It is a great relief to find Thirkell confessing that the discrepancies of dates and ages in her Barsetshire Chronicles have become so out of hand that she herself is unable to reconcile them. We thought it was us. Margot the fortyish, dutiful daughter of the ailing Admiral and Mrs Phelps is taken in hand by the combined communities of Greshambury and Southbridge. Spearheaded, to the amazement of all, by Rose Fairweather (ne Birkett), the group plans outings and treats ranging from wardrobe items to beauty treatments to Holman's Phospho-Manuro. The last, a gift from Mr Macfayden, a landscape gardener tycoon, followed shortly by a proposal and acceptance of marriage. Old friends reappear: Mrs Morland shedding hairpins; Misses Hampton and Bent shedding ambiguities; and the bickering Vicar Horton and his aunt (whose mere presence 'saps the Admiral's Vitality'). Rose splendidly routs the Hortons' but, not to worry, her immunity to literacy remains firm as she confuses Dickens with his works.