Customer Reviews

The Headmistress

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THE HEADMISTRESS...When Miss Sparling, a headmistress from
a recently evacuated girl's school, moves into the village,
she encounters all the problems of village life in
wartime Britain. The upper crust Beltons, themselves newly
dislocated from the family stately home, must accomodate not
only Miss Sparling but the serious problems of the 1940s.
Although perhaps the funniest of Thirkell's many funny books,
World War II dominates this novel, giving it a greater depth
perhaps, than some of Ms Thirkell's other delightful books.

Angela Thirkell's books are about famalies living in England during World War 2.She uses fictional characters, set in a fictional country named Barsetshire, to give a realistic account of the conditions people were living under in England during the war. The Headmistress tells about refugees, rationing and shortages, the banner use of uncover bright lights after dark and work parties to make clothing and other necessities for the soldiers and refugees. The main characters are mainly wealthy and/or titled citizens. Although all class are represented through the book. The Headmistress focuses on an old family who, while trying to retain their land and upper class status, have become relaively common financially. This state is referred to as "reduced circumstances." They have rented their estate to a girls' school and moved to the village. This book is like a mild soap opera with a happy ending. It is filled with philosophy and almost entirely composed of conversation about etiquette. It is very British, so if you like that kind of stuff, you will be in heaven.

I say, Ms Thirkell is sound on logarithms(page 185