'You read her, laughing, and want to do your best to protect her characters from any reality but their own' New York Times The county of Barsetshire is aflutter with preparations. With the wedding of Lucy Marling and Sam Adams fast approaching, and Lucy's brother Oliver brooding over his ill-fated tendre for glamorous Jessica Dean, Mrs Marling calls for reinforcements. Help arrives in the form of charming writer Isabel Dale, still mourning the loss of her fiancé on D-Day - and in need of her own fresh start. Meanwhile, social barriers are crumbling at Omnium Castle, where theatrical rehearsals are bringing together the newly married Brandons and the impoverished Duke's children, Lady Cora and Lord Silverbridge. The stage is set for a season of new alliances, old friends and second chances. A sparkling and deeply affectionate portrait of post-war England, County Chronicle follows The Old Bank House in Angela Thirkell's beloved Barsetshire series. 'Thirkell's particular gift is for getting to the heart of a character in one clever, wicked sentence . . . delightful studies in an English way of life long gone' Guardian As the wedding of Lucy Marling and Sam Adams approaches, the county of Barsetshire is aflutter. With preparations to make, and Lucy's brother Oliver still moping after glamorous Jessica Dean, Mrs Marling calls for reinforcements. Help arrives in the form of charming writer Isabel Dale, still mourning the loss of her fiancé on D-Day - and in need of her own fresh start. Meanwhile, social barriers are crumbling at Omnium Castle, where theatrical rehearsals are bringing together the newly married Brandons and the Duke's impoverished children, Lady Cora and Lord Silverbridge. The stage is set for a season of new alliances, old friends and second chances. Angela Thirkell (1890-1961) was the eldest daughter of John William Mackail, a Scottish classical scholar and civil servant, and Margaret Burne-Jones. Her relatives included the pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones, Rudyard Kipling and Stanley Baldwin, and her grandfather was J. M. Barrie. She was educated in London and Paris, and began publishing articles and stories in the 1920s. In 1931 she brought out her first book, a memoir entitled Three Houses , and in 1933 her comic novel High Rising - set in the fictional county of Barsetshire, borrowed from Trollope - met with great success. She went on to write nearly thirty Barsetshire novels, as well as several further works of fiction and non-fiction. She was twice married and had four children.