Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
The Tale of Oat Cake Crag (The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter #7)
by
Susan Wittig Albert (Goodreads Author)
The latest tale in the "charming" (Publishers Weekly) Beatrix Potter series!
In the Lake District, noisy test flights of the new hydroplane are disrupting life in the village of Near Sawrey. Miss Beatrix Potter can barely hear herself think-which she needs to do for the new case she's just taken up. Her friend Grace Lythecoe has been receiving some anonymous letters, thr...more
In the Lake District, noisy test flights of the new hydroplane are disrupting life in the village of Near Sawrey. Miss Beatrix Potter can barely hear herself think-which she needs to do for the new case she's just taken up. Her friend Grace Lythecoe has been receiving some anonymous letters, thr...more
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published
September 7th 2010
by Berkley Hardcover
(first published July 29th 2010)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
687)
It was twee. It was sweet. Quite cozy. And, perfectly period. One or two devices were tweaking my senses though. I expected Beatrix Potter solving a mystery. Expected lyrical descriptions of the Lakes. Expected it to be oh so veddy British. Got all that. I didn't, although should have , expect speaking and/or mythical animals to be characters. Got it, dealt with it, by the end enjoyed it. Didn't expect jumps from third to second person narratives. Especially when the second person narration wa...more
There is trouble brewing in Near Sawrey. An aeroplane is disturbing the peacefulness of the whole area and the villagers are up in arms. The owner of the hangar where the plane is stored is fouond unconscious on Oat Cake Crag with several broken bones. He is in a coma and unable to say what happened to him. The villagers hope that the plane will be grounded but no such luck. Then, the vicar is engaged to marry but his fiance, Grace Lythecoe, has been receiving anonymous letters warning her to ca...more
Another sweet and delightful book in the Beatrix Potter series. I do love these books and even though some have criticized the intrusion of the narrator in the story or the fact that you have to stretch your imagination to include anthropomorphic animals those are the very reasons this series is so lovely. Susan Wittig Albert seems to have caught not only the spirit of the Beatrix Potter books but, I think, accurately and lovingly seems to have captured her voice as well. You could almost feel t...more
I have been chugging gently through this series for a few years now - I see I read the first one back in February 2006 and the rest at intervals since, getting through both the last two on train journeys up to Scotland. They are light, gentle reads that don't need too much concentration when there is lots of switching trains and hanging around in station cafes in between. The Tale of Oat Cake Crag is the seventh in the series and is essentially more of the same. Real biographical facts about Bea...more
I listened to the audio edition but don't see it here in the choices. The reader of this series adds much to its charm. This one took a bit more time to get into the time and characters, but once I did, I loved being back in the Lake District with Beatrix, the villagers, and animals. I especially like how the author has increased the role of the narrator in telling the story. The details in the lives of the animals that make them so human...their teas, books, and cozy furnishings...are delightfu...more
What could be better than a day spent sitting on the deck reacquainting yourself with Beatrix, Wil, Jeremy, Caroline, Grace, Rascal, and the villagers and animals of Lake District. I love these books and will be sad to see them end. Time, however, does march on both in real life and in the lives of the characters of Albert's Beatrix Potter series.
This particular book of the series deals with love, marriage, fear, misunderstandings, and the coming of WWI. I think what I like best is Albert's abil...more
This particular book of the series deals with love, marriage, fear, misunderstandings, and the coming of WWI. I think what I like best is Albert's abil...more
I've always been a big fan of Mrs. Tiggy- Winkle and so have greatly enjoyed Susan Wittig Albert's Beatrix Potter mysteries. They are cozy "Calgon Take Me Away" reads to a simpler time and a village life where letters were written at leisure with a fountain pen and paper and no blogging was required. I have, however, felt with the last couple of books in the series that the narrator's voice is becoming somewhat more present and this takes me out of the story a bit. I will have to re-read the fir...more
This is the penultimate book in this series, with the final book (The Tale of Castle Cottage) to be published soon. I liked the people part of the book, and the village animal part, but not so much the "wild" animal part. And like the last book, the writer is addressing the reader too often and condescendingly talking about how we must go to another part of the story or how not all the details or stories can be in the book. No thanks. But I'll read the last one to finish out the people stories....more
I love this little series and every time a new book comes out I feel like I'm transported to the world of Beatrix Potter and all her little animal friends. This time a hydroplane has invaded the peace of the quiet village and all the animals and residents are up in arms because their sims way of life is being upturned. There is the usual small mystery involved. This time some guy falls off a cliff, some engaged chick is getting nasty letters, some dragon is trying to find Nessie, and Beatrix's s...more
This is the seventh book in the Beatrix Potter cozy mystery series. Beatrix and the village are dealing with an intrusion from the modern world with the testing of a hydroplane at the local lake. While there are two mysteries within the book (the poison pen letters to Grace, who is about to marry, and the fall of the plane builder from Oat Cake Crag) the primary story is about changing relationships. Beatrix is having to deal with the rumors surrounding her secret engagement to William Heelis, a...more
#7 in the cottage tales of Beatrix Potter series. Beatrix Potter is back in the Lake District for a stay at her farm and becomes involved a series of things: village unhappiness with the noise and disruption from the flight testing of sea plane on the lake; poison pen letters and the mystery of why a villager had fallen from Oat Cake Crag.
This is a delightful series to read with it pervasive tongue-in-cheek narrative sense of humor, the well develop supporting cast of colorful characters (both h...more
This is a delightful series to read with it pervasive tongue-in-cheek narrative sense of humor, the well develop supporting cast of colorful characters (both h...more
Never having read anything by or about Beatrix Potter before, I didn't know what to expect and have no frame of reference. This story is part of a continuing story, so you have to read the whole series - which is off-putting. I'm assuming that many of the things mentioned in the story about Ms. Potter are factual, which made it nicely biographical. I didn't even mind the talking animals and the dragon, being a fan of science fiction/fantasy. But the cutesy-wootsie, coy, snooty attitudes and lang...more
The seventh (and supposedly penultimate) in the delightful "Tales of Beatrix Potter" series. This time around, a new-fangled flying machine is disturbing the tranquility of the Lake District, and a bride-to-be is disturbed after receiving several poisen-pen letters. Meanwhile, Beatrix and Will's secret engagement might not be such a secret after all, and young Jeremy has a secret of his own too. B.
I love the Beatrix Potter mysteries. I have loved all of the history of Beatrix Potter anyway and when Susan Wittig Albert started writing these stories I fell in love with them. I loved the movie, "Miss Potter",so these books were a special find for me.I also love how she always has a special relationship with the animals in her stories. They are heart warming and just make my heart happy to read them.
I am a tough reviewer... that said, this was a sweet mystery series centered around Beatrix Potter. She and the local animals inhabit the charming village and Hill Top Farm. The author has done a lovely job making the animals as important as the human citizens. Even at 2 Stars I recommend this series.(I won't bother listing a book I don't like so if I list it I like it..)
The charm of these books is hampered by the tedious retelling of past storylines and re-introduction to every character. Perhaps this would not bother me as much if I had spread out the reading of these books over a longer time, but as I have read them all over a month or two, it has only become more intrusive to my enjoyment of the book.
I just love this charming series. This book revolves around an actual event, Britain's first hydroplane being tested on Lake Windemere. It's driving the resident humans and animals to distraction. And then there is the mystery of the poison pen letters, and Beatrix attempts to deal with keeping her relationship with Will Heelis a secret in a small village. Thank goodness the local animals are there to save the day.
I've really enjoyed all of the books in this series. Susan Wittig Albert has done a great job researching historical facts for the language, flavor and atmosphere of England in the early 1900's. The receipes are fun to try and I love the way the animals always play an integral part in helping solve the mystery.
That is a good book it seems to me, which is opened with expectation and closed with profit."
— Louisa May Alcott
With each one of the "Tales" I find enjoyment, humor, and commonsense. This is the last in the series but another is expected the end of this year. I also found an interesting recipe.
— Louisa May Alcott
With each one of the "Tales" I find enjoyment, humor, and commonsense. This is the last in the series but another is expected the end of this year. I also found an interesting recipe.
I loved this - a worthy addition to the series. These books are not for everyone, as they are very light on the mystery and very heavy on the cozy and atmosphere. However they manage to squeeze in a great amount of historic detail, not just about Ms. Potter herself, but in this case, the defelopment of flight in England before WWI.
i got through it. i kinda wish this series would hurry up and be done. i want to know what happened, but i don't know if i desire it enough to read too many more of these books. they are a little dry, and the talking animals was cute to begin with, but i find it a tad tedious at this point.
I love this series. This book had a little too much of the author's voice interrupting the narrative, a bit cloying this time. I can harly wait for book 8 for "happily ever after" part I know is coming! The series is a must-read for Beatrix Potter fans.
I really enjoy the books in this series! Beatrix Potter is back, but war is on the horizon. There is also a hydroplane flying over the countryside, which has the community in an uproar. It even includes a cameo by Winston Churchill. Great read.
This is the first I have read of this series. Very light,the style of writing is entertaining. Not sure if I will read more, but if ever looking for just a simple book to read, yes.
Have loved all the books in this delightfully gentle series where animals know more than the people. Renee Zellweger is the perfect Beatrix Potter as portrayed in the movie "Miss Potter" and it is she that I picture when I read these books. Susan Wittig Albert says there will only be one more in the series.
Next time I go to England, I will definitely visit the Lake District and it will have a special meaning.
Next time I go to England, I will definitely visit the Lake District and it will have a special meaning.
Love that dragon. and rascal and tabitha.... can't believe there will only be one more. but they live on my reread shelf. thanks Susan,keep the wonderful stories coming.
Compare this to Scotched and you have a whole different world. This is my first one in this series and I loved it. So inventive and delightful without being smarmy.
I love the Beatrix Potter based stories...this is the 7th in the series. I love the characters that reappear in this book and the reminders of other books. Charming!
I love this series...just cute and enjoyable, moves right along. Love the mix with people and animals. Not a whole lot happens, but problems get put right and the story leaves you with a good feeling.
Some would think too twee. I love Beatrix Potter, however, and the setting. Has some history in it too, of developing hydroplanes before WW1.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Susan is the author/co-author of three mystery series and other books.
WIDOW'S TEARS,#21 in the China Bayles series
THE TALE OF CASTLE COTTAGE, #8 in the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter
THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE CONFEDERATE ROSE, #3 in the Darling Dahlias series, set in the early 1930s in fictional Darling AL
DEATH ON THE LIZARD, the 12th and last (2006) of the Robin Paige series, by Susan and Bill...more
More about Susan Wittig Albert...
WIDOW'S TEARS,#21 in the China Bayles series
THE TALE OF CASTLE COTTAGE, #8 in the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter
THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE CONFEDERATE ROSE, #3 in the Darling Dahlias series, set in the early 1930s in fictional Darling AL
DEATH ON THE LIZARD, the 12th and last (2006) of the Robin Paige series, by Susan and Bill...more
Share This Book
1 trivia question
More quizzes & trivia...
Jun 03, 2011 08:51am