Peace Breaks Out

Even drama settles into circumstance, as the denizens of Barsetshire have learned through the private and public worries the Second World War has delivered to the homefront. When peace breaks out, it surprises and unsettles familiar wartime routines, and the residents of Angela Thirkell's fictional world of town and country seem nearly as disconcerted as they are overjoyed. Nevertheless, as the county's eligible young men return home, the social round regains its old momentum. Before long, everyone - especially Anne Fielding, now quite grown up at nineteen - is spinning in a sweet flurry of misunderstandings and engagements.