author of more than 30 lighthearted novels about English middle- and upper-class life in Barsetshire dealing with descendants of characters in Anthony Trollope's novels set in the same fictional locale.

The daughter of a classical scholar, Thirkell was also the cousin of Rudyard Kipling. Her novels, usually peopled with genteel, snobbish characters, are noted for their gentle irony, absurdity of tone, and understated sophistication. Some of her better known novels include Coronation Summer (1937), Pomfret Towers (1938), The Brandons (1939), Northbridge Rectory (1941), Growing Up (1943), Headmistress (1945), Miss Bunting (1946), and The Duke's Daughter (1951).