What do you think?
Rate this book
Farewell, Thrush Green
This final Thrush Green omnibus contains the last two books in that series, CELEBRATIONS AT THRUSH GREEN and THE YEAR AT THRUSH GREEN. Whilst the village has seen many changes over the years, some events go on and on. Young children start their education at the village school which is about to celebrate the centenary of its opening; gossip flutters through the air like confetti, and friends help each other out in trouble. Miss Read perfectly observes the daily round of English country life, and her thousands of fans - although sad that the Thrush Green story has ended - will know for sure that life will never really change in Thrush Green.
- GenresFiction
432 pages, Paperback
First published August 31, 2000
124 people want to read
About the author
Miss Read
161 books522 followersDora Jessie Saint MBE née Shafe (born 17 April 1913), best known by the pen name Miss Read, was an English novelist, by profession a schoolmistress. Her pseudonym was derived from her mother's maiden name. In 1940 she married her husband, Douglas, a former headmaster. The couple had a daughter, Jill. She began writing for several journals after World War II and worked as a scriptwriter for the BBC.
She wrote a series of novels from 1955 to 1996. Her work centred on two fictional English villages, Fairacre and Thrush Green. The principal character in the Fairacre books, "Miss Read", is an unmarried schoolteacher in a small village school, an acerbic and yet compassionate observer of village life. Miss Read's novels are wry regional social comedies, laced with gentle humour and subtle social commentary. Miss Read is also a keen observer of nature and the changing seasons.
Her most direct influence is from Jane Austen, although her work also bears similarities to the social comedies of manners written in the 1920s and 1930s, and in particular the work of Barbara Pym. Miss Read's work has influenced a number of writers in her own turn, including the American writer Jan Karon. The musician Enya has a track on her Watermark album named after the book Miss Clare Remembers, and one on her Shepherd Moons album named after No Holly for Miss Quinn.
In 1996 she retired. In 1998 she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her services to literature. She died 7 April, 2012 in Shefford Woodlands.
She wrote a series of novels from 1955 to 1996. Her work centred on two fictional English villages, Fairacre and Thrush Green. The principal character in the Fairacre books, "Miss Read", is an unmarried schoolteacher in a small village school, an acerbic and yet compassionate observer of village life. Miss Read's novels are wry regional social comedies, laced with gentle humour and subtle social commentary. Miss Read is also a keen observer of nature and the changing seasons.
Her most direct influence is from Jane Austen, although her work also bears similarities to the social comedies of manners written in the 1920s and 1930s, and in particular the work of Barbara Pym. Miss Read's work has influenced a number of writers in her own turn, including the American writer Jan Karon. The musician Enya has a track on her Watermark album named after the book Miss Clare Remembers, and one on her Shepherd Moons album named after No Holly for Miss Quinn.
In 1996 she retired. In 1998 she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her services to literature. She died 7 April, 2012 in Shefford Woodlands.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 17, 2019
In April 2018 I began reading chronologically through Miss Read's Thrush Green series. These are comfort reads: they go down easy, but still nourish. Cozy village novels where one lives in community with decent, eccentric, and irritating characters.
One aspect I love the most about them is the forbearance and friendship between the women and men of Thrush Green. There are careful confrontations as well as patient putting-ups, an entire supporting cast of folks who reach out to quietly help a neighbor or relative.
Each one has an 1950s-ish atmosphere, but Farewell Thrush Green was written in 1996. I reflected that we no longer have some of the friendly, cost-saving habits that Thrush Green residents have, e.g. sharing magazines between themselves. With a start, I realized that my boss saves his World magazines and gives them to me (saving me $49/year). :)
I love their Britishness. Yoghurt may put some of the old ladies into a proper 'fizz-wazz'. Vaccinations are 'flu-jabs'.
I enjoy these gentle flowing books, but had I to do it over again, I would have spaced the books further apart. A treat loses its delight with regular indulgence. I would like to read the Fairacre books in order, perhaps in 2020.
One aspect I love the most about them is the forbearance and friendship between the women and men of Thrush Green. There are careful confrontations as well as patient putting-ups, an entire supporting cast of folks who reach out to quietly help a neighbor or relative.
Each one has an 1950s-ish atmosphere, but Farewell Thrush Green was written in 1996. I reflected that we no longer have some of the friendly, cost-saving habits that Thrush Green residents have, e.g. sharing magazines between themselves. With a start, I realized that my boss saves his World magazines and gives them to me (saving me $49/year). :)
I love their Britishness. Yoghurt may put some of the old ladies into a proper 'fizz-wazz'. Vaccinations are 'flu-jabs'.
I enjoy these gentle flowing books, but had I to do it over again, I would have spaced the books further apart. A treat loses its delight with regular indulgence. I would like to read the Fairacre books in order, perhaps in 2020.
March 19, 2018
Just finished the last of the Thrush Green series. 12 in all and they were wonderful books.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews