Angela Margaret Thirkell (; , 30 January 1890 – 29 January 1961) was an English and Australian novelist. She also published one novel, ''Trooper to Southern Cross'', under the pseudonym Leslie Parker.

Early life

Angela Margaret Mackail was the elder daughter of

John William Mackail John William Mackail (26 August 1859 – 13 December 1945) was a Scottish academic of Oxford University and reformer of the British education system. He is most often remembered as a scholar of Virgil and as the official biographer of the so ...

(1859–1945), a Scottish classical scholar and civil servant from the Isle of Bute who was the Oxford Professor of Poetry from 1906 to 1911. Her mother, Margaret Burne-Jones, was the daughter of the Pre-Raphaelite painter

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August 183317 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding part ...

, and through her, Thirkell was the first cousin once removed of

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

and

Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (3 August 186714 December 1947), was a British statesman and Conservative politician who was prominent in the political leadership of the United Kingdom between the world wars. He was prime ministe ...

. Her brother, Denis Mackail (1892–1971), was also a novelist and they had a younger sister, Clare. Angela was tall, "with legs like columns, and large, masculine feet" and she ruled over her younger cousins and siblings, who called her AKB—Angela Knows Best. Angela Mackail was educated in London at

Claude Montefiore Claude Joseph Goldsmid Montefiore, also Goldsmid–Montefiore or just Goldsmid Montefiore (1858–1938) was the intellectual founder of Anglo-Liberal Judaism (UK), Liberal Judaism and the founding president of the World Union for Progress ...

's Froebel Institute, then at St Paul's Girls' School,

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

, and in Paris at a finishing school for young ladies.

Marriages and children

Soon after her return from Paris, Angela Mackail met James Campbell McInnes (1874–1945), a professional singer, and married him in 1911. Their first son was born in January 1912 and named Graham after McInnes's former lover, Graham Peel. Their second son was the novelist

Colin MacInnes Colin MacInnes (20 August 1914 – 22 April 1976) was an English novelist and journalist. Early life MacInnes was born in London, England, son of singer James Campbell McInnes and novelist Angela Mackail, who was the granddaughter of the Pr ...

. A third child, Mary, was born and died in 1917, and Angela then divorced her husband for adultery, in a blaze of publicity. In December 1918, Angela married George Lancelot Allnut Thirkell (1890–), an engineer of her own age originally from

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, and in 1920 they sailed for Australia together with her sons. Their son Lancelot George Thirkell, later Comptroller of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, was born there. The Thirkells led a 'middle-middle-class life' in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, which to Angela was all deeply unfamiliar and repugnant. So, in November 1929, Angela left her husband without warning, returning to England with Lancelot George, on the pretext of a holiday, but in fact quitting Australia for good. Lacking money, she begged the fare to London from her godfather,

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

, and used the sum intended for her return ticket for two single passages, for herself and her youngest son. She claimed that her parents were aging, and needed her, but she certainly also preferred the more comfortable life available with them in London. Her second son, Colin, followed her to England soon after, but Graham stayed in Melbourne. Thereafter, her "attitude to any man whom she attracted was summed up in the remark: 'It's very peaceful with no husbands,'" which was quoted by the ''Observer'' newspaper in its column 'Sayings of the Week'.

Writing career

Thirkell began writing early in her life in Australia, chiefly through the need for money. She published an article in the ''

Cornhill Magazine ''The Cornhill Magazine'' (1860–1975) was a monthly Victorian literature, Victorian magazine and literary journal named after the street address of the founding publisher Smith, Elder & Co. at 65 Cornhill, London, Cornhill in London.Laurel ...

'' in 1921, the first of many articles and short stories, including work for Australian radio. On her return to England in 1929, this career continued with journalism, stories for children, and then novels. Her success as a novelist began with her second novel, ''High Rising'' (1933). She set most of her novels in

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope ( ; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among the best-known of his 47 novels are two series of six novels each collectively known as the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire ...

's Barsetshire, his fictional English county developed in the six novels known as the ''

Chronicles of Barsetshire The ''Chronicles of Barsetshire'' is a series of six novels by English author Anthony Trollope, published between 1855 and 1867. They are set in the fictional English county of Barsetshire and its cathedral town of Barchester. The novels concer ...

''. An alert reader of contemporary fiction, Thirkell also borrowed freely from little known titles like

John Galsworthy John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. He is best known for his trilogy of novels collectively called '' The Forsyte Saga'', and two later trilogies, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of th ...

's ''The Country House'', from which, for example, she lifted the name 'Worsted' which she used for the village setting of her novel ''August Folly'' (1936). She also quoted frequently, without attribution, from novels by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

William Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray ( ; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...

and

Elizabeth Gaskell Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (''née'' Stevenson; 29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to as Mrs Gaskell, was an English novelist, biographer, and short story writer. Her novels offer detailed studies of Victorian era, Victoria ...

. Thirkell published a new novel every year, which she referred to in correspondence with her editor, Jamie Hamilton of

Hamish Hamilton Hamish Hamilton Limited is a publishing imprint and originally a British publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half- Scot half- American Jamie Hamilton (''Hamish'' is the vocative form of the Gaelic Seumas eaning James ''Jame ...

, as ''new wine in an old bottle''. She was upset that her circle of well educated and upper-middle-class friends thought her novels "too popular" knowing they preferred, as she did, such writers as

Gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical forests from eastern Bangladesh and Northeast Indi ...

, Austen,

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the great ...

and

Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French language, French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Pas ...

. She drew the epigraph to ''T 1951'' from Proust: ''"Les gens du monde se représentent volontiers les livres comme une espèce de cube dont une face est enlevée, si bien que l'auteur se dépêche de 'faire entrer' dedans les personnes qu'il rencontre"'' ("Society people think that books are a sort of cube, one side of which the author opens the better to insert into it the people he meets.") Her books of the 1930s in particular had a satiric exuberance, as in ''Pomfret Towers'', which sends up village ways, aristocratic folly and middle-class aspirations. ''Three Houses'' (1931, Oxford University Press; repeatedly reprinted) is a short childhood memoir which simultaneously displays Thirkell's precociously finished style, her lifelong melancholy, and her idolisation of her grandfather, Edward Burne-Jones. ''Trooper to the Southern Cross'' (1934; republished in 1939 as ''What Happened on the Boat'') "is concerned with the experiences of a number of English and Australian passengers aboard a troop-ship, the ''Rudolstadt'', on their way back to Australia immediately after World War I. It is particularly interesting for its depiction of the Australian 'digger'; his anti-authoritarianism, larrikinism, and, at the same time, his loyalty to those whom he respects". Thirkell's 1936 publication ''August Folly'' was chosen the Book Society's Book of the month. This embarrassed her as it seemed to define the book as insufficiently artistic. leading her to write to her publisher that "I can only hope that the financial gain involved will counterbalance the moral degradation." In the 1940s, her work was coloured by the war. The

home front Home front is an English language term with analogues in other languages. It is commonly used to describe the civilian populace of the nation at war as an active support system for their military. Civilians are traditionally uninvolved in com ...

figured particularly in ''Cheerfulness Breaks In'' (1940), showing how women saw their loved ones off to the front and ''Northbridge Rectory'', which showed how housewives coped with the annoyances of wartime life. These books include ''Marling Hall'', ''Growing Up'' and ''The Headmistress'' and provide a vibrant picture of the attitude, struggle and resigned good cheer, of British women during the war. Even a book which did not deal exclusively with the war effort, ''Miss Bunting'', addressed changes in society the war had wrought, as the title character, a governess, grows to middle age and wonders how to live out her life and where her ambitions might take her as the world turns upside down. These books provide a time capsule of the age, which, unfortunately, includes charges of anti-semitism. The Warburg family in ''Cheerfulness Breaks In'' has been seen by many as a traditional caricature of Jews. Thirkell grew increasingly conservative with the changes wrought by the war. A review of ''Private Enterprise'' (1947) wrote: "In Barchester all is not well/The County People pine and sigh/They wish the government in Hell/And long for happier days gone by/When gloom did not obscure the sky." Later books in the 1950s became more romantic and less contemporary. Among these, ''The Old Bank House'' in particular shows Thirkell concerned with the rise of the merchant class, her prejudices evident but giving way to grudging respect for industriousness and goodhearted generosity. Later books are simpler romances. The romance ''The Duke's Daughter'' deals in a way more directly than some of her others with descendants of Trollope's Barsetshire characters. Her final book, ''Three Score and Ten'', was left unfinished at her death but was completed later by C. A. Lejeune. Thirkell showed a keen social sense and a lively eye for the telling detail of everyday life. Thirkell's works are considered as being in the comedy of manners genre, along with those of Jane Austen. Rachel Mather sees Thirkell, along with

E. F. Benson Edward Frederic Benson (24 July 1867 – 29 February 1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, historian and short story writer. Early life E. F. Benson was born at Wellington College (Berkshire), Wellington College in Berkshire, ...

and E. M. Delafield, as being "direct heirs of the Jane Austen tradition. Other critics agree. The comedy in Thirkell's work is sometimes overlooked today, though it was recognized by contemporaries. In reviewing ''Summer Half,'' the humor magazine '' Punch'' called her "one of the great humorous writers of our time" and Norman Collins wrote of ''Wild Strawberries'' that "A hundred one times the reader is rewarded by the radiance of that inner grin which comes from sharing some entirely malicious piece of social observation that any man, and most women, would have missed completely.

P.G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...

, the pre-eminent English humorist of her era, praised ''Wild Strawberries'' and ''Pomfret Towers.''

Selected books

Barsetshire Chronicles

* ''High Rising'' (1933) * ''Wild Strawberries'' (1934) * ''The Demon in the House'' (1934) * ''August Folly'' (1936) * ''Summer Half'' (1937) * ''Pomfret Towers'' (1938) * ''The Brandons'' (1939) * ''Before Lunch'' (1939/1940) * ''Cheerfulness Breaks In'' (1940) * ''Northbridge Rectory'' (1941) * ''Marling Hall'' (1942) * ''Growing Up'' (1943) * ''The Headmistress'' (1944) * ''Miss Bunting'' (1945) * ''Peace Breaks Out'' (1946) * ''Private Enterprise'' (1947) * ''Love Among the Ruins'' (1948) * ''The Old Bank House'' (1949) * ''County Chronicle'' (1950) * ''The Duke's Daughter'' (1951) * ''Happy Returns'' (1952) * ''Jutland Cottage'' (1953) * ''What Did It Mean?'' (1954) * ''Enter Sir Robert'' (1955) * ''Never Too Late'' (1956) * ''A Double Affair'' (1957) * ''Close Quarters'' (1958) * ''Love at All Ages'' (1959) * ''Three Score and Ten'' (1961)

Other books

* ''Ankle Deep'' (1931) * ''Three Houses'' (1931); * ''Trooper to the Southern Cross'' (1934; republished as ''What Happened on the Boat'') * ''O These Men, These Men!'' (1935) * ''The Grateful Sparrow'' (1935) * ''The Fortunes of Harriet'' (1936) * ''Coronation Summer'' (1937)

References

External links

* *
The Angela Thirkell Society in the UK

The Angela Thirkell Society in North America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thirkell, Angela 1890 births 1961 deaths English people of Scottish descent People educated at St Paul's Girls' School 20th-century English novelists 20th-century Australian short story writers 20th-century Australian women Burne-Jones family English women novelists