Read-A-Thon which didn't go as quickly as I might have thought. But really, one cannot rush along Ms. Thirkell.

The goings on in Summer Half, which I didn't find quite as entertaining as August Folly, have to do with Southbridge, a boys public school (which is akin to our private school in America). Colin Keith has decided not to continue his studies to become a barrister and has taken a job as an assistant master at the school. The main cast of characters includes the headmaster Mr. Birkett; his oft-engaged daughter Rose and her fiance Philip Winter (who I wrote about yesterday); Colin's sisters Kate and the teenaged Lydia; housemaster Everard Carter; and, family friend and confirmed bachelor Noel Merton. Of course various others wander in and out of the story including Tony Morland, Mrs. Morland's son from High Rising. 

The plot of Summer Half is not important. Actually there isn't a complicated plot much past watching who ends up with whom in the romance department. As usual, it is all very amusing with many of Thirkell's asides, meanderings, and witty dialogue.

What I found most intriguing was reading about how the school was organized. And, that these boys all studied Ancient Greek and Latin. They translated Horace. One boy named his chameleon after Gibbon.  I doubt any students of today have ever heard of either. Or if they have, might think the names refer to a rock band.

Another interesting item is the occasional talk about the political climate of the day - this being published in 1937 leading up to World War II. Philip Winter is enamored with communism and is planning a trip to Russia. There is a mention of 'black shirts' (members of the British Union of Fascists) handing out pamphlets outside of a movie theater. These issues were apparently on Ms. Thirkell's, and the nation's, mind.


So now it is on to Pomfret Towers. I wonder what delights are in store for me there?

Our Rose from Thirkell's Summer Half

Here is a quote from Summer Half, the second book in my Angela Thirkell Read-A-Thon. It is a wonderful example of how Ms. Thirkell breathlessly paints the portrait of a character. 

The characters:
Mr. Birkett is the headmaster of Southbridge preparatory school; Rose is his 17-year-old daughter; and, Philip Winter is an assistant master at Southbridge.

Why the excellent and intelligent Birketts had produced an elder daughter who was a perfect sparrow-wit was a question freely discussed by the school, but no one had found an answer. Mrs. Birkett felt a little rebellious against Fate. She had thought of a pretty and useful daughter who would help her to entertain parents and visitors, perhaps play the cello, or write a book, collect materials for Mr. Birkett's projected History of Southbridge School, and marry at about twenty-five a successful professional man in London. 

Fate had not gone wholeheartedly into the matter. 

Rose was as pretty as she could be, but there Fate had broken down. Rose was frankly bored by parents and visitors, and always managed to escape when they arrived. She did play an instrument, but far from being the cello it was a piano-accordian, which she handled with a great deal of confidence, but poor technique. As for writing, she was always dashing off letters in a large illegible calligraphy to bosom friends, but her vocabulary was small and her spelling shaky. She was very lazy and was perfectly happy for hours doing her nails, or altering a dress. 

When she came back from Munich Philip Winter had fallen so suddenly and hopelessly in love that he had to propose to her almost before her trunks were unpacked. Rose had accepted his proposal gracefully, said it would be perfectly marvellous, and wrote to tell her bosom friends about it, spelling her affianced's Christian name with two l's.

An Angela Thirkell Read-A-Thon

Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire

I found at the library an omnibus of three of Angela Thirkell's books: August Folly, Summer Half, and Pomfret Towers. Five hundred pages of Our Ms. Thirkell. These are the next, in order of course, of the Barsetshire novels after High Rising and Wild Strawberries which I have read and delighted in.

So I am going to hold my very own Angela Thirkell Read-A-Thon and settle in for a bit of armchair travel to Barsetshire this weekend. 

Note to self - Pick up a couple of cranberry-walnut scones to go with afternoon tea, just to keep your energy up.

I found the following teasers on a website devoted to Ms. Thirkell's books:

August Folly (1936) - Mrs. Palmer stages a Greek play, the actors fall in love, and general misunderstandings and family adventures occur.

Summer Half (1937) - Barsetshire sets the stage for the lovely Rose Pickett and her engagements.

Pomfret Towers (1938) - The Pomfrets and their heir, Gillie Foster, are the centerpiece of this Barsetshire story.

I had better get started! What are you reading this weekend?