Matches are being made among the cream of postwar English society in this novel of “warmth, whimsy, quirks, and vinegar with a dash of vitriol”(The New York Times).

The England of old may be fading away (it’s so hard to find good help these days!)—but that doesn’t stop the prominent families of Barsetshire from producing a new generation of genteel brides and grooms in this funny, entertaining portrait of stubbornly cherished traditions in a changing world.

“It is difficult not to become charmed, amused and engrossed. [Thirkell’s] sense of the ludicrous is enchanting. Perhaps, above all, it is her basic human kindness and her remarkable insight into the delicate relationship between parents and adolescent and grown children, that endear her books to so many people.” —The New York Times

“Thirkell writes with an asperity and wit and glorious clowning that are all her own.” —San Francisco Chronicle