amid food shortages and grumbling, barsetshire is unsettled by the arrival of a pretty war widow in this "delicately humorous [and] entertaining" novel (the new york times). world war ii may be over, but its effects linger in the english countryside as the local ladies trade ration coupons for a paltry selection of provisions. it's feeling like a bleak summer--but it won't be a boring one, now that flirtatious young widow peggy arbuthnot and her sister-in-law, effie, are on the scene. peggy has quite a few admirers--including noel merton, which is rather unfortunate for his wife. suspense reigns over who might win peggy's hand--and whether the merton marriage will survive . . . "where trollope would have been content to arouse a chuckle, [thirkell] is constantly provoking us to hilarious laughter. . . . to read her is to get the feeling of knowing barsetshire folk as well as if one had been born and bred in the county." --kirkus reviews