The Edge of Day

by Laurie Lee

aka Cider with Rosie.
First published in the US as Edge Of Day: Boyhood in the West of England. It is the first book of a trilogy consisting of As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning (1969) and A Moment of War (1991).

[from Editors' Preface]

"Laurie Lee's reminiscences of his childhood in England, The Edge of the Day, portray village life in the Cotswolds, a region west of London and north of Bath, during the era following World War I...."

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

259 pages, Hard Paperback

Published January 1, 1965

About the author

Laurence Edward Alan "Laurie" Lee, MBE, was an English poet, novelist, and screenwriter. His most famous work was an autobiographical trilogy which consisted of Cider with Rosie (1959), As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning (1969) and A Moment of War (1991). While the first volume famously recounts his childhood in the idyllic Slad Valley, the second deals with his leaving home for London and his first visit to Spain in 1934, and the third with his return in December 1937 to join the Republican International Brigade.

Reviews

[Shehrezad · Rating 4 out of 5]

My introduction to Laurie Lee was the essay Appetite which I came across a few years ago and which enthralled me utterly within the first paragraph and to this day it stands out in my memory from the countless times I read it just to savor the language. Two days ago, I asked myself the plain and simple question of why I hadn't reached out for more Laurie Lee when I so loved his writing from that tantalizing morsel of an essay I'd sampled, and I when I couldn't find a satisfying answer obtained this book.
It was a random pick for my next Lee, dictated by the fact that it was the only thing by this author at my local public library. Luckily my interest was acute enough for me to take a chance on this, even though from briefly perusing the reviews on here I realized it might not be the best introduction to his writing.
I had enormous expectations going into this. For me, Lee is a wordsmith and I wanted to watch his performance of language in this book. I was disappointed because I wasn't as impacted by the writing of this as by the essay Appetite, but that is not at all to say that it wasn't well written. It was still a teeming exultation of words that catapulted me into the summer of Lee's childhood. I just wasn't as blown away as I'd hoped to be. There weren't any passages I clung to with breathless awe and reread with thumping heart. But my faith is so strong in Lee, I just told myself, well its a biography and of novel length, perhaps essay and other short forms are his forte, after all he is a poet. I probably still have a great deal in store for me by this author and mustn't write him off just yet.
However, in comparison to everything else I've been reading lately, this far outstrips them all. I haven't been this engaged in a book since I read Richard Sherman's A Kindred Spirit and E B White's Once More to the Lake. This book was all things I love: dreamy meditation of summer and sunshine, youth's follies and ecstasies, and the bare facts of the mundane through the lens of an innocent child's eyes. It was very sensory, which I expected from Lee and really did transport me to this long gone way of life.
I loved also how this book had no kind of plot. I've found myself reading a lot of plot-driven stuff lately and this was a wonderful relief to experience, all quiet vignettes and observations of slice of life stuff. I like rambly, meandering, nostalgic writing. Not everyone does. This was just up my alley.
My favorite chapter was the one called Mother. I thought the description of Lee's mom was both endearing and infuriating and I just loved her! Here is an excerpt:

"She was too honest, too natural for this frightened man; too remote from his tidy laws. She was, after all, a country girl; disordered, hysterical, loving. She was muddled and mischievous as a chimney-jackdaw, she made her nest of rags and jewels, was happy in the sunlight, squawked loudly at danger, pried and was insatiably curious, forgot when to eat or ate all day, and sang when sunsets were red.”

[Coyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was well written along the lines of James Herriot, if a bit more... full? I guess? So much so that it could be almost distracting at times. For example,

My mother and sisters sailed past me like galleons in their busy dresses, and I learned the smells and sounds which followed in their wakes, the surge of breath, air of carbolic, song and grumble, and smashing of crockery. How magnificent they appeared, full-rigged, those towering girls, with their flying hair and billowing blouses, their white-mast arms stripped for work or washing. At any moment on was boarded by them, bussed and buttoned, or swung up high like a wriggling fish to be hooked and held in their lacy linen.

Obviously, this is wonderfully descriptive imagery. The repeated ship language gives a vivid picture of the family and their activities. And yet, page after page of this kind of language starts to wear on the reader after a while. In the hands of a lesser author it would have gotten tedious very quickly. Fortunately, Laurie Lee is not a lesser author. This is a wonderful memoir and, like Herriot, makes me wish I lived in England with Lee. And like Herriot, there's just enough realism to remind me that maybe I'll keep my 21st century conveniences and stay right where I am. Or move to England and enjoy the modern conveniences. Or something, I don't know.
Either way, I'm happy to recommend this book.

[Georgia]

Too lyrical for me

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book for me. Set in a time before cars or much communication, but not long ago – post WWI – it was a time of walking. Traveling at the speed of horses between trains. Living a life of rural pleasure governed in many ways by nature. It is the story of Laurie Lee's first years in a small town in the Cotswolds. His family is poor in food and goods, but the life sounds incredibly rich in relationships with others, nature, and with self. The family is so central to this story, but is not stifling or negative; it is the story of nurture.

This is a happy childhood filled with wonder. I can't recommend it enough. And can't wait to get the next volume when he leaves home; I hope it is as well-written and filled with wonder.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lyrical memoir of Laurie Lee born before WWI and grew up in the Cotswolds in England. His childhood and early days were of a different age in the time that horses reined in this area . A whole new sense of time.

[David Lessard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming view of life in early 20th century Cotswolds, recording much of the simple things in everyday life that would be lost without books such as this one. Lee has a poetic elegance to his writing no matter the topic.

[Danice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautifully written, raw, and unapologetic.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glimpses of a world that no longer exists as Laurie Lee remembers his boyhood.

[Tamartime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both movies were wonderfull as well.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Krystale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written, but monotonous story. It's all about Laurie Lee's childhood and at first it's interesting because the reader can tell that some of the observations seem to come from a child's perspective. Unfortunately, the lack of plot gets more and more difficult to tolerate towards the end.

[Violet · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a story line in there somewhere, if you can get past all the semicolons and commas the writer uses. There are paragraphs that are half a page long, and consist of only one sentence with numerous comas, and descriptions. Therefore with all of this I lost interest about half way through the sentence and wondered what was I reading about? Where is this story going?

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book.