A Few Fair Days

by Jane Gardam

Recounts the experiences of a little girl growing up in a seaside town in Yorkshire during the years between the two world wars.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Short Stories, Childrens, British Literature

Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Jane Mary Gardam was an English writer of children's and adult fiction and literary critic. She also penned reviews for The Spectator and The Telegraph, and wrote for BBC Radio. She lived in Kent, Wimbledon, and Yorkshire. She won numerous literary awards, including the Whitbread Award twice. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.

Reviews

[Book Concierge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucy is a young girl living in a small, seaside town in Yorkshire, in the years between the wars. She has a best friend, Mary, who joins her on various adventures, though they are sometimes accompanied by Lucy’s little brother, Jake. And she has many aunts to alternately indulge, entertain and scold her.

This is a charming collection of stories about childhood, and reminds this reader of our greatest and most valuable plaything – imagination. I loved how they played pirates, explored the abandoned estate next door (venturing all the way up to the attic, when her mother thought they were only in the garden), or searched the seashore for “treasure.” And my favorite mishap has to be the trip to buy a special cake, which is to be a parting gift for a guest. I laughed aloud at that one!

This was Gardam’s first published work, and I’m so glad that she’s written many more since.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally delightful, full of scones and buns and abandoned estates and maiden aunts and boarders, with plots that are like Elizabeth Enright or LM Montgomery.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

These vignettes of a child's life on the Yorkshore coast were a little too self-consciously opaque for my taste, but they're vivid (that ship on the sands...) and I expect they'll reward rereading. The book's description here on goodreads states that it's set between the wars -- had I not seen that, I would have guessed Edwardian. There's something very late-Victorian about the plethora of maiden aunts (too many to keep straight) and their carefully ordered homes. And there was nothing in any of the descriptions that would have been out of place had the book been set 30 years earlier. The last chapter, with its explicit mention of current events and the coming war was oddly jarring, as though we'd suddenly leapt forward in time.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

The idyllic days of childhood are chronicled in this wonderful collection of nine stories about a young girl growing up on the Yorkshire coast between the two world wars. Whether alone or accompanied by her best friend Mary and her younger brother Jake, Lucy finds adventure, wandering the strand in one memorable tale, playing in the empty house across the way, and moving in and out of her various great-aunts' homes. These great aunts, a benevolent and interesting force in her life, often enter into the story, whether it be world traveling Auntie Kitty, who returns home briefly to reassure Lucy when her mother is in hospital, or Aunt Fanny and Aunt Bea, who take in a most unusual boarder, who turns out to be more interesting than first expected.

Originally published in 1971, and then reprinted in this 1987 edition, A Fair Few Days is the second book I have read from English author Jane Gardam, following upon her A Long Way from Verona , which was published the same year, and which was intended for an older, more young adult audience. Here the focus is on younger childhood, and the result is a delight. The format gives the feeling of a collection of memories, like beads on a string, which are each handled and treasured in turn. There is sophistication here, and much to please the older reader, but the characters' experience of more complex issues is child appropriate. The discussion of Zoraster meeting himself in the garden for instance—a reference to Shelley's poem Prometheus Unbound—was quite interesting, and felt like something that would occur amongst young people, were they exposed to this work of literature and its ideas. I don't know that this was a brilliant book, in the sense of anything standing out to be as a literary or aesthetic exclamation point, but my pleasure in reading it was deep and significant. It's a kind of slice-of-life story (or stories) from a bygone era, and if anything, felt even a little more old-fashioned than its ostensible period (no bad thing for me). Recommended to readers who enjoy vintage children's fare, and stories in the vein of Maud Hart Lovelace.

[Sophie Glazer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely series of exquisite brief stories following little Lucy through a halcyon childhood in some timeless seaside town in north Yorkshire--timeless in the sense that it seems suspended in an indefinite "present" linked only loosely to any specific era. The links are formed largely by the recollections of Lucy's vast collection of aunts and great-aunts, all the way back to a hazily-remembered old lady who, as a child, encountered an elderly sailor who had been present the day Lord Nelson was killed, and remembers him well. Lucy's life flows sweetly, rich with the magic of a freshly-observed world, up until the very last tale, when we are suddenly pinned down to a specific and terrible date, the onset of World War II: soldiers are to be quartered in the little town, and Lucy's childhood is over.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Gardam’s first book (novel? Linked short stories? It’s difficult to categorise), published in 1971, is a beautiful, delicate evocation of her childhood on the North Yorkshire coast and at her grandparents’ farm in Cumberland between the wars. She writes sparingly and with a sharp focus, conjuring up a vanished world as seen through the eyes of a young girl. Small incidents, intimate friendships, local characters and family mysteries are at the heart of A Few Fair Days, but are described with such verve and freshness that they take on an importance beyond their initial appearance. The features that have kept me reading and loving Jane Gardam’s books are all here at the beginning of her career. Mention should also be made of Peggy Fortnum’s (best known as the original illustrator of the Paddington books) exquisite, flowing line drawings which complement the text so effectively.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just loved this book. My thanks to Susan Wester for reminding me of Jane Gardam. This was so clear and true and wonderful, it read like a collection of childhood memories. All the details of those perfectly remembered moments. I completely felt like I was inside the head of a very real girl. A total breath of fresh air! Laughter and poignancy and nostalgia. Truly lifted my spirits.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I particularly liked it that there seem to be no stereotypes in this book. Every person is an individual and it’s interesting to see how each story plays out.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a fan of Jane Gardam since I read her "The Man in the Wooden Hat" and "The Old Filth".

"A Few Fair Days" was her first book and I will say it is my very favorite!

[Sara Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had this book so many years, I forget when I first read it.

It compiles a group of short stories all based on a little girl and her life growing up in a little seaside town surrounded by loving parents, numerous aunts.

A lacksidasical nostalgic feel runs through the book with each story, and it's prefect for a bit of light reading. I pick this book off the shelf possibly once or twice a year just sit relax and enjoy.

It's perfect for all ages, young and old will be enchanted by simple tales of bygone days. The stories are sweet, humorous and in certain ways you feel you can relate some part of yourself to them, even if its honing in on the feeling of being a child again and the innocence which goes hand in hand with childhood.

[Hirondelle (not getting notifications) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally charming short stories in a slightly surreal voice.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I look forward to reading these evocative stories to my grandkids.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Gardam's first published book, a story about a young girl on the coast of England. Great character study and slice of life.

[scarlettraces · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gardam's first book. she was clearly a master of her craft from the beginning. simple and perfect and although technically a children's book, it's really for all ages.