Village School - Miss Read

Today I shall review the first book in Miss Read's "Fairacre" series.




For those of you unfamiliar with this series they are set in the small downland village of Fairacre. The priniciple protagonist is the head mistress of the local village school, Miss Read. They capture a more innocent age and when reading them you really do feel as if you are in the village itself and know the characters themselves.

This first book in the series introduces us to the village itself and the main characters, such as Miss Read's nemesis, the school cleaner, Mrs Pringle - a veritable curmudgeon with a martyr complex. This first book was written in, and thus is set in, the 1950's. You can really soak up the atmosphere of life in a post-war rural setting with this novel, where the great changes that are affecting the wider world are not yet impacting small rural communities, but hover uncomfortably on the periphery...changes which loom closer and closer in succesive books in the series.

This first novel takes us through a full year in the life of Miss Read and the villagers and we see the impact of the weather, and the ebb and flow of the school terms. All in all an excellent start to the series. I HEARTILY recommend these books to all who love our countryside and the village way of life. On the surface they may seem lightweight...but there is hidden depth there and they provide a perfect antedote to modern living.

Until next time.

Herne the Hunter