Tales from Thrush Green: Affairs at Thrush Green / At Home in Thrush Green

by Miss Read

Contains "Affairs of Thrush Green", "At Home in Thrush Green" and "Tales from Thrush Green". In the first story, Charles and his wife move to the rectory at Lulling and in the second it is proposed that retirement homes be built on the rectory site. The final section contains short stories.

496 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 1994

About the author

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. In 1940 she married her husband, Douglas, a former headmaster. The couple had a daughter, Jill. 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 of nature and the changing seasons.

Her most direct influence is from Jane Austen, although her work also bears similarities to the social comedies of manners written in the 1920s and 1930s, and in particular the work of Barbara Pym. Miss Read's work has influenced a number of writers in her own turn, including the American writer Jan Karon. The musician Enya has a track on her Watermark album named after the book Miss Clare Remembers, and one on her Shepherd Moons album named after No Holly for Miss Quinn.

In 1996 she retired. In 1998 she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her services to literature. She died 7 April, 2012 in Shefford Woodlands.

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was introduced by a good friend to Miss Read and Tales from Thrush Green. A gentle but I felt beautiful description of village life. This was a perfect book for me and where my headspace was at the time.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This omnibus includes two novels of rural English life written by Miss Read, a former school teacher who began writing after World War ll. They depict life in a quiet village. Since the plot moved so slowly and was more just a series of incidents that happened so long ago, it seemed at least prewar, I had to check when they were actually written. I was surprised to learn these novels were originally published in 1983 and 1985. These novels would appeal to an anglophile, but I found them a little too slow for myself.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Omnibus volume that includes Affairs at Thrush Green and At Home in Thrush Green