The Beltons, a family with two grown sons and one grown daughter, find themselves obliged to rent their house out to a girls' school while they live in a smaller house in town while hoping to recover their fortunes. The point of view shifts back and forth mainly between Mrs. Belton, a sensible, gracious woman trying desperately hard not to be too sentimental about her children as they face dangers inherent to their war work, and Miss Sparling, the headmistress of said girls' school. Style as pleasant as ever and sometimes funny too, though I don't think I met any new favorite characters here. Except for maybe Commander Belton, the oldest son of the family, who deals with his own personal tragedy in a very stiff-upper-lip way, and treats Heather, the schoolgirl with a crush on him, as humanely and compassionately as can be imagined. ( )

We meet Heather Adams here, and Mr. Adams whose word is as good as his bond also erupts upon the stage. The hapless Mrs. Updike, and the good solid Beltons. The headmistress does get her future tied up, fortunately, and we can be happy. ( )

Really delightful! Witty, good characters, engaging. Not sure why the title since the Headmistress is hardly the main character, but a fun read. I will look for more Angela Thirkell. I'm so glad to have finally found her. What took me so long? ( )

This revolves around the Belton family, who have rented out their large house to a girls’ school, and some of their closest neighbours.

It’s Thirkell, so it is amusing and observant about life during wartime, told with a gentleness that is very -- very -- occasionally broken by an unnecessary moment of prejudice. Those moments aside, I enjoyed reading this a lot. I thought it was particularly insightful when it came to a sixteen year old’s (somewhat confused and contrary) fantasies about a young man who rescued her -- she imagines dramatic scenarios which will ensure he always remembers her, which isn’t necessarily more realistic than simply hoping he will fall in love with her, but is certainly less clichéd.

Something else which stood out was its portrayal of navigating the changing relationship between parents and their adult children.

His parents, though they would have died rather than admit it to any outsider, to each other, or even to their secret selves, experienced a peculiar sinking of the heart, or rather of the spirits at this sound [of their younger son]. Not but that either of them would cheerfully have gone to the scaffold for Charles, or given him the best bed, all the butter ration and the most comfortable chair; but they knew from fatal experience that whatever they did would be just wrong. They also knew, though they had never come within miles of discussing the subject, that Charles really had much the same feelings himself; that he always came home full of the best intentions [...] that even as he entered the house all those sincere feelings were overlaid by a nervousness and irritation which caused him to be on the whole selfish, graceless, cross if questioned about himself and resentful if he wasn’t. ( )

Angela Thirkell’s Barsetshire novels imagine Anthony Trollope’s Victorian-era Barsetshire, as it would have been in the early 20th century. They are light, fun chronicles of English country and village life, with considerable humor at the expense of certain English archetypes. The Headmistress is set during World War II, and the Belton family have turned over their large home and extensive grounds to be used as a school for girls. Mr and Mrs Belton have relocated to a smaller home nearby. Their three young adult children, all involved in some form of “war work,” no longer live at home but visit often. Miss Sparling is the eponymous heroine, newly arrived both at the school and in Barsetshire. The plot revolves primarily around the Beltons and Miss Sparling adjusting to their new circumstances. And of course there's romance. These novels always include a number of unattached men and women, and part of the fun for me is speculating on who will pair off with whom. Along the way there are subplots poking fun at the schoolgirls and various villagers. There's not a lot of “action.” The reader has to look past Thirkell’s classism and views that are of their time, but if that can be done these are pure and simple comfort reads. ( )