County Chronicle Author:Angela MacKail Thirkell As readers of Angela Thirkell's enticing chronicles of Barsetshire are well aware, the county itself -- a fictional but familiar stretch of English countryside inhabited by infatuations, endearments, and cross purposes -- can seem the primary character in her delightful comedies. Nowhere is this more true than in County Chronicle, in which reade... more »rs are reacquainted with the plaints and passions of several members of Barsetshire society. Lucy Marling is anxious about her parents' reaction to her engagement to Sam Adams, the county's self-made ironmaster and MP. Her brother Oliver still pines for the actress Jessica Dean (now married to Aubrey Clover and expecting a baby). Mr. Adams's daughter Heather, whose own wedding is in the works, also takes the stage, along with the widowed Mrs. Brandon -- now that her son is happily married, she may have a second chance at happiness herself.
Through a choreographed round of fetes, parties, and other occasions, Thirkell introduces a series of intrigues -- romantic, literary, and personal -- as well as a few intriguing strangers to the country houses and village lanes of Barsetshire.« less