A Winter Away

by Elizabeth Fair

"My last secretary was thirty-five," old M. said gloomily, "and no more sense than a child of ten. Or else she wasn't all there. You all there?" he asked suddenly, giving Maud a searching look. "No banging your head on the table? No throwing the china at me? Hey?"

Young Maud has made her escape from an overbearing stepmother and come to stay with her cousin Alice and Alice's companion Miss Conway in the countryside. Alice and "Con" have arranged a job for her as secretary to Mr Feniston, an eccentric and intimidating neighbor who seems to have driven his previous secretary to a nervous breakdown.

In between cataloguing Mr Feniston's library, dodging his temper, and encounters, awkward and intriguing in turn, with his son and an alienated nephew, Maud finds herself involved with local eccentricities and dramas, including a "secret" romance which has everyone talking. She may never be the same after this winter away!

Genres: Fiction, Romance, British Literature, Classics, Humor, Historical, Christmas

234 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Elizabeth Mary Fair was born in 1908 in Haigh, Lancashire, a small village not far from Wigan.] Her father was the land agent for the 10th Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, whose family seat, Haigh Hall, was nearby. Elizabeth and her sister were educated by a governess. Her father died in 1934 and the family moved to Hampshire, where they had a small house and a large garden in New Forest.

During World War II Fair served for five years as an ambulance driver in the Civil Defence Corps in Southampton. In 1944 she joined the Red Cross and spent eighteen months in Ceylon, India, and Belgium.[3]

After returning to England in 1947, she moved to Boldre in Hampshire.

Fair wrote six novels of English village life that humorously and gently dissected the "polite social politics" of village denizens while managing to incorporate a romance or two. Reviewers typically compare her work to that of Margery Sharp or Angela Thirkell, with Stevie Smith and other reviewers noting that her work has affinities with Trollope. Of her novel All One Summer, the author wrote that it was meant for people like herself who "prefer not to take life too seriously". Writer Compton Mackenzie said of this novel that it was "in the best tradition of English humour".

Fair's third novel, The Native Heath (1954) was published with a jacket design by Shirley Hughes.

Fair published her last novel in 1960 and died in 1997 (Taken from Author Bio in her books, added in other information from online resources)

Reviews

[Diane Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Besides, it's morally wrong to use bribery, so the least one can do is make the bribe worth taking."

Now that's my kind of dialogue. And this book is full of those kinds of sharp, witty conversations and private thoughts. Twenty year old Maud goes to live with her cousin Alice and her companion, and to work as a secretary to a crotchety old man in the neighborhood. She gets involved in village life, and this novel becomes a comedy of manners and mis-understandings. It's the type of story that Barbara Pym told so well, and reminded me a lot of her writing.

"Perfect light reading with a dash of lemon in it" describes this experience for me, quoted from a review in 1957 in Time and Tide magazine. Elizabeth Fair wrote six of these novels back in the 50's, and this one was offered on Kindle for $2.99, so I took a chance. Now I will get the others, and parcel them out when I need a light read that is absorbing and humorous.

[Hilary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read to half way through, just couldn't get into this. Sounded like the sort of book I would enjoy but reading was a struggle. 2 stars for the first half.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story centres around Maud, who is seen as delicate by her family, though this is likely due to an overbearing stepmother. She moves in with her cousin and takes a job with one of their neighbours.
We meet, through her a cast of rather eccentric characters, and she watches as life happens to the people around her. They fall in love, have, and maintain feuds, and there is lots of quarreling.
An easy, amusing, comfort read about village life.
.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Family feuds, unlikable relatives and a secret romance all go to make a lovely novel which recaptures a time and place which seems so familiar, yet so far away. This 1957 book, now reprinted by the wonderful Furrowed Middlebrow and Dean Street Press, goes some way to introduce a world of high tea and a large house full of challenges. A car accident damages egos, a curate creeps around, and a winter in the country is brought to life by this skilful and clever writer. I was so grateful to receive a copy of this book to read, enjoy and review.
Maud has just arrived in a tiny village to stay with her cousin Alice, whose companion Miss Conway is less than enthusiastic about a new house guest. For Maud it is an answer to her less than happy existence with her stepmother who has tried to get her conveniently married off. She is to be a non resident secretary to Old M, an eccentric man who lives in the local big house, who has some distinctly odd ways which have meant that other secretaries have left. Maud is lacking confidence and has been lonely; she knows that she must make a good impression and some friends in this new life. She soon meets some of the local characters, who include a family who have the most awkward parties which Maud finds incredibly difficult, and the reader will find most entertaining. She encounters Charles and Oliver, and also has some embarrassing experiences. Wilbraham is a daft dog who provides some comic relief, while creating another source of jealousy. My favourite character is Ensie, clergy daughter who swings between her different identities with amazing results. This book has a plot which does not produce many surprises, but it a most enjoyable ride, partly because of the details of food eaten which neatly sum up the various personalities, the distinctive rooms in the various houses which dominate the story, and the outings and trips which show so much about the characters.
I enjoyed this book for its sometimes delicate and sometimes brutal sense of humour. The small actions of the characters sum up the various personalities so neatly, their reactions to situations are always entertaining. Fair has a wonderful writing style which is honest and always true to type; not great leaps of introspection but a charmingly accurate self realisation from Maud and some others as how they appear to others. Even the relatively minor characters, such as Miss Conway, have a back story which is efficiently conveyed as justification for their present actions. The set pieces of parties and picnics, arrivals and departures are full of real life, and contribute to the story hugely; the big house almost becomes a character in its own right. I recommend this book as an enjoyable read for anyone who enjoys a cosy experience with perhaps little drama, but lovely characters and a soothing plot, full of the little incidents and events which made up real life in the 1950s, and are not so very different from today.

[ꕥ Ange_Lives_To_Read ꕥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as a buddy read with Melindam :)

This is the kind of book I always enjoy - a gently humorous skewering of English village life. So I had high hopes for it, and I did enjoy it very much, but it seemed to me to be a case of more potential than actual success. The author developed a very good cast of characters, and a slow-build plot leading up to a gathering of horrible, greedy relatives at a house party. But then it didn't really deliver any payoff. I guess I would have enjoyed it more if it was less gentle and more humorous.

Having said that, this author wrote several novels in a similar vein, and I would definitely read others if I come across them.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delicious and heartwarming, kinda like tea from my favourite Spode teacup, with a side of sharp and very English humour.

Дуже затишне чтиво, для якого кращого тижня цієї зими у Львові годі було й обрати. Ця книжка чекала на мене ще з минулої весни і зізнаюсь, були моменти, коли я думала, що так за неї і не візьмусь. Як добре, що я помилялася. З перших сторінок авторка приємно вразила мене своїм дотепним стилем письма. ЇЇ часто порівнюють з іншими англійськими письменниками-любителями південної Англії і їх ідилічного countryside, аж до самої Джейн Остін. Елізабет авторка 6 романів, події яких розкидані по маленьких селах. По стилю і відчуттях - це щось трошки від комедій манер Джейн Остін, трохи чаювань і прийомів в стилі абатства Даунтон і по часу і сеттінгу як у серіалі Granchester. Тут багато затишних чаювань, легких вечерь, які взимку плавно переходять у high tea, ексцентричних власників маєтків, дивакуватих старих вдів, непорозумінь і упереджень в кращих традиціях історій кохання Джейн Остін. Для мене це були дуже затишні кілька днів в компанії головної героїні Мод, якій 20 і вона працює секретаркою у старого і дуже буркотливого Mr M. Поміж написанням листів його численним родичам і перескладанням книжок у бібліотеці, вона бере активну участь у житті містечка. От тільки Мод здається, що її власне життя дуже далеке від захоплюючого. Але це до появи буркотливого сина і вродливого племінника Mr M

[Beth Bonini · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

At some point after the Second World War, taxes and chronic staff shortages meant that country house dramas became crumbling country house dramas. Although there is still a hint of Empire lurking in the background, this book is set in an England still stuck in its shabby, ‘make-do’ post-war phase. Glaine is the country house at the centre of this story, ruled by ‘old M.’ - who mixes parsimony with a penchant for estate sales - and is in need of a competent and tolerant secretary. Enter Maud Ansdell, age 20.

There is a whiff of Jane Eyre about Maud; by her own self-assessment: ”Maud knew she was small and insignificant, delicate and unlucky. But she had her pride.” When Maud comes to live with her father’s cousin Alice, and Alice’s female companion ‘Con’, she is dismayed by the bedroom she is given: shabby and faded and lacking in creature comforts. The food of the house is vegetarian, featuring lots of eggs, and more wholesome than toothsome. Con, and her puppy Wilbraham - ”a fat smooth-haired fox terrier with sly little piglike eyes” - are not entirely welcoming, and worried about intruders on their patch.

Territoriality is, indeed, a theme in this book. Old M is the undisputed ruler of Glaine for now, but he has two heirs nipping at his heels - his son Oliver, an ‘economist’, and his nephew Charles, a gardener - and a whole host of greedy cousins. There are vendettas, quarrels, grudges and frustrated forbearance (from Oliver, at least) about Old M’s miserly rule over their ancestral home. This territoriality extends to some of Glaine’s tied cottages as well - especially at ‘Pixie Cot’, where Mr. Martin, a retired clergyman who had ‘a difference of opinion with his Bishop’, is domineering father to his daughter Ensie.

Maud, small and insignificant as she is, is soon in the thick of it. She is organising Old M, managing a romance for Ensie, and misunderstanding her own suitor - because, of course, a story which possesses a 20 year old heroine must be in want of a romance. Still, the book has a quirky humour to it and is not without surprises. The author is skilled at dropping predictable narrative breadcrumbs which don’t necessarily have the predictable outcomes.

There is nothing terribly deep or serious about this book, but it’s a charming example of its type - and the perfect ‘cosy’ read for dismal January.

[Юлія Бернацька · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ця книжка так гарно обманула мої очікування, що мені аж стало цікаво, якби я читала Гордість та упередження не знаючи головної любовної лінії, невже я б так само легко повелася на намагання авторки мене заплутати? Бо тут це спрацювало на 100%.

Дуже чарівна книжка з чудовим гумором. Планую ще щось почитати у авторки.
Для любителів Джейн Остін читати обов'язково.

*тикає паличкою українські видавництва* видайте, будь ласка, мені це треба

[Barb in Maryland · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gentle bit of human comedy involving family relationships, with a romancee or two thrown in for good measure. A pleasant way to spend a few hours.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was set in the post-war English countryside. It centers on a 21 year old woman, Maud, who felt the need to get out from under the watchful eye of her stepmother and overbearing aunts. She accepted an invitation to live with a cousin in her sixties and her companion in her forties. This invitation was accepted with the expectation that Maud would work as a personal secretary to a skinflint curmudgeonly elderly man who chased away his previous secretary.

This book was a window into what life was like in postwar England. This book wasn't really heavy on plot but was rather a character study of the various lives Maud interacted with. Both the characters and the situations they found themselves in were slightly comical but nowhere near as funny as a Thirkell novel, contrary to the blurb on the back of the book, which went so far as to assert that Fair was superior to. A light romance was thrown in at the end and, in my opinion, it was neither necessary nor believable. If you're interested in slice of life books that capture a moment in time, you might be interested in picking this one up.

[Sharon Weinschreider · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book of 2024! A Winter Away by Elizabeth Fair is light and funny with plenty of eccentric relatives and neighbors. Set in the English countryside, it has been the perfect way to start the new year. (First published in 1957)

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/4
Charles was so much more charismatic and interesting than Oliver! :(

[Janine Ballard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

This novel came to my attention thanks to a blog post by Liz McCausland, who said, “If you like Angela Thirkell, or the idea of a less ironic, more romantic Barbara Pym appeals–or perhaps a less angsty and romance-focused Betty Neels–this is a book for you.” I don’t believe I’ve read any of the three, but this novel did remind me of other 20th century English romantic novels.

Elizabeth Fair (1908-1997) was, in the words of Wikipedia, “an English writer who was known for humorous novels of English village life.” Wikipedia goes on to say that she “wrote six novels of English village life that humorously and gently dissected the ‘polite social politics’ of village denizens while managing to incorporate a romance or two.” This is a good description of her recently reissued 1957 novel, A Winter Away.

Maud, its heroine, comes to stay with her cousin Alice and Alice’s companion Miss Conway for the winter. Alice has arranged a job for Maud–she’ll be serving as secretary to Mr. Feniston, otherwise known as “old M” at his manor, Glaine.

Old M has not kept Glaine in the best condition, and he is a hoarder of books, which he wants Maud to help him catalog. He can be a bit of a tyrant, and on her first day, Maud is too scared to tell him that she can’t keep up with his dictation, so she ends up writing friendlier letters to his relatives, which he signs.

She soon gets acclimated to working for him, though, and even learns to stand up to him. Maud wants to reunite old M with his estranged nephew, Charles, who may be divorced, something that is still scandalous in this English village in the 1950s.

Then there is Oliver, old M’s son. He and his father can be cantankerous with each other, and when he visits, Maud tries to smooth things over–sometimes with disastrous (yet humorous) results. At first, Maud is also a touch confused about Oliver. Because he works in the field of Economics, Maud holds him responsible for the economizing at Glaine.

Little misunderstandings, tiffs, and a secret courtship drive the storyline–the latter involving Maud’s new friend, Ensie, a clergyman’s daughter.

This was a delightful, charming book about which I have little negative to say. It was published in 1957 and one can tell it was written at a time when the pace of life was slower than it is today. The novel doesn’t have a lot of urgency but it does have a sense of humor and it gently pokes fun at the foibles of human nature.

One scene involving a fender bender had me laughing out loud, as did novel’s denouement. But some of the humor is subtler, with lines such as, “Besides, it’s morally wrong to use bribery…so the least one can do is make the bribe worth taking.” Or “When people said they didn’t want to interfere, they always did, and Cousin Alice was no exception to the rule.”

For a book first published in 1957, A Winter Away isn’t as dated as some. There is only a little provincialism and not much snobbery. One character said to be a foreigner is referred to as “Who’s-it” but that’s the extent of it.

There’s also no sex or mental lusting, and I didn’t miss it, either. It was just a charming novel. I have bought two more books by Elizabeth Fair since this one made for enjoyable, relaxing bedtime reading.

[Abigail Bok · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s the mid-1950s and Maud, age 20, has gone into the countryside on England’s southern coast to take a job as a private secretary to a crusty Mr. Feniston. She is staying as a paying guest with an elderly cousin Alice and the cousin’s companion, Miss Conway. Miss Conway is a jealous sort and sees Maud as a threat to her supremacy in the household, a supremacy she maintains by being too difficult to fight with constantly. Maud is a bit self-conscious and unsure of herself so she tries her best to fit in. It’s the same thing on her job, where Mr. Feniston is often fierce and impatient so she cultivates a meek surface compliance. There are only two other households in the immediate neighborhood and although Maud doesn’t find any congenial people there, she tries to make the most of things by cultivating a friendship of sorts with the mousy daughter of a retired clergyman.

Fortunately for the promise of a story, there are two young men in the picture—Charles Feniston, the nephew of her employer, who doesn’t speak to his uncle but runs a nursery business out of the gardens of his uncle’s estate, and Oliver Feniston, her employer’s son who has a teaching position elsewhere but visits every couple of months. (There’s also a curate for the clergyman’s daughter, who exists in the story mainly to beef up the comedy quotient.)

I’m going into so much detail about the characters because this is the sort of book in which the details are everything. It’s all about disparate lives struggling to find a way to coexist in close proximity, and the tiny social choices we make in each moment that make coexistence either possible or impossible. Maud’s arrival in this small, closed society is like a rock thrown into a pond, and the ripples of the plot flow out from there. I have a particular fondness for this type of story, in which the characters’ personalities drive events and nothing much happens but the little things are everything. Elizabeth Fair does this sort of story particularly well.

Maud makes for an interesting pivot point for the book. She has a tendency to overthink and build a whole scenario of what motivates others out of minimal information, which means she’s often mistaken. Those around her are also excessively reticent about the past histories that have created current relationships, so she’s at an unfair disadvantage in many of her interactions. She puts her foot in it quite a bit and fumbles around, but people seem to accept her goodwill so she does no lasting harm. The reader only knows what she knows, and although we might suspect the truth we have to wait for it to be fully revealed. Technically, this is a beautifully constructed novel; Fair is a self-confident writer who’s happy to make you think she’s writing episodic comedy about trivia till she pulls it all together. It’s lighthearted and shallow only in the way that life can seem to be shallow while it’s defining us. This book is a pretty perfect example of its type.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Winter Away takes us to a small English village, and introduces us to twenty-year-old Maud Ansdell, who has come to stay with her father’s cousin Alice and her companion Miss Conway – generally referred to as Con. The two have been sharing Combe Cottage for years, settling into a well-practised routine, they also have a spoiled dog called Wilbraham. Maud is not very impressed with the room in which she will be staying when she first sees it – but at least staying with Cousin Alice will get Maud away from her overbearing Stepmother.

“ ‘I am small and insignificant’ said Maud ‘but this room is going to make me feel much more so.’
She gazed at herself in the speckled looking glass which hung on the wall. A giant’s wardrobe near the window cut off daylight and the single electric light was behind her at the other end of the room. As well as the wardrobe the room contained a white-painted iron bed, a chest of drawers, a chair and a carpet. The carpet had once been crimson with green and yellow flowers. The wallpaper, as faded as the carpet, had been striped brown and beige, with blue flowers on the beige part. The bedspread had never been anything but cochineal pink.”

Alice and Con keep chickens, and eat a largely vegetarian diet – Con is generally in charge of catering – but her menu is somewhat limited. She knows two-hundred and eighty-three ways of cooking eggs – and in the time, she lives with Alice and Con, Maud probably tries them all. Con, rather resents the presence of Alice’s relative, and longs to rid herself of the nuisance. We can’t help, however be enormously entertained when Con succumbs to a little mishap while out searching for Maud one night. (Maud had been drawn into another little mishap involving a couple of friends).

Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2017/...

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maud, age 20, comes to live with her middle-aged cousin. She also gets a job working as a secretary for a nearby landowner, an older eccentric that everyone calls "Old M." This book is the story of her social navigation through the neighborhood, her introduction to Old M's son Oliver and nephew Charles, and her figuring out how to view everyone in the proper perspective. It's fun reading of the quiet and cozy type.

[Jenn Estepp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am trying to space these Elizabeth Fair e-book re-issues out, but I don't think I'm doing a terrific job of it. They are just so charming and exactly the sort of thing that makes me feel cozy and nice when it's cold and kind of ick, for various reasons. Anyway, this one might be my favorite, but I could just feel that way because it's the one I just finished last night.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet read. I enjoy these simple old fashion stories. No foul language, no sex, no propaganda or ideology being forced on us. Just walking through the life of everyday people and always a happy ending.

[Louise Culmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twenty year old Maud comes to live with her father’s cousin Alice as a paying guest when she takes a job as secretary to eccentric Mr Feniston, who lives in Glaine, a neglected Manor , Maud gets on quite well with the eccentric Mr Feniston, and also meets his nephew Charles, who runs a market garden next to Glaine and is not on speaking terms with his uncle. Cousin Alice’s companion, Miss Conway, seems to rather resent Maud’s presence in the house, and Mr Feniston’s son Oliver, is exasperated by the way his father neglects Glaine, despite being very well off. And there is the vicar’s daughter, Essie, who has a secret yearning for the young clergyman, Don. Maud has an interesting time with all these people, and tries to help with their problems, she is a little like Flora Poste in Cold Comfort Farm, but with less self assurance. This is a very amusing story with some delightful characters.

[Laila · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect escape - light without being vapid. I think in my previous life I lived in a British country village in the 1950’s. I may have found an author to compare favorably with my dearest Barbara Pym!

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, this was charming and fun. It's a little on the fluffy side and could've used a bit more substance in some of the relationship builds, but it's a very warm, feel-good, easy read, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I'm glad I'd already bought this book before irritably deciding to write off the publisher, based on my last experience with their Rediscovered Authors, some of whom could've very well remained lost in the shadows of time. What's funny is that Fair actually describes exactly what my issue was with Carola Oman's writing.

They were not strangers to one another and they all seemed to be exchanging items of local news or discussing local personalities whose names meant nothing to her, so that even if she had been near enough to any of them to join in she would have felt it difficult to do so.

In this case, Fair's main character, Maud, is trapped at a village party where everyone knows each other, and they're all perfectly content to chatter on about meaningless things without bothering to bring any outsiders into the mix. That's how it felt to read Nothing to Report...I tried to engage with the flow of a party I'd only halfheartedly been invited to attend before realizing I didn't want to be there and didn't have to stay. Oman was a terrible hostess who made no attempt to introduce me to anyone else in attendance, and I understandably slipped through the door at the earliest opportunity, before the party had fully disbanded.

Fair, on the other hand, knows how to establish likable (or at least interestingly unique) characters in a way that makes her readers feel welcome and ready to learn everything they can about these people. My main complaint is really that this could have been longer - I wouldn't have minded spending an entire series with the rich cast of characters she'd introduced.

Some of the elements felt a little rushed - Miss Conway's growing dislike of Maud, and Maud's change of heart when it came to Charles (whom I'd really liked!) were both areas that could've used more room to reach solid resolutions, but they worked well enough in context. And I was a bit confused that Oliver was introduced as someone who teaches at a university but, according to Maud, isn't a professor, even though her employer and his father keeps referring to him as such. What is he, then? Does that just mean that at 31, he doesn't have a doctorate?

There are also a fair number of proofreading errors (missing words, incorrect punctuations, etc) sprinkled into this edition, so my dubious view of the publishing house remains a little bit intact. Still, I'm grateful to them for producing a nice edition of Elizabeth Fair's work and allowing me to get drawn into her world.

When I've gone through a bit more of my book collection and have (hopefully) cleared out some room, I'd like to try some of her other five novels. It's interesting that she churned out six within a short period of time, then spent the last forty years of her life apparently never writing another. Is that inspirational or depressing? Sometimes I feel like you can't be considered a writer if you're not always writing, but not everyone leaves their mark in the same way.

I also feel a bit inspired to start deep-cleaning my apartment again, thanks to all that time spent in the cluttered library (filled with too many bargain finds at estate sales) and cobwebby corners of old M.'s big house. Fair is wonderfully descriptive and, like the architect she'd once wished to be, she makes the homes as character-rich as the people who live in them. I could easily see this story translating to the screen and making an absolutely charming, funny, visually appealing romp.

I think Fair deserves more recognition as a witty, engaging, energetic author, and I hope her other books are as fun as this one.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth Fair is a favorite of the Furrowed Middlebrow/Dean Street Press crowd. This is my first by her, and I can see the appeal. It's a gentle, humorous, nuanced, and character-driven tale about a young visitor to a small British community.

Twenty-year-old Maud comes to stay in the countryside with her Cousin Alice and Alice's companion, Miss Conway, and takes on work as a secretary for "Old M," a local curmudgeon. She befriends Old M's son, as well as his estranged nephew, and does some mild meddling. Maud is intelligent and observant...but often her assumptions, based on incomplete information, are mistaken.

The plot is slight, but the character observations are rich. The author has been compared to Angela Thirkell, with whom I am only vaguely familiar, but I can see that it's the same genre. Very enjoyable.

[eghzarw · Rating 4 out of 5]

It could have been even better, if only the author had the patience of allowing the reader to discover things by oneself (the Con subplot especially). Also, the ending felt rushed and somewhat implausible. Still, a sweet and cozy read. Old M. ought to be played by Michael Gambon, who is best at portraying horrid old men in need of redemption.

[Catherine Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely, rural idyll of country life in the mid (20th. I enjoyed it very much. Jane Austen-like. I have already ordered some more by this relatively obscure author from the 1950s. It was never boring, and was a nice escape from modern stresses.

[Marya DeVoto]

Kind of like slightly blander Barbara Pym, but interesting for middlebrow post-war fiction.

[Iffah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gentle read, I liked it.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite so far. I have one more Elizabeth Fair book to read.

[Sarah Nealy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the overall feel of the book, cozy English countryside. However, the story line was flat and boring to me.

[Joy O’Toole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable book about families, relationships, and misunderstandings set in an English village. The perfect comfort read with a cup of tea at your elbow.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A village at odds

Although this is not my favourite of Fair's sextet, it is an enjoyable coming of age novel. It put me mildly in mind of Jane Austen's Emma set in the nineteen fifties. Her characters are quirky rather than likeable, but I enjoyed watching them rub along together. Most village novels create a "happy" family, Fair takes a more pragmatic view of Village life, which to some extent sits at odds with the subject matter, but it has moments of real humour. Enjoyable read, but not one of her best, in my opinion.