Love at All Ages: A Novel (Angela Thirkell Barsetshire Series) (Paperback)

by Angela Mackail Thirkell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Love and marriage — and delightful eccentrics — thrive in Angela Thirkell’s fictitious English county of Barsetshire. In this novel, Lady Gwendolyn Harcourt, sister of the Duke of Towers, marries elderly Rev. Oriel of Harefield, while a romance prospers between Lord Mellings and Lavinia Merton. “Thirkell’s gently meandering account of the diversions of Barsetshire society leaves nothing to be desired.”

— New York Herald Tribune

About the Author
Angela Thirkell, grand-daughter of pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones, was born in London in 1890. She began writing novels in 1930 to support herself and her sons. She produced a new book almost every year for the rest of her life. Her stylish prose and deft portrayal of human comedy in the imaginary county of Barsetshire have delighted readers for decades. She died in 1961 aged 70.

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Moyer Bell (October 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559212977
• ISBN-13: 978-1559212977
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #384,552 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not up to her previous works, but a must for fans., August 27, 2008

By	Michael Strangeways "sideshow entrepeneur" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

Judging an author's body of work by only reading one novel, and her last novel written at the very end of her long life, is infantile, the equivalent of watching Steven Spielberg's "1941" and judging him to be a mediocre talent and not worthy of further viewing.

This is Mrs Thirkell's final completed novel and like the majority of her later works, not up to the standards of her finest work of the Thirties and Forties, but it's a must read for fans of the Barsetshire series. For newcomers to her books, I would recommend any of the Barsetshire novels of the Thirties, but particularly "Summer Half", "Wild Strawberries", "Pomfret Towers", "The Brandons" or "High Rising". These early novels can be read as stand alones that introduce the characters featured throughout the series and are witty, dry, well-written comedies of manners.

3 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly tedious, April 28, 2003

By	J. M. Bowen-Shauver "redpram" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This may be the most boring book I have ever read. I was prepared to make certain allowances, knowing that it was the last book of a long series I have not read. However, that does not excuse the lack of any interest/conflict/plot line, the long digressions on the part of the author, the overwhelming number of in-jokes among the characters, and the sheer tediousness of the entire story. At least 3 characters are famous largely for their inability to carry on a coherent conversation, which is incredibly annoying to the reader. I would recommend that the anglophile reader instead concentrate on Barbara Pym, PG Wodehouse, Nancy Mitford, or Rosamund Pilcher.