The Headmistress

Gentleman farming is not a profitable business and by the time war had descended on the formerly peaceful village of Harefield, the Beltons were already living on overdrafts to an extent that even they found alarming. Since the London evacuations, Hosiers' Girls' Foundation School had survived through a working relationship with Barchester High School - an arrangement that hardly suited Miss Sparling, the headmistress. She was deeply regretting her decision to live with Miss Pettinger, head of Barchester High, who is making her whole life acutely uncomfortable. Happily, the circumstances of these two groups were about to collide. Within two weeks of hearing that the Beltons wished to let Harefield Park, Miss Sparling had secured a deal. The Beltons moved into the village and Hosiers' moved into Harefield. With great wit and musings on society, Thirkell describes how these delightful characters adapt to their new, rather unexpected circumstances.