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A Horseman Riding By #1
Long Summer Day
Paul Craddock is still young when he is invalided out of the army after the Boer War and he discovers the neglected estate of Shallowford in a secluded corner of Devon. It seems remote from the march of progress. But as storm clouds gather over Europe, Paul learns that no part of England, however remote, can escape the challenge of the times.
576 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
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1646 people want to read
About the author
R.F. Delderfield
89 books196 followersRonald Frederick Delderfield was a popular English novelist and dramatist, many of whose works have been adapted for television and are still widely read.
Several of Delderfield's historical novels and series involve young men who return from war and lead lives in England that allow the author to portray the sweep of English history and delve deeply into social history from the Edwardian era to the early 1960s.
From Wikipedia
Several of Delderfield's historical novels and series involve young men who return from war and lead lives in England that allow the author to portray the sweep of English history and delve deeply into social history from the Edwardian era to the early 1960s.
From Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews
March 5, 2015
Oooh I really loved this. *hugs book close* It's going on my favorites shelf for sure.
Simply put, a young man, Paul Craddock, is invalided out of the Boer war, inherits some money and purchases a large estate in Devonshire, 'playing squire' to the laboring families in the valley.
If you think that sounds dry, it's not. Once the characters are all introduced (which takes some time so consider yourself forewarned) the story gallops along without a lull. Aside from very absorbing family melodrama, there is madness, a grisly murder with a hay knife, a shipwreck, poaching gone wrong, suffragist action and romances aplenty.
Time covered is roughly twenty years and the characters are varied and three dimentional. I feel like I know them so personally that if I was to travel to Shallowford now, a hundred years later, there would be no "empty chairs at empty tables" but the fields would be alive, ringing with scythes and familiar laughter, the villagers I know putting down their burdens to wave or lend a hand.
Yes, I would be very sad to leave these folks but there's no need for tears yet as I've got two more books in the series to read :)
On to POST OF HONOR!
CONTENT:
SEX: A number of non-explicit, but frank encounters, mostly behind closed doors.
VIOLENCE: One murder, a few knock outs, suffragest violence.
PROFANITY: Mild, mostly Ds
PARANORMAL ELEMENTS: One character of gypsy background reads cards to herself
MY RATING: PG-13
RECOMMENDED READING AUDIENCE: Adult
Simply put, a young man, Paul Craddock, is invalided out of the Boer war, inherits some money and purchases a large estate in Devonshire, 'playing squire' to the laboring families in the valley.
If you think that sounds dry, it's not. Once the characters are all introduced (which takes some time so consider yourself forewarned) the story gallops along without a lull. Aside from very absorbing family melodrama, there is madness, a grisly murder with a hay knife, a shipwreck, poaching gone wrong, suffragist action and romances aplenty.
Time covered is roughly twenty years and the characters are varied and three dimentional. I feel like I know them so personally that if I was to travel to Shallowford now, a hundred years later, there would be no "empty chairs at empty tables" but the fields would be alive, ringing with scythes and familiar laughter, the villagers I know putting down their burdens to wave or lend a hand.
Yes, I would be very sad to leave these folks but there's no need for tears yet as I've got two more books in the series to read :)
On to POST OF HONOR!
CONTENT:
SEX: A number of non-explicit, but frank encounters, mostly behind closed doors.
VIOLENCE: One murder, a few knock outs, suffragest violence.
PROFANITY: Mild, mostly Ds
PARANORMAL ELEMENTS: One character of gypsy background reads cards to herself
MY RATING: PG-13
RECOMMENDED READING AUDIENCE: Adult
June 25, 2015
1966: A Horseman Riding By (published in the USA as two novels, Long Summer Day and Post of Honor)
Description: Paul Craddock is still young when he is invalided out of the army after the Boer War and he discovers the neglected estate of Shallowford in a secluded corner of Devon. It seems remote from the march of progress. But as storm clouds gather over Europe, Paul learns that no part of England, however remote, can escape the challenge of the times.
Opening: He left the carriage, ascended the short flight of steps and walked briskly past the dozing porter sitting in the deep shade of the portico; a small neat man, in dark, well-cut city clothes and glossy topper.
It's mid-summer, hailstones ricocheting around, so what better time to crack this open...
Total reboot summer 2015 and am pleased to say it was worth the effort of getting through the front-loaded introductions. This turned into an enjoyable sweeping saga and I look forward to the next episode, 'Post of Honour'.
TR God Is an Englishman (Swann Saga, #1)
3* To Serve Them All My Days
3* Diana
3.5* Long Summer Day
TR Post of Honour
TR The Green Gauntlet
Description: Paul Craddock is still young when he is invalided out of the army after the Boer War and he discovers the neglected estate of Shallowford in a secluded corner of Devon. It seems remote from the march of progress. But as storm clouds gather over Europe, Paul learns that no part of England, however remote, can escape the challenge of the times.
Opening: He left the carriage, ascended the short flight of steps and walked briskly past the dozing porter sitting in the deep shade of the portico; a small neat man, in dark, well-cut city clothes and glossy topper.
It's mid-summer, hailstones ricocheting around, so what better time to crack this open...Total reboot summer 2015 and am pleased to say it was worth the effort of getting through the front-loaded introductions. This turned into an enjoyable sweeping saga and I look forward to the next episode, 'Post of Honour'.
TR God Is an Englishman (Swann Saga, #1)
3* To Serve Them All My Days
3* Diana
3.5* Long Summer Day
TR Post of Honour
TR The Green Gauntlet
December 15, 2022
This is a book more about a time and a place than its characters. The setting is primarily rural Devonshire of southwestern England and the Victorian and Edwardian age. Some readers are sure to raise their voices in protest, saying that there IS a focus on characters too. I agree but only halfheartedly. The book is at it ‘s best when the focus zooms in on a character or two, but there are so many characters and eventually it becomes hard to keep them all straight. This is why I claim the focus is more on a group of people, a place and an era rather than separate individuals per se. Do you understand the difference? Have I made myself clear?
How the book concludes is a good example of that which I have just explained. The story ends with a party celebration at which new characters are introduced. The story is to go on. The number of characters will both widen and change. There are characters that tie story together, but to these many, many more are added. Eventually there occurs a gradual shift to a focus on to newly introduced characters.
There is a focus upon the suffragette movement, feminism and strong women in general. We hear a lot about Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928), the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), their hunger strike protests and imprisonments.
There is a focus upon love of the countryside too. This aspect of the story I strongly related to! Paul Craddock, returning home injured after the Boer War, is one central character. He settles himself in Devonshire and takes a child under his wing. I grew particularly fond of this boy and of the Devon countryside! The people of the estate Craddock has purchased share in the trials and tribulations of each other’s lives.
Ulla Malmström reads the books of this series translated into Swedish. Her narration is pretty good. It is at times difficult to distinguish the names but usually you can guess who she means IFyou can remember who the character is. There is an abundance of characters! I have given the narration three stars.
To be fair, the author does a pretty good job of reminding readers who is who in the story, even if I do think there are just too many people. I am not gung ho to read the next in the series. This prevents me from giving the book a higher rating. Eventually, I guess I will return to the second. I would appreciate hearing how the later books compare to the first. Fellow readers, please help me out here!
*****************************
A Horseman Riding Series
*Long Summer Day 3 stars
*Post of Honor TBR
*The Green Gauntlet TBR
How the book concludes is a good example of that which I have just explained. The story ends with a party celebration at which new characters are introduced. The story is to go on. The number of characters will both widen and change. There are characters that tie story together, but to these many, many more are added. Eventually there occurs a gradual shift to a focus on to newly introduced characters.
There is a focus upon the suffragette movement, feminism and strong women in general. We hear a lot about Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928), the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), their hunger strike protests and imprisonments.
There is a focus upon love of the countryside too. This aspect of the story I strongly related to! Paul Craddock, returning home injured after the Boer War, is one central character. He settles himself in Devonshire and takes a child under his wing. I grew particularly fond of this boy and of the Devon countryside! The people of the estate Craddock has purchased share in the trials and tribulations of each other’s lives.
Ulla Malmström reads the books of this series translated into Swedish. Her narration is pretty good. It is at times difficult to distinguish the names but usually you can guess who she means IFyou can remember who the character is. There is an abundance of characters! I have given the narration three stars.
To be fair, the author does a pretty good job of reminding readers who is who in the story, even if I do think there are just too many people. I am not gung ho to read the next in the series. This prevents me from giving the book a higher rating. Eventually, I guess I will return to the second. I would appreciate hearing how the later books compare to the first. Fellow readers, please help me out here!
*****************************
A Horseman Riding Series
*Long Summer Day 3 stars
*Post of Honor TBR
*The Green Gauntlet TBR
July 25, 2022
Paul Craddock has come home from the Boer War having been shot through the knee. He endured more than one operation. Medicine of today would have had this injury treated and Paul sent on his way. In 1901 his recovery was often iffy - and he knew it. The reader, of course, knows he makes it - the book is 600 or so pages long and we can't have the hero dying in the first chapter. Recovery left Paul with an optimistic outlook on life and he intended to make the most of his opportunity. It didn't hurt that while he was in hospital, his father died, leaving him nearly £30,000 pounds.
Early on I recognized this as my definition of a comfort read. It has good writing and decent characterizations. There are no unusually tense moments. It is not a family saga in the usual sense, but the setting lends itself to that sort of feeling. Paul used his unexpected wealth to purchase an estate in Devon. He respected his tenants and they returned their absolute loyalty. No book that runs without a bit of conflict could be truly interesting and so there are bumps in the road for Squire Paul.
This is the first in a trilogy. I hope to find a place for the next two installments before too much time passes. I'm not the only one to give this 5-stars.
Early on I recognized this as my definition of a comfort read. It has good writing and decent characterizations. There are no unusually tense moments. It is not a family saga in the usual sense, but the setting lends itself to that sort of feeling. Paul used his unexpected wealth to purchase an estate in Devon. He respected his tenants and they returned their absolute loyalty. No book that runs without a bit of conflict could be truly interesting and so there are bumps in the road for Squire Paul.
This is the first in a trilogy. I hope to find a place for the next two installments before too much time passes. I'm not the only one to give this 5-stars.
September 8, 2014
Reading this novel is like stepping into the setting's thirteen-hundred-acre estate in a neglected and antiquated corner of England in the early 1900s. The time is that following the death of Queen Victoria, when cars were beginning to rule the roads and radical women were fighting for the right to vote. Young Lieutenant Paul Craddock had been injured in the Boer War and instead of continuing with civilian life in London, he idealizes a gentler time during Victorian England. His love for two women and the people of Shallowford stretch and change him. The story is rich with a large cast of characters and lush descriptions of their lives.
This novel was originally published around 1966. The author, R. F. Delderfield (1912–1972), achieved fame as a novelist for his portrayal of English life. With this novel, he became one of Britain’s most popular authors, and his novels have been adapted as TV series.
October 23, 2015
A very long but very interesting historical novel, set around a small Devonshire valley with its squire and farms in the beginning of the 20th century. The political situation of the era is described in detail too, with all its upheavals and the tremendous suffering of the Suffragettes. I look forward to reading the sequel.
April 11, 2022
Delderfield is such an amazing storyteller that 822 pages simply flies by! He is actually the closest author to Rosamunde Pilcher I’ve found. The scope of the stories are huge with lots of characters and it’s all so compelling and readable.
July 29, 2016
This is one that truly turned around for me. It started so slowly as I was not well connected with any of the many characters and the descriptions of the English countryside, although beautifully written, interrupted the flow of the book for me. However, as I read more deeply into the story, all of those feelings fell away. I was transported back to the turn of the century English countryside where a unlikely candidate to buy a vast country holding with many tenants did so and the new squire becomes solidly entrenched in his new position taking to the land as if he has grown up as heir and successor. Those who come into and out of his life and his work there add so much and together they make the story seem so real as England struggles with modernization, new technologies, the suffragette movement and the rise of German militarism. A really good HF story and I will definitely continue on with the other two of the trilogy.
February 4, 2015
From the Boar War to the coronation of George V - one man's tale of recovery and rich life touching many. Quite a bit of sentimentality here but I didn't mind it. The Suffragette thread interested me the most. On to POST OF HONOR, book two in A Horseman Riding By.
October 29, 2014
My ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Open Road Media - much thanks!
May 26, 2015
A very interesting historical novel, with several themes. I really liked the suffragettes theme. Some long descriptive passages kept me from giving it 5 stars. An excellent read.
June 12, 2025
Badly injured in the Boer War, Paul Craddock has been shipped back to England where, against all odds, he recovers. While recuperating, he learns his father has died, leaving Paul a wealthy man. The wealth comes from the scrap business, where his father was in partnership with the man who is now Paul’s guardian, Franz Zorndorff. Paul visits the scrapyard and decides he wants nothing to do with it. (That’s the danger of educating your sons, people – they may come to look down on you. They’ll still keep your money though!) Instead Paul wants to buy a rural estate, but since he knows nothing about farming life, he suggests to his guardian that first he should buy a farm and learn how to run it. Zorndorff pooh-poohs this idea and persuades Paul to buy a large estate that has recently come on the market down in Devon, where he will become landlord to various tenant farmers. This book, the first in a trilogy, tells of Paul’s first few years on the estate, from 1902 to 1911.
Family sagas really aren’t my thing so it’s probably not surprising that I was underwhelmed by this. It’s one of these long books without a significant plot – simply a description of Paul’s life interspersed by occasional incidents that happen either to him or to one of his tenants. Despite the setting, there is actually remarkably little about farming in it, which seems like an odd omission. Instead the incidents usually involve love affairs or family feuds, occasionally natural disasters like storms and shipwrecks, the obligatory woman-nearly-dies-in-childbirth scene and Paul’s own love triangle between the woman everyone knows he should fall in love with and marry and the woman he actually does fall in love with and marry, though what he found attractive about her is beyond comprehension.
Along the way, Delderfield touches on a couple of the political issues of the day, specifically the massive Liberal victory in the 1906 general election and the suffragette movement. I use the words ‘touches on’ quite deliberately, though – both subjects are approached with extreme superficiality and I doubt would explain much about either to someone who didn’t know about them already. What the book does tell us, though, is that women are either lovely, selfless, domestic angels who only want to make a home for their husbands and have lots of children, or selfish, unmaternal aberrations who coldly make decisions about their own lives and even dare to try to effect social change. Had those attitudes been written at the time the book was set I could have forgiven them (more or less), but the book was actually published in 1965, perhaps explaining why the Women’s Lib Movement started up a couple of years later. One could speculate that perhaps Delderfield didn’t hold those views himself but was only reflecting the attitudes of the time. But the fact that the suffragette is the boo-hiss baddie while the homemaking maternal type is the true heroine suggests to me that he wasn’t a secret feminist. Naturally the suffragette abandons her child even though, as we all know, only men are allowed to abandon children with society’s approval.
What saved the book to a degree are the various incidents that take us away for a while from Paul’s tedious, self-centred existence, like the poacher who accidentally hurts a gamekeeper and his subsequent trial, or the rescue after a shipwreck. These are well told and considerably more fast-paced than the bulk of the book. They also meant I stuck with it through all 700 pages, though to be honest when I reached the end I wasn’t convinced it had been worth the effort.
So I won’t be reading the other two volumes, but in fairness I’ll repeat that this isn’t really my kind of book, so people who do enjoy family sagas shouldn’t be put off by my negativity. It has very high ratings on Goodreads. 2½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Family sagas really aren’t my thing so it’s probably not surprising that I was underwhelmed by this. It’s one of these long books without a significant plot – simply a description of Paul’s life interspersed by occasional incidents that happen either to him or to one of his tenants. Despite the setting, there is actually remarkably little about farming in it, which seems like an odd omission. Instead the incidents usually involve love affairs or family feuds, occasionally natural disasters like storms and shipwrecks, the obligatory woman-nearly-dies-in-childbirth scene and Paul’s own love triangle between the woman everyone knows he should fall in love with and marry and the woman he actually does fall in love with and marry, though what he found attractive about her is beyond comprehension.
Along the way, Delderfield touches on a couple of the political issues of the day, specifically the massive Liberal victory in the 1906 general election and the suffragette movement. I use the words ‘touches on’ quite deliberately, though – both subjects are approached with extreme superficiality and I doubt would explain much about either to someone who didn’t know about them already. What the book does tell us, though, is that women are either lovely, selfless, domestic angels who only want to make a home for their husbands and have lots of children, or selfish, unmaternal aberrations who coldly make decisions about their own lives and even dare to try to effect social change. Had those attitudes been written at the time the book was set I could have forgiven them (more or less), but the book was actually published in 1965, perhaps explaining why the Women’s Lib Movement started up a couple of years later. One could speculate that perhaps Delderfield didn’t hold those views himself but was only reflecting the attitudes of the time. But the fact that the suffragette is the boo-hiss baddie while the homemaking maternal type is the true heroine suggests to me that he wasn’t a secret feminist. Naturally the suffragette abandons her child even though, as we all know, only men are allowed to abandon children with society’s approval.
What saved the book to a degree are the various incidents that take us away for a while from Paul’s tedious, self-centred existence, like the poacher who accidentally hurts a gamekeeper and his subsequent trial, or the rescue after a shipwreck. These are well told and considerably more fast-paced than the bulk of the book. They also meant I stuck with it through all 700 pages, though to be honest when I reached the end I wasn’t convinced it had been worth the effort.
So I won’t be reading the other two volumes, but in fairness I’ll repeat that this isn’t really my kind of book, so people who do enjoy family sagas shouldn’t be put off by my negativity. It has very high ratings on Goodreads. 2½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
January 11, 2019
A lovely gentle read about Edwardian country life, just before WW1. It takes a while to get to know so many characters, but well worth persisting. It's useful to have the Family Tress at the start of the book!
There is quite a bit of descriptions of the countryside, but I think it helps you get a feel for the way of life.
The Suffragette Movement is also dealt with and showed both sides - some of the countrywomen had no time for it!
There is quite a bit of descriptions of the countryside, but I think it helps you get a feel for the way of life.
The Suffragette Movement is also dealt with and showed both sides - some of the countrywomen had no time for it!
August 30, 2012
I've read a few Delderfield works at this point in life. To Serve Them All My Days, the God is an Englishman trilogy, Napoleon's Marshalls. But it has been a few years.
I don't remember if those works had two annoying things I found in this work that I wish to mention and then move on. Long Paragraphs, sometimes 3 pages long. This is hard on the eyes. And something the writer can't address any longer. The other was that a paragraph would start with dialogue from one speaker and end with dialogue from another. Please, break up the dialogue with paragraphs. (Perhaps if ever released again an editor would do their job and edit the work.)
Now to the meat of it. The story is good. The character development is good though sometimes a little to pat. We need a character as a plot device and so we have that trait emerge. We see the world of Pre Great War England and the skirmishing of Tory (Conservative) and Unionist (Labour)
We see the treatment of Suffragettes. The change of Motor and Phone beginning just as we saw Trains in God is an Englishman. Sometimes we spend unnecessary pages having the same rundown of what is happening to many characters in the book that we had a chapter before. Delderfield uses devices such as a gull flying in search of food all throughout the valley so we can see what each character is up to every few years and realize that we have read that a few dozen pages before.
So why read this book. One would think it is dated in the 21st century, but it addresses a time a century ago, and one that the writer is familiar enough with to give us a good insight into. One that has things we should take a peak at.
It is a historical, and certainly in some of the characterizations we see an older, male hand trying to write the mind of a teenager, which does not work (Delderfields worldly wise Grace is too worldly wise and her adult assumptions should be changed for simpler emotional and youthful ones IMO.) But as mentioned, worth a read, and perhaps one day worth a reread immediately following a reread of God is an Englishman.
I don't remember if those works had two annoying things I found in this work that I wish to mention and then move on. Long Paragraphs, sometimes 3 pages long. This is hard on the eyes. And something the writer can't address any longer. The other was that a paragraph would start with dialogue from one speaker and end with dialogue from another. Please, break up the dialogue with paragraphs. (Perhaps if ever released again an editor would do their job and edit the work.)
Now to the meat of it. The story is good. The character development is good though sometimes a little to pat. We need a character as a plot device and so we have that trait emerge. We see the world of Pre Great War England and the skirmishing of Tory (Conservative) and Unionist (Labour)
We see the treatment of Suffragettes. The change of Motor and Phone beginning just as we saw Trains in God is an Englishman. Sometimes we spend unnecessary pages having the same rundown of what is happening to many characters in the book that we had a chapter before. Delderfield uses devices such as a gull flying in search of food all throughout the valley so we can see what each character is up to every few years and realize that we have read that a few dozen pages before.
So why read this book. One would think it is dated in the 21st century, but it addresses a time a century ago, and one that the writer is familiar enough with to give us a good insight into. One that has things we should take a peak at.
It is a historical, and certainly in some of the characterizations we see an older, male hand trying to write the mind of a teenager, which does not work (Delderfields worldly wise Grace is too worldly wise and her adult assumptions should be changed for simpler emotional and youthful ones IMO.) But as mentioned, worth a read, and perhaps one day worth a reread immediately following a reread of God is an Englishman.
July 29, 2014
I was immediately attracted to the cover of this book. Not initially realizing that this is a re-release of a 1972 novel, I quickly scooped it up (courtesy of NetGalley). Long Summer Day is the first installment in the Horseman Riding By trilogy by RF Delderfield. I have not read any of his other novels, so I cannot make a comparison.
This novel covers an interesting period of history, beginning with main character Paul Craddock arriving home from the Boar War. He is seriously injured and not expected to live until his benefactor, Franz Zorndorff, shows up. He blows in like a storm, paying for the very best care for young Paul and informing him of his recent inheritance.
The reader is frequently reminded that Paul would be more comfortable in an earlier century than the modern and innovative Edwardian era. Rather than take up the work his father left behind, Paul is determined to invest in a large estate of farms and horses. Along the way, he must choose between two very different lady loves.
Delderfield creates a large cast of well developed characters in this novel, though some do seem to have ideas and abilities beyond their years. The life of those on a large farming estate is described down to the most minute detail, with wonder expressed over the regions introduction to a horseless carriage and debates over women's suffrage.
My first issue with this book was sloppy conventions in the form of thoughts in quotation marks and dialog between two people not separated into paragraphs. This made it unclear at times whether someone was thinking something or actually saying it...or who was saying it. This was not an insurmountable problem, but nothing could improve the drudgery of getting through this books long stretches of inactivity. If you are interested in everyday life in the first decade of the 1900s, you will love this book. I found myself skimming.
This novel covers an interesting period of history, beginning with main character Paul Craddock arriving home from the Boar War. He is seriously injured and not expected to live until his benefactor, Franz Zorndorff, shows up. He blows in like a storm, paying for the very best care for young Paul and informing him of his recent inheritance.
The reader is frequently reminded that Paul would be more comfortable in an earlier century than the modern and innovative Edwardian era. Rather than take up the work his father left behind, Paul is determined to invest in a large estate of farms and horses. Along the way, he must choose between two very different lady loves.
Delderfield creates a large cast of well developed characters in this novel, though some do seem to have ideas and abilities beyond their years. The life of those on a large farming estate is described down to the most minute detail, with wonder expressed over the regions introduction to a horseless carriage and debates over women's suffrage.
My first issue with this book was sloppy conventions in the form of thoughts in quotation marks and dialog between two people not separated into paragraphs. This made it unclear at times whether someone was thinking something or actually saying it...or who was saying it. This was not an insurmountable problem, but nothing could improve the drudgery of getting through this books long stretches of inactivity. If you are interested in everyday life in the first decade of the 1900s, you will love this book. I found myself skimming.
December 24, 2017
This was a wonderful examination of Edwardian England, with the majority of the story taking place in Shallowford, a rural valley in Devon, but with the forces from the Suffragette Movement and the looming war with Germany impacting even this protected valley.
The story centres around Paul Craddock, a city-bred Lieutenant invalided out of the Boer War with a near fatal injury, who takes his inheritance from a scrap metal yard and buys a thirteen-hundred-acre estate in rural Devon that has been allowed to run down and become rather derelict. As the new squire, he knows nothing of farming, but through hard work, and the generous application of cash where (long) needed, turns around both the estate and the lives of his tenant farmers.
While the principal story revolves around rural England, Craddock and Shallowford aren't divorced from the forces shaping England and the world in the Edwardian Era. It essentially starts with the coronation of Edward VII (1902), and ends with the coronation of George V (1911), and encompasses the rise of the Women's Suffrage movement, substantial changes to the tax code by the Liberals, and the increasing naval might and militancy of Germany.
This is a wonderful example of R. F. Delderfield's ability to tell a story about people, places and times. The writing is elegant without being frothy, and always a delight. As Books and Bookmen says: "It is always a pleasure to read R F Delderfield, because he never seems to be ashamed of writing well". This was an absolute delight, and goes right up near the very top of books I've read this year. Highly recommended.
The story centres around Paul Craddock, a city-bred Lieutenant invalided out of the Boer War with a near fatal injury, who takes his inheritance from a scrap metal yard and buys a thirteen-hundred-acre estate in rural Devon that has been allowed to run down and become rather derelict. As the new squire, he knows nothing of farming, but through hard work, and the generous application of cash where (long) needed, turns around both the estate and the lives of his tenant farmers.
While the principal story revolves around rural England, Craddock and Shallowford aren't divorced from the forces shaping England and the world in the Edwardian Era. It essentially starts with the coronation of Edward VII (1902), and ends with the coronation of George V (1911), and encompasses the rise of the Women's Suffrage movement, substantial changes to the tax code by the Liberals, and the increasing naval might and militancy of Germany.
This is a wonderful example of R. F. Delderfield's ability to tell a story about people, places and times. The writing is elegant without being frothy, and always a delight. As Books and Bookmen says: "It is always a pleasure to read R F Delderfield, because he never seems to be ashamed of writing well". This was an absolute delight, and goes right up near the very top of books I've read this year. Highly recommended.
August 13, 2017
This is the first book of a Trilogy - "Long Summer Day". The entire Trilogy is called "Horseman Riding By". There was a British mini-series based on this series which I bought and watched and for the most part reflects the book. Not sure the mini-series will go as far as the Trilogy in time.
As a typical British author, Delderfield does drag at times, but I do enjoy reading him and watching the movie has helped me put a picture in my mind of what the characters looik like. Basically it is about a wounded British soldier from the Boar War who buys a large estate made up of several large farms and how he transfers it from a losing proposition to an estate that is profitable. It also covers the woman's suffrage movement in Britain. Book one goes from 1902-1911. Book 2 will be covering the first World War.
As a typical British author, Delderfield does drag at times, but I do enjoy reading him and watching the movie has helped me put a picture in my mind of what the characters looik like. Basically it is about a wounded British soldier from the Boar War who buys a large estate made up of several large farms and how he transfers it from a losing proposition to an estate that is profitable. It also covers the woman's suffrage movement in Britain. Book one goes from 1902-1911. Book 2 will be covering the first World War.
August 21, 2020
This book is just like a long summer day—absolutely delightful in places, languorous in others, and sometimes kind of boring.
Written by R.F. Delderfield, this is the first in a trilogy of historical novels that take place deep in the countryside of Devon, England. After a stint in the Boer War, Paul Craddock is shipped home in 1902 with a severe leg injury only to learn his father has died and left him a very wealthy man. Craddock uses the windfall to purchase Shallowford, a declining 1,300-acre estate/farm (think Downton Abbey), where he installs himself as the new squire. The novel is the story of how he settles in, including making a disastrous marriage, amidst a motley and eccentric crew of tenant farmers, many of whom distrust him. But the winds of change are bearing down, causing excitement, anguish, and confusion in the seemingly quiet years before World War I.
While the plot is thin and the storyline is slow-paced, the characters are fascinating, diverse, and very well crafted, which to me is the heart of a successful novel. The descriptions of the countryside, although often lengthy and at times overdone, are beautifully written.
This is the first book in the ambitious "Horseman Riding By" trilogy, and it captures with great nostalgia a time, place, and mode of thought long gone.
Written by R.F. Delderfield, this is the first in a trilogy of historical novels that take place deep in the countryside of Devon, England. After a stint in the Boer War, Paul Craddock is shipped home in 1902 with a severe leg injury only to learn his father has died and left him a very wealthy man. Craddock uses the windfall to purchase Shallowford, a declining 1,300-acre estate/farm (think Downton Abbey), where he installs himself as the new squire. The novel is the story of how he settles in, including making a disastrous marriage, amidst a motley and eccentric crew of tenant farmers, many of whom distrust him. But the winds of change are bearing down, causing excitement, anguish, and confusion in the seemingly quiet years before World War I.
While the plot is thin and the storyline is slow-paced, the characters are fascinating, diverse, and very well crafted, which to me is the heart of a successful novel. The descriptions of the countryside, although often lengthy and at times overdone, are beautifully written.
This is the first book in the ambitious "Horseman Riding By" trilogy, and it captures with great nostalgia a time, place, and mode of thought long gone.
June 6, 2018
Unexpected gem of a find. Slow start, as character development needed to happen but wonderful book, particularly if you are an Anglophile.
August 29, 2014
I was approached to review this book because I had read (and loved) Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. Are these two books similar? Well, they're both really long, and they tell a story of a period of a time rather than any one character.
Long Summer's Day follows Paul Craddock, who, after an injury, buys Shallowford and becoems Squire Craddock. The novel follows his life after becoming Squire, and how he impacts the tenants and inhabitants of valley, and how they impact him. While Paul is undeniably the top dog, so to speak, other main characters include Claire, Ikey, Rudd, and ok, there are a lot and I'm not going to list them here. It's through the collective story of these people that you get a sense of England in the early 1900s, and how they were (resisting) change.
My favourite character of this book is probably Claire. Although she did not feature prominently in the first half of the book (apart from the first few chapters), I liked her because of her generous nature. She has a really loving spirit, and is unflinchingly honest.
Curiously, I didn't like Grace, the feminist and women's suffrage campaigner even though, when I think about it, the two of them are quite alike. They both know what they want, although they want different things. Perhaps it's because most of the novel is seen through Paul's eyes, and Grace hurts Paul quite badly emotionally. Or it could because Grace was somehow too unique, and I didn't like her because I didn't understand her.
This is a long, winding read, and it's at its best when the author is just letting the story speak. At certain times, the author tries to give an overview of how all the character feels through a bird flying or something like that, and for that moment, it goes very close to the bother of pretentiousness. But thankfully, such moments are few, and the book is a lovely read because it manages to tell the tale of many people in a straightforward manner.
I would definitely recommend to fans of long reads like Fall of Giants. It's not a fast-paced adventure, but rather, follows the meandering road of a man's life.
Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
Long Summer's Day follows Paul Craddock, who, after an injury, buys Shallowford and becoems Squire Craddock. The novel follows his life after becoming Squire, and how he impacts the tenants and inhabitants of valley, and how they impact him. While Paul is undeniably the top dog, so to speak, other main characters include Claire, Ikey, Rudd, and ok, there are a lot and I'm not going to list them here. It's through the collective story of these people that you get a sense of England in the early 1900s, and how they were (resisting) change.
My favourite character of this book is probably Claire. Although she did not feature prominently in the first half of the book (apart from the first few chapters), I liked her because of her generous nature. She has a really loving spirit, and is unflinchingly honest.
Curiously, I didn't like Grace, the feminist and women's suffrage campaigner even though, when I think about it, the two of them are quite alike. They both know what they want, although they want different things. Perhaps it's because most of the novel is seen through Paul's eyes, and Grace hurts Paul quite badly emotionally. Or it could because Grace was somehow too unique, and I didn't like her because I didn't understand her.
This is a long, winding read, and it's at its best when the author is just letting the story speak. At certain times, the author tries to give an overview of how all the character feels through a bird flying or something like that, and for that moment, it goes very close to the bother of pretentiousness. But thankfully, such moments are few, and the book is a lovely read because it manages to tell the tale of many people in a straightforward manner.
I would definitely recommend to fans of long reads like Fall of Giants. It's not a fast-paced adventure, but rather, follows the meandering road of a man's life.
Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
April 11, 2014
A historical saga about an Englishman who buys an estate and finds fulfillment in looking after the land and its tenants during the first half of the 20th century. 1966.
Full review (and recommendations!) at Another look book
I finally finished! And I decided I loved it.
*******
Well, this is a bit of an odd one to review. I've officially made it through the first book of the series. In my copy, however, this means I'm only halfway through, as this early American printing combines book one and two of the trilogy. The ending was slightly altered to suit this combined edition, too--I cross-referenced its last few pages with the standalone text of Long Summer Day. I loved the story, even sped through it at a clip of roughly 150 pages a day, but I'm still undecided on whether or not to immediately jump into the second book, Post of Honor. It feels a bit strange to say I'm "done" with a book when my bookmark argues that I'm only halfway through. What to do, oh what to do?? I'm inclined to continue reading it almost solely because the book was superb but the ending (if that's what we're calling it) was lame, just this sort of trickle off into nothingness. After 600 hard-earned pages I feel like I deserve more!!
Full review (and recommendations!) at Another look book
I finally finished! And I decided I loved it.
*******
Well, this is a bit of an odd one to review. I've officially made it through the first book of the series. In my copy, however, this means I'm only halfway through, as this early American printing combines book one and two of the trilogy. The ending was slightly altered to suit this combined edition, too--I cross-referenced its last few pages with the standalone text of Long Summer Day. I loved the story, even sped through it at a clip of roughly 150 pages a day, but I'm still undecided on whether or not to immediately jump into the second book, Post of Honor. It feels a bit strange to say I'm "done" with a book when my bookmark argues that I'm only halfway through. What to do, oh what to do?? I'm inclined to continue reading it almost solely because the book was superb but the ending (if that's what we're calling it) was lame, just this sort of trickle off into nothingness. After 600 hard-earned pages I feel like I deserve more!!
April 25, 2021
I save five stars for the books that bowl me over, and this one did. Delderfield's sure story-telling, inventive summarization -- at one point he follows the storm-blown seagulls around his scene as he visits his large band of characters -- and resonant characterization kept me eagerly reading, and now I've finished, I want more! Luckily, there are two more books in the series.
England's "Long Summer Day" wasn't perfect, but it was pastoral and under the right ownership pretty ideal ...and this book is about the end of that era and the rise of a more egalitarian and commercial country, starting far away in London. Like the country, its people were caught up in the changes that were shaking the world at the start of the 20th Century -- railroads, expanded markets, the decline of the peerage and the move toward suffrage, the first automobiles. The book's main character is "a right owner," a synergizer, someone whose special skill is to help different people grow into their potential, come together, and form community greater than the sum of its parts. While seeming to be "from a different age," he's really far ahead of his time (and ours!) in terms of his acceptance of the people around him, and his insistence that all be treated fairly and with love. It's a realistic book -- bad things happen -- but overall, it's heart warming and familiar.
England's "Long Summer Day" wasn't perfect, but it was pastoral and under the right ownership pretty ideal ...and this book is about the end of that era and the rise of a more egalitarian and commercial country, starting far away in London. Like the country, its people were caught up in the changes that were shaking the world at the start of the 20th Century -- railroads, expanded markets, the decline of the peerage and the move toward suffrage, the first automobiles. The book's main character is "a right owner," a synergizer, someone whose special skill is to help different people grow into their potential, come together, and form community greater than the sum of its parts. While seeming to be "from a different age," he's really far ahead of his time (and ours!) in terms of his acceptance of the people around him, and his insistence that all be treated fairly and with love. It's a realistic book -- bad things happen -- but overall, it's heart warming and familiar.
June 28, 2012
I am a great fan of Delderfield and read all of his books back in the '60s and '70s. I was curious to see if I would enjoy them as much so many years later, and I am happy to say I enjoyed this one even more the second time around! His style is similar to Michener, but I think he's a much better writer. Lt. Paul Craddock is home from the Boer War having been seriously injured. Since he can no longer pursue a military career, he buys a "fixer upper" estate in the West Country and makes his life there. There are wonderful characters and a tremendous variety of story lines that draw you right in and take you back to England at the beginning of the 20th Century. This is only the first volume in a three-volume epic, so there's lots more to come as we follow the Craddock family and all their neighbors!
June 13, 2023
A saga based in the Devonshire countryside at the beginning of the twentieth century, the book finishes with the Coronation celebrations for George V. Paul Craddock returns injured from the Boer war to find he has inherited a significant fortune from his father allowing him to buy an estate Shallowford. The book covers the histories of the families living on the estate. This was way too long and drawn out for me…and I found that I did not love the characters enough to enjoy sticking with them. I won’t bother reading the other two books in the series. Nowhere near as good as To Serve them All my Days which I loved !
June 15, 2022
A bit of an old fashioned story but well written. Characters are compelling and well drawn. If you're a fan of Downton Abbey, you'll enjoy this. The only thing I'd criticize is that sometime the tenant vernacular can get annoying in long sections of dialog - but, then, without it the story wouldn't feel as authentic.
February 28, 2015
Great!
I am adding this to my list of books I have enjoyed from first sentence to last. Discovery of a new favorite author.
I am adding this to my list of books I have enjoyed from first sentence to last. Discovery of a new favorite author.
July 25, 2017
Long Summer Day was a long summer read, but I enjoyed every minute of it! First published in 1966, this is the first part of RF Delderfield’s A Horseman Riding By trilogy (originally just two books rather than three, as this one and Post of Honour were intended to form one huge volume; the final book, The Green Gauntlet, came a few years later).
Long Summer Day begins in 1902, early in the reign of King Edward VII, and ends in 1911, shortly after the coronation of his successor, George V. The novel takes its title from the fact that this period of history, coming just before the horrors of the First World War, came to be looked back on with nostalgia and described as the ‘Long Edwardian Summer’. Set in rural Devon, it follows the story of Paul Craddock, a young man who is injured during the Boer War and, with his military career at an end, decides to use his inheritance from his father to buy an estate in the countryside.
At first the inhabitants of the Sorrel Valley are suspicious of their new Squire, but through his efforts to befriend and understand them, Paul quickly earns their respect and acceptance. As he gets to know each of the families who live in and around the valley, we, the reader, have a chance to get to know them all too. It’s a very large cast and at first it’s hard to keep track of who’s who, but eventually each character, however minor, becomes a fully formed human being and is given a storyline of his or her own.
I can’t mention all of the characters here, but some that I found particularly memorable include Ikey Palfrey, the stableboy Paul informally adopts and sends to school; Will Codsall and Elinor Willoughby, a young couple whose marriage forms one of the novel’s first small dramas; the agent John Rudd who manages the estate and provides Paul with both advice and friendship; and Hazel Potter, the wild youngest daughter of one of the valley’s most notorious families. In such a tight-knit community, the stories of each of these characters and many more are closely intertwined so that the actions of one may have repercussions on the lives of the others.
As an eligible young bachelor, Paul attracts the attention of several of his female neighbours almost from the moment he arrives in Devon, but only two come to play an important role in his life. One of them is Claire Derwent, daughter of one of his tenant farmers, and the other is Grace Lovell, a cousin of the family who previously owned Shallowford, Paul’s estate. Grace is a fiercely independent person, a feminist who believes passionately in women’s suffrage. I felt that I should like her, but although I did admire her strength and courage, her prickly nature made it difficult for me to warm to her. Claire, though, I loved from the start – and my opinion of her never changed. Although she has little interest in politics and keeps herself busy with more domestic tasks, it’s clear that she is happy with this and that it’s her choice. I found her sensible, down-to-earth, kind-hearted and a strong person too, although not in the same way as Grace. To discover which of these women Paul chooses, you'll have to read the book for yourself!
The personal stories of the characters are played out against a backdrop of events from Edwardian history: Edward VII's illness and delayed coronation, the political conflict between the Conservative and Liberal parties (it's plain to see where the author's own political sympathies lie) and the beginnings of the suffragette movement. We also find out how the characters react when change and progress finally makes its way to the Devon countryside and they see their first 'horseless carriage'.
Long Summer Day is one of my books of the year so far, without a doubt. It's written in the sort of warm, comforting, old-fashioned style that I love, and despite its length I felt that the pages were going by very quickly because I was so absorbed in the lives of Paul and his friends – it's one of those books where you truly feel as though you’ve escaped into another world for a little while!
Long Summer Day begins in 1902, early in the reign of King Edward VII, and ends in 1911, shortly after the coronation of his successor, George V. The novel takes its title from the fact that this period of history, coming just before the horrors of the First World War, came to be looked back on with nostalgia and described as the ‘Long Edwardian Summer’. Set in rural Devon, it follows the story of Paul Craddock, a young man who is injured during the Boer War and, with his military career at an end, decides to use his inheritance from his father to buy an estate in the countryside.
At first the inhabitants of the Sorrel Valley are suspicious of their new Squire, but through his efforts to befriend and understand them, Paul quickly earns their respect and acceptance. As he gets to know each of the families who live in and around the valley, we, the reader, have a chance to get to know them all too. It’s a very large cast and at first it’s hard to keep track of who’s who, but eventually each character, however minor, becomes a fully formed human being and is given a storyline of his or her own.
I can’t mention all of the characters here, but some that I found particularly memorable include Ikey Palfrey, the stableboy Paul informally adopts and sends to school; Will Codsall and Elinor Willoughby, a young couple whose marriage forms one of the novel’s first small dramas; the agent John Rudd who manages the estate and provides Paul with both advice and friendship; and Hazel Potter, the wild youngest daughter of one of the valley’s most notorious families. In such a tight-knit community, the stories of each of these characters and many more are closely intertwined so that the actions of one may have repercussions on the lives of the others.
As an eligible young bachelor, Paul attracts the attention of several of his female neighbours almost from the moment he arrives in Devon, but only two come to play an important role in his life. One of them is Claire Derwent, daughter of one of his tenant farmers, and the other is Grace Lovell, a cousin of the family who previously owned Shallowford, Paul’s estate. Grace is a fiercely independent person, a feminist who believes passionately in women’s suffrage. I felt that I should like her, but although I did admire her strength and courage, her prickly nature made it difficult for me to warm to her. Claire, though, I loved from the start – and my opinion of her never changed. Although she has little interest in politics and keeps herself busy with more domestic tasks, it’s clear that she is happy with this and that it’s her choice. I found her sensible, down-to-earth, kind-hearted and a strong person too, although not in the same way as Grace. To discover which of these women Paul chooses, you'll have to read the book for yourself!
The personal stories of the characters are played out against a backdrop of events from Edwardian history: Edward VII's illness and delayed coronation, the political conflict between the Conservative and Liberal parties (it's plain to see where the author's own political sympathies lie) and the beginnings of the suffragette movement. We also find out how the characters react when change and progress finally makes its way to the Devon countryside and they see their first 'horseless carriage'.
Long Summer Day is one of my books of the year so far, without a doubt. It's written in the sort of warm, comforting, old-fashioned style that I love, and despite its length I felt that the pages were going by very quickly because I was so absorbed in the lives of Paul and his friends – it's one of those books where you truly feel as though you’ve escaped into another world for a little while!
December 19, 2020
Long Summer Day, like To Serve Them All My Days, is a leisurely read, and a quintessentially English one at that. Beyond the pacing and prose, the former has in common with the latter that a wounded veteran (in this case, of the Boer war, and physically as opposed to psychologically) determines to put any thought of war behind him by retreating deep into the English countryside.
And so it is that Paul Craddock survives the Boer War to learn of his father's death - and a far greater inheritance than he expected. This he spends on the purchase of a rundown estate, Shallowford, which he determines to make over for the better of all residing there. Too, Squire and tenants alike must grapple with the rapid changes in society, from the introduction of the motor car to the debate over women's suffrage. Here, Delderfield has created a vast array of supporting characters, each unique enough to be memorable, but similar enough to fit nicely into a single estate without creating undue conflict or tension. Long Summer Day is also suffused with the foreboding of future entanglements with Germany: that the Kaiser is building his fleet is regularly put to the reader. There can be no doubt that Shallowford is on the cusp of the end, as Laurie Lee wrote, "of a thousand years' life."
As I've noted about Delderfield in the past, the one complaint, if I'm to have one, is that this book, too, is a tome, totally some 800 pages before all is said and done. That is not to say that I didn't enjoy it, but rather to say I'm quite certain I would have enjoyed it equally well at, say, 550 pages. (I should acknowledge, though, that this is the exact opposite of my complaint regarding the last book I read, Mademoiselle Chanel, whose author I accused of erasing entire years from Chanel's life for the sake, one presumes, of brevity. So perhaps there's just no pleasing me.)
All told, this book is a wonderful, leisurely stroll into a world that doesn't exist any longer. Its length requires a serious commitment of time on the part of the reader, but Delderfield has never failed to make an impression on me and I somehow feel richer for reading his works.
And so it is that Paul Craddock survives the Boer War to learn of his father's death - and a far greater inheritance than he expected. This he spends on the purchase of a rundown estate, Shallowford, which he determines to make over for the better of all residing there. Too, Squire and tenants alike must grapple with the rapid changes in society, from the introduction of the motor car to the debate over women's suffrage. Here, Delderfield has created a vast array of supporting characters, each unique enough to be memorable, but similar enough to fit nicely into a single estate without creating undue conflict or tension. Long Summer Day is also suffused with the foreboding of future entanglements with Germany: that the Kaiser is building his fleet is regularly put to the reader. There can be no doubt that Shallowford is on the cusp of the end, as Laurie Lee wrote, "of a thousand years' life."
As I've noted about Delderfield in the past, the one complaint, if I'm to have one, is that this book, too, is a tome, totally some 800 pages before all is said and done. That is not to say that I didn't enjoy it, but rather to say I'm quite certain I would have enjoyed it equally well at, say, 550 pages. (I should acknowledge, though, that this is the exact opposite of my complaint regarding the last book I read, Mademoiselle Chanel, whose author I accused of erasing entire years from Chanel's life for the sake, one presumes, of brevity. So perhaps there's just no pleasing me.)
All told, this book is a wonderful, leisurely stroll into a world that doesn't exist any longer. Its length requires a serious commitment of time on the part of the reader, but Delderfield has never failed to make an impression on me and I somehow feel richer for reading his works.
May 12, 2022
This is the first book in a three-part saga. At 600+ pages, it’s a saga all by itself. Paul Craddock has just returned from the Boer War and uses his inheritance to buy a country estate in Devonshire. The people there are relics of old England (“a few hundred castaways from a wreck about a century ago”) and they say things like, “Arf-a-crahn an’ all fahnd,” and “Youm var too zoft with ’em,” and “They’m gone upalong.”
The book was published in 1966, and the author sounds like a bit of relic himself. Attractive women are possessed of a “small, neat head.” (I picture a microcephalic with a tight hairdo). A female character reflects that she might have enjoyed life without being married, but “not now, not having enjoyed a man’s vigour and protection.” (Gag me).
In some ways, however, the book sounded very like today: “People can’t absorb the social and economic changes of the last century. When technology leaves the mass of population far enough behind there’s going to be a God-Almighty explosion.” And, “There are plenty of fundamental issues but political parties dependent on a flow of wealth from one class or the other aren’t deeply concerned with them! Their impetus doesn’t depend on a cause but on personal ambitions.” Some things never change.
At any rate, it was a pleasant novel, built on the daily tribulations and fraught relationships that are normal in life, without there being any evil villains or implausible plot lines. A relaxing read, but I wouldn’t take the time to read the 1200+ pages of the next two novels.
The book was published in 1966, and the author sounds like a bit of relic himself. Attractive women are possessed of a “small, neat head.” (I picture a microcephalic with a tight hairdo). A female character reflects that she might have enjoyed life without being married, but “not now, not having enjoyed a man’s vigour and protection.” (Gag me).
In some ways, however, the book sounded very like today: “People can’t absorb the social and economic changes of the last century. When technology leaves the mass of population far enough behind there’s going to be a God-Almighty explosion.” And, “There are plenty of fundamental issues but political parties dependent on a flow of wealth from one class or the other aren’t deeply concerned with them! Their impetus doesn’t depend on a cause but on personal ambitions.” Some things never change.
At any rate, it was a pleasant novel, built on the daily tribulations and fraught relationships that are normal in life, without there being any evil villains or implausible plot lines. A relaxing read, but I wouldn’t take the time to read the 1200+ pages of the next two novels.
November 1, 2020
It’s the late nineteenth century and Paul Craddock is invalided out of the Boer War. At the same time he inherits some money from his father’s scrap-metal business. Tired of the ugly fighting he’s witnessed and the anonymous bustle of city life, he’s drawn to the sale of a large country estate in Devon. He has much to learn, but Paul promises to be a fair squire and he’s soon respected by the tenant farmers. Although Craddock has purchased something of a rural idyll there is plenty of conflict not only from the daily minutiae of running the estate but also from wider political unrest, the class divides, the rise of the suffragettes showcased by his difficult first marriage, and those in authority striving to become more liberal-minded.
The Devonshire brogue adds immediate authenticity and local characters leap from the page. By way of contrast members of the gentry, the medical profession, opposing politicians, and the church, are equally well-formed and characterised. The push and pull of such diverse relationships form the basis of a family-saga with a big scope. It’s a novel which covers a detailed period of social history rather than follows any one character – but this is what Delderfield does best. Edwardian country life; farming the land, destiny shaped by the rise and fall of ones own hand, the beauty and hardships presented by living in the countryside, the horses, the gentle pace of life. Change was – and is – inevitable, and while much of it was for the better then, I finished this book feeling we’ve lost something along the way…
The Devonshire brogue adds immediate authenticity and local characters leap from the page. By way of contrast members of the gentry, the medical profession, opposing politicians, and the church, are equally well-formed and characterised. The push and pull of such diverse relationships form the basis of a family-saga with a big scope. It’s a novel which covers a detailed period of social history rather than follows any one character – but this is what Delderfield does best. Edwardian country life; farming the land, destiny shaped by the rise and fall of ones own hand, the beauty and hardships presented by living in the countryside, the horses, the gentle pace of life. Change was – and is – inevitable, and while much of it was for the better then, I finished this book feeling we’ve lost something along the way…
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