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Cheerfulness Breaks In
Virago Modern Classics (Book 367)
- Author
- Angela Thirkell
- Narrator
- Elaine Claxton
- Publisher
- Little, Brown Book Group
- Publish Date
- 28 May 2026
- Run Time
- 10 hours 28 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
It is summer 1939 and the social event of the year is about to take place: Rose Birkett, a flighty beauty with a penchant for breaking engagements and hearts, is finally getting married, and the whole village - especially her parents - breathes a sigh of relief.
By autumn, however, summer weddings seem a distant memory as war reaches Barsetshire. While the younger generation throws itself into the war effort with cheerful aplomb, older residents remember the last war keenly, and are fearful.
When an entire London school of evacuees arrive, as well as a number of refugees, the village rallies round to accommodate them. Some inhabitants, though, fail to welcome the newcomers with open arms.
First published in 1940, this is a humorous and poignant picture of wartime in a rural community.
Critics Review
-
You read her, laughing, and want to do your best to protect her characters from any reality but their own
New York Times
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The novels are a delight, with touches of E. F. Benson, E. M. Delafield and P. G. Wodehouse
Independent on Sunday
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Charming, very funny indeed. Angela Thirkell is perhaps the most Pym-like of any twentieth-century author, after Pym herself
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Angela Thirkell
- Narrator
- Elaine Claxton
- Duration
- 10 hours 28 minutes
- Release Date
- 28 May 2026
- ISBN
- 9781405568425
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Little, Brown Book Group
- Genre
- Classic fiction: literary and general, Family life fiction / Stories about family, Narrative theme: interior life / psychological fiction
Synopsis
'You read her, laughing, and want to do your best to protect her characters from any reality but their own' New York TimesIt is summer 1939 and the social event of the year is about to take place: Rose Birkett, a flighty beauty with a penchant for breaking engagements and hearts, is finally getting married, and the whole village - especially her parents - breathes a sigh of relief.By autumn, however, summer weddings seem a distant memory as war reaches Barsetshire. While the younger generation throws itself into the war effort with cheerful aplomb, older residents remember the last war keenly, and are fearful. When an entire London school of evacuees arrive, as well as a number of refugees, the village rallies round to accommodate them. Some inhabitants, though, fail to welcome the newcomers with open arms. First published in 1940, this is a humorous and poignant picture of wartime in a rural community.
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