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In the Heart of the Country
Describes the spring of 1941, the coldest for a hundred years, June days as grey as January; a reassuring mid-summer of foxgloves and fishing trips; an autumn of kingfishers and trees heavy with fruit; and the rural isolation of a harsh winter with bushes still laden with berries in December. Bates also recalls the darker moments, of hearing reports from Dunkirk and the August Sunday when a bomber hurtled to the ground.This book, with its depth of thoughtful charm and nostalgia, by the author of The Darling Buds of May, will delight all lovers of the English countryside.
- GenresNature
Audio Cassette
First published January 1, 1942
About the author
H.E. Bates
279 books199 followersHerbert Ernest Bates, CBE is widely recognised as one of the finest short story writers of his generation, with more than 20 story collections published in his lifetime. It should not be overlooked, however, that he also wrote some outstanding novels, starting with The Two Sisters through to A Moment in Time, with such works as Love For Lydia, Fair Stood the Wind for France and The Scarlet Sword earning high praise from the critics. His study of the Modern Short Story is considered one of the best ever written on the subject.
He was born in Rushden, Northamptonshire and was educated at Kettering Grammar School. After leaving school, he was briefly a newspaper reporter and a warehouse clerk, but his heart was always in writing and his dream to be able to make a living by his pen.
Many of his stories depict life in the rural Midlands of England, particularly his native Northamptonshire. Bates was partial to taking long midnight walks around the Northamptonshire countryside - and this often provided the inspiration for his stories. Bates was a great lover of the countryside and its people and this is exemplified in two volumes of essays entitled Through the Woods and Down the River.
In 1931, he married Madge Cox, his sweetheart from the next road in his native Rushden. They moved to the village of Little Chart in Kent and bought an old granary and this together with an acre of garden they converted into a home. It was in this phase of his life that he found the inspiration for the Larkins series of novels -The Darling Buds of May, A Breath of French Air, When the Green Woods Laugh, etc. - and the Uncle Silas tales. Not surprisingly, these highly successful novels inspired television series that were immensely popular.
His collection of stories written while serving in the RAF during World War II, best known by the title The Stories of Flying Officer X, but previously published as Something in the Air (a compilation of his two wartime collections under the pseudonym 'Flying Officer X' and titled The Greatest People in the World and How Sleep the Brave), deserve particular attention. By the end of the war he had achieved the rank of Squadron Leader.
Bates was influenced by Chekhov in particular, and his knowledge of the history of the short story is obvious from the famous study he produced on the subject. He also wrote his autobiography in three volumes (each delightfully illustrated) which were subsequently published in a one-volume Autobiography.
Bates was a keen and knowledgeable gardener and wrote numerous books on flowers. The Granary remained their home for the whole of their married life. After the death of H. E Bates, Madge moved to a bungalow, which had originally been a cow byre, next to the Granary. She died in 2004 at age 95. They raised two sons and two daughters.
primarily from Wikipedia, with additions by Keith Farnsworth
He was born in Rushden, Northamptonshire and was educated at Kettering Grammar School. After leaving school, he was briefly a newspaper reporter and a warehouse clerk, but his heart was always in writing and his dream to be able to make a living by his pen.
Many of his stories depict life in the rural Midlands of England, particularly his native Northamptonshire. Bates was partial to taking long midnight walks around the Northamptonshire countryside - and this often provided the inspiration for his stories. Bates was a great lover of the countryside and its people and this is exemplified in two volumes of essays entitled Through the Woods and Down the River.
In 1931, he married Madge Cox, his sweetheart from the next road in his native Rushden. They moved to the village of Little Chart in Kent and bought an old granary and this together with an acre of garden they converted into a home. It was in this phase of his life that he found the inspiration for the Larkins series of novels -The Darling Buds of May, A Breath of French Air, When the Green Woods Laugh, etc. - and the Uncle Silas tales. Not surprisingly, these highly successful novels inspired television series that were immensely popular.
His collection of stories written while serving in the RAF during World War II, best known by the title The Stories of Flying Officer X, but previously published as Something in the Air (a compilation of his two wartime collections under the pseudonym 'Flying Officer X' and titled The Greatest People in the World and How Sleep the Brave), deserve particular attention. By the end of the war he had achieved the rank of Squadron Leader.
Bates was influenced by Chekhov in particular, and his knowledge of the history of the short story is obvious from the famous study he produced on the subject. He also wrote his autobiography in three volumes (each delightfully illustrated) which were subsequently published in a one-volume Autobiography.
Bates was a keen and knowledgeable gardener and wrote numerous books on flowers. The Granary remained their home for the whole of their married life. After the death of H. E Bates, Madge moved to a bungalow, which had originally been a cow byre, next to the Granary. She died in 2004 at age 95. They raised two sons and two daughters.
primarily from Wikipedia, with additions by Keith Farnsworth
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 18, 2019
Mr Bates is always a pleasure to read, his love and knowledge of the countryside, his clear and wonderful faraway memories stay long after reading.
Recommended
Recommended
February 29, 2024
Bates' lyrical prose and Tunnicliffe's evocative engravings are a perfect match in this delightful book of nature writing. This tribute to the countryside is made doubly poignant by the shadow of war - it was first published in 1942, when no one knew how the war was going to end.
I'm not a huge fan of Bates' fictional writing, but I loved this book - although I could have done without his juvenile obsession with breasts (Rose 'Gloire de Dijon' is "like a creamy elegant bosom", the cores of raspberries are "bare white nipples", and asters flower in "bosomy whites" etc, etc.) Also slightly miffed by his rudeness about Wales, which he claims is one of those places which create "an instantaneous impression of unhappiness and gloom...You are no sooner in them than you long, with misery, to be out of them. They sour the spirit." (What a 'diflas' individual!)
But apart from these niggles, I enjoyed the rest of the book. His writing is, for the most part, beautiful, but he also has some nice touches of humour, such as when he describes English people being "slightly incredulous at every appearance of the sun." Recommended to anyone who enjoys reading about nature and the English countryside.
I'm not a huge fan of Bates' fictional writing, but I loved this book - although I could have done without his juvenile obsession with breasts (Rose 'Gloire de Dijon' is "like a creamy elegant bosom", the cores of raspberries are "bare white nipples", and asters flower in "bosomy whites" etc, etc.) Also slightly miffed by his rudeness about Wales, which he claims is one of those places which create "an instantaneous impression of unhappiness and gloom...You are no sooner in them than you long, with misery, to be out of them. They sour the spirit." (What a 'diflas' individual!)
But apart from these niggles, I enjoyed the rest of the book. His writing is, for the most part, beautiful, but he also has some nice touches of humour, such as when he describes English people being "slightly incredulous at every appearance of the sun." Recommended to anyone who enjoys reading about nature and the English countryside.
February 10, 2019
Beautifully written observations of the English countryside, many of which are timeless. The Second World War occasionally appears in Bates’s descriptions of the seasons but the author always emphasises that nature seems untroubled by human turmoil:
“A cataclysm shakes the world and yet the world goes on.”
“A cataclysm shakes the world and yet the world goes on.”
July 3, 2024
A gifted writer/naturalist's collection of essays about the garden spot of England- Kent and vicinity. The Battle of Britain, fought in the air above, is acknowledged but doesn't diminish Bates's love of the countryside and every minor detail of nature. Such a strange time in England that is covered in a beautiful way.
April 13, 2019
Beautiful nature writing with some wonderful descriptions of the English countryside, made all the more poignant given it was written amidst the uncertainty and fear of World War 2.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews