{"id":5122,"date":"2014-05-19T11:20:31","date_gmt":"2014-05-19T11:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/?p=5122"},"modified":"2014-05-21T10:52:31","modified_gmt":"2014-05-21T10:52:31","slug":"summer-half-by-angela-thirkell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/?p=5122","title":{"rendered":"Summer Half by Angela Thirkell"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Published by Virago 1 May 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

288pp, paperback, \u00a38.99<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reviewed by Lesley Glaister<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alexander McCall Smith says that, \u2018Angela Thirkell is perhaps the most Pym-like of any twentieth century author, after Pym herself.\u2019\u00a0 As a great admirer of Barbara Pym\u2019s work I thought I would therefore love Angela Thirkell and sat down to read Summer Half<\/em> with some excitement.<\/p>\n

I agree that there is something Pym-like about Thirkell\u2019s writing, but it is slighter.\u00a0 Although Pym writes about apparently trivial encounters, misunderstandings, romances and so on in parochial society, there is always a sense of a backdrop of something deeper, a profound understanding of humanity – though very lightly worn.\u00a0 Like Pym, Thirkell writes on a small palette, her focus the relationships, attractions, petty snobberies and misunderstandings between men and women, but I don\u2019t detect quite such depth.\u00a0 So that while yes, there is something Pym-like, I also detect the odd dash of Enid Blyton. \u00a0I don\u2019t mean to be unfair here, but on occasion there are some oddly simplistic, even childish passages: \u2018They ran for the trees where Kate knew a good log they could sit on.\u2019 There\u2019s a picnic on Parsley Island, and some very Blytonesque descriptions of food: \u2018The tea in Colin\u2019s room looked perfectly delightful. There were mustard and cress sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches, jam sandwiches \u2026 cakes with pink icing, a chocolate cake, a coffee came and two plates of biscuits\u2026\u2019 All that is missing is the lashings of ginger beer.<\/p>\n

The story centres round Colin Keith, a young man who fills in as a master at a public school for one term, his family, the boys and other masters at the school. The central romantic thread, oddly, is not concerned with Colin, with whom the book starts, but the love lives of two other masters as they spend a summer of sports days, parties, picnics, punting and flirting.<\/p>\n

Summer Half<\/em> was first published in 1937 and naturally it is informed by middle-class values of that time. In this respect it\u2019s interesting as a social document as well as an entertainment, and the reader must bear in mind the period. But it still comes as a bit of a shock to read: \u2018\u201cMy father has no black blood,\u201d said Philip, determinedly.\u2019<\/p>\n

The attitude to women, naturally, is of its time, but Thirkell does seem to have a particularly negative attitude to her female characters. Lydia, Colin\u2019s little sister, is a big buffoon of a girl; Kate, her elder sister, loves nothing better than sewing on buttons, or darning socks for men and boys; Mrs Keith is unable to get the point of any conversation \u2013 but Thirkell\u2019s real scorn is reserved for Rose, one of the romantic interests in the novel. Described as a \u2018pink fondant\u2019, at sixteen she\u2019s already on her third fianc\u00e9e, whom she treats shockingly.\u00a0 The only time we are treated to a glimpse inside her head, this is what we are told: \u2018Vague ideas might have floated like thistledown in and out of her so-called mind, but she could have formulated none of them.\u2019<\/p>\n

Having made these observations, some of which stem from a disappointed expectation of discovering another Barbara Pym, I should add that ultimately I enjoyed the book and it grew on me increasingly as I read it.\u00a0 It\u2019s a comical romp, a comedy of manners and romance and middle-class mores, with a very satisfying ending.\u00a0 And I\u2019m ready to try another \u2013 Virago Modern Classics has reissued a series of Thirkell\u2019s novels all in beautiful, evocative thirties inspired jackets.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Lesley Glaister<\/p>\n

The attitude to women, naturally, is of its time, but Thirkell does seem to have a particularly negative attitude to her female characters. Lydia, Colin\u2019s little sister, is a big buffoon of a girl; Kate, her elder sister, loves nothing better than sewing on buttons, or darning socks for men and boys; Mrs Keith is unable to get the point of any conversation \u2013 but Thirkell\u2019s real scorn is reserved for Rose, one of the romantic interests in the novel. Described as a \u2018pink fondant\u2019, at sixteen she\u2019s already on her third fianc\u00e9e, whom she treats shockingly. The only time we are treated to a glimpse inside her head, this is what we are told: \u2018Vague ideas might have floated like thistledown in and out of her so-called mind, but she could have formulated none of them.\u2019 […] in Reviews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-fiction-and-non-fiction","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5122"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5152,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5122\/revisions\/5152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}