Miss Read

Author profile

born

April 22, 1913 in South Norwood(Greater London), The United Kingdom

died

April 07, 2012

gender

female

genre

Literature & Fiction

About this author

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Dora Jessie Saint MBE née Shafe (born 17 April 1913), best known by the pen name Miss Read, was an English novelist, by profession a schoolmistress. Her pseudonym was derived from her mother's maiden name. She began writing for several journals after World War II and worked as a scriptwriter for the BBC.

She wrote a series of novels from 1955 to 1996. Her work centred on two fictional English villages, Fairacre and Thrush Green. The principal character in the Fairacre books, "Miss Read", is an unmarried schoolteacher in a small village school, an acerbic and yet compassionate observer of village life. Miss Read's novels are wry regional social comedies, laced with gentle humour and subtle social commentary. Miss Read is also a keen observer...more

combine editions
Books by Miss Read

Average rating: 4.16 · 6835 ratings · 520 reviews · 74 distinct works

	Village School (Fairacre, #1) 403 avg rating — 509 ratings — 11 editions	My rating:
	Thrush Green (Thrush Green, #1) 401 avg rating — 330 ratings — published 1959 — 10 editions	My rating:
	Village Diary (Chronicles of Fairacre #2) 420 avg rating — 250 ratings — published 1955 — 14 editions	My rating:
	Storm in the Village (Chronicles of Fairacre #3) 413 avg rating — 213 ratings — published 1958 — 10 editions	My rating:
	Winter in Thrush Green (Thrush Green, #2) 422 avg rating — 203 ratings — published 1961 — 10 editions	My rating:
	Gossip from Thrush Green (Thrush Green, #6) 425 avg rating — 183 ratings — published 1981 — 11 editions	My rating:
	Christmas at Fairacre 427 avg rating — 180 ratings — published 1992 — 8 editions	My rating:
	Summer at Fairacre (Chronicles of Fairacre #16) by Miss Read, John S. Goodall (Illustrations) 427 avg rating — 175 ratings — published 1984 — 10 editions	My rating:
	News from Thrush Green (Thrush Green, #3) by Miss Read, John S. Goodall (Illustrator) 421 avg rating — 187 ratings — published 1970 — 12 editions	My rating:
	Friends at Thrush Green 427 avg rating — 158 ratings — 7 editions	My rating:

Series by Miss Read

Fairacre (19 books)
by Miss Read

416 avg rating — 3008 ratings

Thrush Green (13 books)
by Miss Read

418 avg rating — 2004 ratings

Quotes by Miss Read

“Thoughts by a graveside are too dark and deep to be sustained for any length of time. Sooner or later the hurt mind turns to the sun for healing, and this is as it should be, for otherwise, what future could any of us hope for, but madness?”
― Miss Read, Village School

tags: comforting , inspirational

4 people liked it

“How lucky country children are in these natural delights that lie ready to their hand! Every season and every plant offers changing joys. As they meander along the lane that leads to our school all kinds of natural toys present themselves for their diversion. The seedpods of stitchwort hang ready for delightful popping between thumb and finger, and later the bladder campion offers a larger, if less crisp, globe to burst. In the autumn, acorns, beechnuts, and conkers bedizen their path, with all their manifold possibilities of fun. In the summer, there is an assortment of honeys to be sucked from bindweed flowers, held fragile and fragrant to hungry lips, and the tiny funnels of honeysuckle and clover blossoms to taste.”
― Miss Read, Village Diary

tags: biophilia , children , country , countryside , nature , plants , seasons

1 person liked it

Topics Mentioning This Author

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Australian Book Swap: Thrush Green	2	2	26. Januar, 17:21 Uhr
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