Cheerfulness Breaks In

Finishing "Cheerfulness Breaks In" brings me close to one-third of the way through Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire novels. In some cases these stories of country life in England before, during and after World War II can be read out of sequence without any real loss. However, that is not the case, in my view, in this one which is basically a continuation of "Summer Half," which centers around life at the Southbridge School.

One of the main characters in that novel is Rose Birkett, daughter of the head master and in my mind one of the most obnoxious characters in English fiction. This novel begins with her wedding, followed mercifully by her departure for South America, appearing only brief thereafter through letters to her parents.

In the last few Thirkell novels that I read, I have noticed a pattern of a series of episodes seemingly without a lot of significance until all the sudden at the end the significance becomes very clear. This novel followed that pattern, but with the significance magnified by the fact that this is the first of her books that takes place after the beginning in World War II. Apparently written in 1940, the time frame of the book appears to cover what has become known as "the phony war." This refers to the period between September of 1939 when England declared war on Germany and the spring of 1940 when the first real fighting broke out. The book ends at the time of Dunkirk with a reference to someone having betrayed the British army - a reference I didn't and don't understand unless it is supposed to mean Neville Chamberlain.

While I wasn't surprised by something significant happening towards the end of the book, I was surprised by the scale and also the abrupt inconclusive ending. Going against my rule of reading series in sequence, I had already read "Northbridge Rectory" which follows this book in the series and also covers a period relatively early in World War II. I thought "Northbridge Rectory" was a really good book about interpersonal relationships, but the war seemed to have little real impact on the story. So while I expected something to happen at the end of "Cheerfulness Breaks In," I assumed the war would still be kept at a distance especially given the period covered. That was not the case, however as two of the main characters marry right before the man is ordered overseas and the book ends with his wife receiving, but not opening a telegram that may have brought terrible news.

Although I have read the next book, I don't recall anything that reveals the outcome of the telegram. I may go back and reread this book both to find out whether the end of the story from the prior book is revealed and also to see if there is anything else of significance that I missed because I read the book out of sequence. One of the few things that has concerned me about Thirkell's novels seemed to be either nothing but happy endings or anything of negative nature being kept "off-stage" as it were. That certainly isn't the case in this book so that I look forward to the remaining World War II books with even more anticipation.