Barnaby's Charity

Dame Elizabeth de Blete, the retired civil servant, is known throughout Mallamshire though seldom to her face as meddlesome. Her many friends respect her advice, so when Barnaby's Charity, a row of tumble- down almshouses, runs into trouble it is not surprising that its chairman turns to the Dame for help. She also finds herself involved in the private lives of two other Governors: Lord Mallaby, whose teenage step-daughter runs away from school to emerge in the full regalia of a punk, and Lady Alice Brinscomb. The Brinscombs are an ancient family, now much impoverished; their ancestral manor is sold to foreigners who turn out to be Australian, wealthy and cousins, soon set to supplant Lady Alice's sullen son, Hugh, in the county's younger set. The Dame moves into action, cajoling, pulling strings and talking sense on behalf of her friends and the county she loves. All the rich patchwork of English country life will be enjoyed to the full in this, the latest Mallamshire tale.