The Brandons

An English classic of that golden time between the Wars. Angela Thirkell writes a wonderful comedy of manners dealing with both young and mature love among the upper classes set in that time and place. Nadia May, whose real name is Wanda McCaddon,has per her AudioFile biography, worked as a reporter, a University professor and an actress. She has narrated books under the names Donada Peters, Margaret McKay, Ann Miles and Leonarda Stafford. She is a grande dame of audio book narration and her voice, mature-- yet precise, lends itself well to this gently paced story. If you are an anglophile, an audiophile or maybe just want a story that does not involve a lot of blazing guns and dead bodies then I definitely recommend all 10 hours of this story. This will make the reader smile and maybe even laugh out loud.

Unexpectedly wonderful. I had read somewhere that Thirkell was a bit of a poor-man's Nancy Mitford. Well that might have been for some of her novels - my knowledge of her full body of works is not great - but the Thirkells is a wonderful descent into glorious pre-World War II English Countryside. The book is chokka with great and memorable characters and has an appealing plot which has a few twists in it to keep things very interesting indeed. In fact it starts as a simple premise of a family waiting for an inheritance, as such, as ends as a very sweet romance indeed.It all starts with the sickness of a maiden aunt, Sissie - who lives in a mouldering pile and keeps threatening to will it all away from various relatives if only to keep them on their toes. Trouble is the various relatives - or at least two of them Mr Grant, and Francis and Brandon - don't actually want the mouldering estate anyway. No matter how poor they are they can see that it will be a bit of a white elephant - or at the very least a very damp hippotamus.The Brandon's come with a wonderfully vague mother who keeps getting read bits of boring pieces of writing by adoring males in the area, and Hilary Grant comes with a hideously annoying mother whom nobody - except possibly the reader - can like. This book is very much in the vein of E E Benson's Lucia Series - although those were individual masterpieces of machivellian cunning- this book is a fun and rather distinguished country romp.Apparently Thirkell wrote a number of stories in which the same characters turn up - all of which is set in the Barchester land of Anthony Trollope so there is enough connection among these books to make for quite an extensive bit of connected reading (if anyone is interested of course). It has all the satisfaction of a nice twisting plot with the pleasant relief of a happy and romantic ending to look forward to.

Angela Thirkell's books fall into a typically English genre: the gentle goings on of a set of eccentric (usually upper class) villagers. The books amusing and make an enjoyable quick read. Although I understand where the comparisons to Jane Austen are coming from, I think they are off the mark, though. I think P.G. Wodehouse is a fairer comparison, without so much silliness (which I love). These little trifles don't have the depth or subtlety of Austen's works. However, for a light read where you like most of the characters and wish them well, you can't beat Thirkell. My favorite is Cheerfulness Breaks In.

This is the first book I have read by Angela Thirkell and I am determined to read all of the other novels she has written. Of all the authors I have read with claims attached to them of being "modern day Austens", Angela Thirkell is the only one that lives up to that claim, in my opinion.In "The Brandons", as in Austen's literature, one senses a "match" in the offing and Mrs. Brandon spends much of her thinking on how to match up Miss Morris with one of her eligible male friends. The book is delightful, charming, funny, and full of astute observations on human nature...just like Jane Austen's writings. Read it!