August 1

August Folly (1936)

By Angela Thirkell

I read August Folly perhaps 20 years ago; while it felt outdated and nostalgic even then - it was still very humorous and charming.  Set in the fictitious Barsetshire, England of the 1930s, Richard Tebben is just home from Oxford for the summer.  Much to his horror, his family shows up at the train station not in an automobile, but in a donkey cart, to transport him home!  Once settled at home, he finds that Mrs Palmer is trying to stage her annual play, this year"Hippolytus", with her neighbors and family as cast and crew.  Everyones' foibles come to light and create some pretty amusing scenes.  Richard and his sister Margaret end up growing from their experience, especially as the Dean family, along with their nine children, are visiting Barsetshire.

Angela Thirkell published her first Barsetshire novel in 1933, and thereafter published about one title a year up until her death in 1961.  It looks like this series has recently been re-released by Virago.  I'm glad to know there are lots more titles out there to enjoy.

I recently learned that Thirkell was the granddaughter of the pre-Raphaelite painter, Edward Byrne-Jones, a cousin of writer Rudyard Kipling and British PM Stanley Baldwin, and goddaughter of playwright J M Barrie.  What a gifted family!