Other editions of book A Window in Thrums

"A Window in Thrums'' is a very curious realistic production, but it cannot rightly be called a novel. It is rather a series of detached pictures taken from the domestic life of a Scotch weaver's family. There is no continuous narrative. The tableaux as they succeed one anotherillustrate the family relations and habits, and individualize the different persons introduced. Odd as are the author's methods, we come to know all his people quite intimately, and take a quick interest in the sayings and doings of these undemonstrative, outwardly hard and cold Scots, whose religious ardor seems strangely contrasted with their habitual stoicism of manner. "A Window in Thrums," however, shows that behind this surface of hardness there is an emotional capacity which may go the lengih of breaking hearts, and that behind the cold crust the warmest family affections may live with a force and persistence beyond natures far more quick to manifest their ephemeral feelings. The dialect in which the story is told is indeed so broad that many readers may find it an embarrassment. Words and expressions are used which seem strange even to those familiar with conventional Scotticisms. But this adds a quaint flavor to the book, and certainly does not interfere seriously with its effectiveness, which is remarkably great.

A Window in Thrums - the story of the "untrue son" - is one of several novels about the fictional village of Thrums, said to be modeled on Barrie's home town of Kirriemuir.Written by J. M. Barrie, the Scottish novelist and dramatist who is best known for inventing the character of Peter Pan. Barrie's first novels were set in Kirriemuir, Scotland, which he referred to as "Thrums" (his father worked as a weaver). His Thrums novels were hugely successful when they were published, including Auld Licht Idylls (1888) and The Little Minister (1891)......... Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM (9 May 1860 – 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland but moved to London, where he wrote a number of successful novels and plays. There he met the Llewelyn Davies boys, who inspired him to write about a baby boy who has magical adventures in Kensington Gardens (included in The Little White Bird), then to write Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, a "fairy play" about an ageless boy and an ordinary girl named Wendy who have adventures in the fantasy setting of Neverland. Although he continued to write successfully, Peter Pan overshadowed his other work, and is credited with popularising the then-uncommon name Wendy.Barrie unofficially adopted the Davies boys following the deaths of their parents. Barrie was made a baronet by George V on 14 June 1913,and a member of the Order of Merit in the 1922 New Year Honours.Before his death, he gave the rights to the Peter Pan works to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, which continues to benefit from them. James Matthew Barrie was born in Kirriemuir, Angus to a conservative Calvinist family. His father David Barrie was a modestly successful weaver. His mother Margaret Ogilvy had assumed her deceased mother's household responsibilities at the age of eight. Barrie was the ninth child of ten (two of whom died before he was born), all of whom were schooled in at least the three Rs in preparation for possible professional careers. When he was 6 years old, Barrie's next-older brother David (his mother's favourite) died two days before his 14th birthday in an ice-skating accident. This left his mother devastated, and Barrie tried to fill David's place in his mother's attentions, even wearing David's clothes and whistling in the manner that he did. One time, Barrie entered her room and heard her say, "Is that you?" "I thought it was the dead boy she was speaking to", wrote Barrie in his biographical account of his mother Margaret Ogilvy (1896), "and I said in a little lonely voice, 'No, it's no' him, it's just me.'" Barrie's mother found comfort in the fact that her dead son would remain a boy forever, never to grow up and leave her.Eventually, Barrie and his mother entertained each other with stories of her brief childhood and books such as Robinson Crusoe, works by fellow Scotsman Walter Scott, and The Pilgrim's Progress.....

This scarce novel is one of several books set in the fictional Scottish village of Thrums and written by Sir James Matthew Barrie. Said to be modelled on Barrie’s own home town, Thrums provides the setting for a tragic novel rich in uncanny details of contemporary Scottish life and interwoven with a sad tale that deeply resonates with the life of the author. A must-read for any collector of Barrie’s work and for those who have read and enjoyed his other books set in Thrums, this haunting novel is sure to be remembered and deserves its place atop any bookshelf. James Matthew Barrie was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best known for his timeless play, Peter Pan. Other notable works by this author include: Licht Idylls (1889) and Little Minister (1891). Originally published in 1889, this rare classic is proudly republished here with an introductory biography of the author.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

A Window in Thrums - the story of the "untrue son" - is one of several novels about the fictional village of Thrums, said to be modeled on Barrie's home town of Kirriemuir. About the Author Barrie was a Scottish playwright and novelist. He is best remembered for his play Peter Pan, a supernatural fantasy about a boy who refused to grow up. The son of a weaver, Barrie studied at the University of Edinburgh. He took up journalism, worked for a Nottingham newspaper, and contributed to various London journals before moving to London in 1885. His early works, Auld Licht Idylls (1889) and A Window in Thrums (1889), contain fictional sketches of Scottish life. The publication of The Little Minister (1891) established his reputation as a novelist. During the next 10 years Barrie continued writing novels, but gradually his interest turned toward the theater From 1930 until his death he was chancellor of the University of Edinburgh.

On the bump of green round which the brae twists, at the top of the brae, and within cry of T'nowhead Farm, still stands a one-storey house, whose whitewashed walls, streaked with the discoloration that rain leaves, look yellow when the snow comes. In the old days the stiff ascent left Thrums behind, and where is now the making of a suburb was only a poor row of dwellings and a manse, with Hendry's cot to watch the brae. The house stood bare, without a shrub, in a garden whose paling did not go all the way round, the potato pit being only kept out of the road, that here sets off southward, by a broken dyke of stones and earth. On each side of the slate-coloured door was a window of knotted glass. Ropes were flung over the thatch to keep the roof on in wind. Into this humble abode I would take any one who cares to accompany me. But you must not come in a contemptuous mood, thinking that the poor are but a stage removed from beasts of burden, as some cruel writers of these days say; nor will I have you turn over with your foot the shabby horse-hair chairs that Leeby kept so speckless, and Hendry weaved for years to buy, and Jess so loved to look upon.

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM (9 May 1860 – 19 June 1937) was a Scottish author and dramatist, the child of a family of small-town weavers, and best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. He was educated in Scotland but moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright. There he met the Llewelyn Davies boys who inspired him to write about a baby boy who has magical adventures in Kensington Gardens (included in The Little White Bird), then to write Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, a "fairy play" about an ageless boy and an ordinary girl named Wendy who have adventures in the fantasy setting of Neverland. Peter Pan quickly overshadowed his previous work, although he continued to write successfully, and it became his best-known work, credited with popularising the name Wendy, which was very uncommon previously.[1] Barrie unofficially adopted the Davies boys following the deaths of their parents. Barrie was made a baronet by George V in 1913, and a member of the Order of Merit in 1922. Before his death, he gave the rights to the Peter Pan works to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, which continues to benefit from them.