The Demon in the House [Hardcover]

Angela Thirkell (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Harrison Smith & Robert Haas (1935)
• ASIN: B001KGM5BA
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This little demon will make you laugh out loud, July 13, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: The Demon in the House (Paperback)

Tony Morland, the 12 year old demon of Angela Thirkell's novel, is the most enchanting of evil spirits. He will exasperate you and even annoy you but he surely will make you laugh out loud. His exhausted mother, Laura, copes with a series of near-fatal disasters all of which leave Tony triumphant and Laura defeated. His imaginary world, his bicycling accidents,his silent but loyal sidekick, Donk, all drive the adults around him to distraction. Thirkell has caught the world of a mischievous braggart and revealed him, in the end, as an endearing child. One of her best!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Delightfully Vexing Book, September 28, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Demon in the House (Paperback)

This book follows characters introduced in High Rising. Both focus on Mrs. Laura Morland, author extraordinaire, and her family, friends and neighbors between the wars. Where High Rising focused more on Mrs. Morland and her doings, Demon in the House focuses on Tony Morland, her youngest son, who is devilishly annoying. Although the book is social humor in the best Angela Thirkell style, you may find yourself frequently vexed with Tony, thinking "Will he ever shut up?!" Nonetheless, an amusing book.

If you are a first time visitor of Barsetshire, I would recommend Pomfret Towers, High Rising, Wild Strawberries, or even other, later Thirkell publications, like Growing Up or Private Enterprise.

An aside - These Moyer Bell editions are better than the Caroll & Graf editions, with their terrible, light typeface. But be prepared to encounter some spelling and typographical errors.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Thirkell's Best, March 16, 2006

By 

Christmas in March - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Demon in the House (Paperback)

"The Demon in the House" is one of Angela Thirkell's first novels. It chronicles Tony Morland and his mother during his holidays. It is one of the funniest and most charming books by Thirkell. While one of the other reviewers has noted that Thirkell is not adept at characterizing children, I thought her descriptions of Tony and the other children were spot-on: the need for kids to one-up each other, the constant war of boys v. masters, etc. The end of the book is particularly poignant as Tony transitions from a boy in lower school to upper school. Thirkell's writing is wonderful and evokes the slow and close-knit atmosphere of an English village beautifully.