Written by Angela Thirkell
Format: MP3 Angela Thirkell's Baretshire novels, 29 in all, are set in Trollope's mythical county of Barsetshire. In her novels, she sets the plot pattern which will be played out in most of her later books. She also introduces us to specific characters as well as 'types' who will appear and reappear in changing relationships as the years go by. Unlike Trollope, Thirkell is uninterested in money and politics and ecclesiastical power. What interests Thirkell is people talking, and the nonsense they talk. It makes no difference who. In addition, these are novels full of what might be called applied literature, whole lifetimes of shared reading welling up allusively in conversation. The reader hears the constant sound of familiar authors passing back and forth behind the scenes, like servants heading from the kitchen to the dining room in great English houses. And yet the talk is wonderful because it is simply neighborhood gossip. The war encroaches on Barsetshire, but the gossip continues, against a broader, grimmer backdrop. Wild Strawberries introduces the Leslie family, some of the most important characters in the novels. Mary Preston, Lady Agnes (Leslie) Graham's niece, is infatuated with David Leslie, who flirts with her in his thoughtless and self-centered way. Widowed John Leslie falls in love with Mary but is discouraged by a remark she makes about John Milton's second marriage. A French family, the Boulles, have leased the vicarage for the summer. Some of the plot highlights: David and Martin show off while driving; a visit to Rushmere Abbey; a visit from the toadying and freeloading garden expert, Mr. Holt; David breaks his promise to bring Mary wild strawberries from London; Mary is jealous of Joan Stevenson of the BBC; a Sunday church service where Lady Emily tries to manage everything; the servants' concert; Pierre Boulle's "heroic rescue" of Emmy Graham from a shallow pool; Martin's eventful 17th birthday party, including an abortive French Royalist demonstration. John wins Mary. Some of the most pleasant and memorable characters in any of Thirkell's novels.