Angela Thirkell

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Standard Name: Thirkell, Angela
Birth Name: Angela Margaret Mackail
Pseudonym: Leslie Parker
Married Name: Angela Margaret McInnes
Married Name: Angela Margaret Thirkell
Married Name: Mrs G. L. Thirkell
AT , having already published journalism (some of it literary) and a family memoir, launched her career as a novelist in the 1930s (her own early forties) and continued publishing for nearly thirty years at the rate of a title a year or more. Among her novels the best-known are those of the long Barsetshire series: stories of English village life where characters are effortlessly eccentric, and issues of class, nationality, gender, and sexual preference are presented with a characteristic blend of naiveté, obliquity, and straight-faced humour. She also published a children's book, a historical biography, and introductions to reprints of other authors' novels.
Photograph of a drawing of Angela Thirkell, drawn in black and white. She is depicted from the shoulders up, wearing a simple dress with ruffled sleeves, and her dark hair is pulled back. There is a signature and a date in the bottom right-hand corner. The signature is not clearly visible but the date appears to be 1918.

Connections

Connections Author name Excerpt
Literary responses Susan Tweedsmuir
When ST sent her friend Angela Thirkell a copy of her children's book Arabella Takes Charge, Thirkell nearly cried over an episode about a dead bird.
Strickland, Margot. Angela Thirkell: Portrait of a Lady Novelist. Duckworth.
83
Reception Harriette Wilson
The full title was Confessions of Julia Johnstone, written by herself. In contradiction to the fables of Harriette Wilson. It announces that Johnstone is writing to vindicate her character and those of friends, and...
Literary responses Harriette Wilson
Biographer Frances Wilson writes, Harriette had great hopes for Clara Gazul, but it sank like a stone.
Wilson, Frances. The Courtesan’s Revenge. Faber.
281
Nevertheless, it is surprising that Angela Thirkell , in her biography of HW , pronounces Clara...
Literary responses Harriette Wilson
Contemporary admirers of HW on literary grounds included Walter Scott , who praised her dialogue and intelligence, and thought her out and out
Thirkell, Angela. The Fortunes of Harriette. Hamish Hamilton.
218
a better writer than Teresia Constantia Phillips or others in the...

Timeline

No timeline events available.

Texts

Thirkell, Angela. Trooper to the Southern Cross. Virago, 1985.
Thirkell, Angela. Wild Strawberries. Hamish Hamilton, 1934.