The reviewer’s bias: I prefer stories with well developed, pleasant characters. I like writing that is clever and witty – entertaining in itself. I prefer first person narratives, or close third person narratives. I dislike thinly disguised fanfic and stories with gaping plot holes.
As I mentioned in some recent posts, I read some books set in the everyday life of England of the last century by D E Stevenson and Miss Read a few decades ago. I have reviewed the Miss Buncle Books of D E Stevenson here. Along with the Stevenson books I ordered up some Miss Read books from the library. This is my review of the four books I picked up, but will focus mostly on, Summer at Fairacre.
Miss Read is the pen name of Dora Saint. Her father was a schoolmaster, and she followed in his footsteps, training as a teacher at Hometon College, Cambridge and began her teaching career in 1933 in Middlesex England. She married in 1940, and after the war occasionally worked as a teacher while she began to write about schools and country topics for magazines. Her first book, Village School, was published in 1955 and went on to write 20 books set in Fairacre, and 14 set in Thrush Green, plus a number of children’s books, several other books, and two autobiographies.
I don’t recall all the Miss Read books I read back then, but I bought my teacher wife a copy that contained her first three novels, Village School, Village Diary, and Storm in the Village, so I think I can assume I’ve read them. And I know I read a number of Thrush Green books as well. This time around, I picked up, Miss Clair Remembers, Emily Davis, Fairacre Festival (a novella), and Summer at Fairacre.
Miss Clair Remembers and Emily Davis are books of little stories that look back on the lives and teaching careers of two good friends, born in the late 1880’s. They tell stories concerning their lives from childhood to old age lived in the English countryside. In these stories Miss Read relates both the beauty of the countryside as well as the hardships and poverty of the people – especially farm workers displaced by economic changes in England at that time. These stories are told in third person, and I found it interesting that they are written more or less in real time. In Miss Clair Remembers, (1962) Miss Clair is retired and her life long friend, Emily Davis is coming to share her cottage with her. Her pending arrival brings about memories of their lives together as children and young adults as well as teachers, though in different schools. Emily Davis, written ten years later (1971) opens with the death of Emily at 80, after sharing the cottage for a decade, and brings about more memories of their life long friendship. There are a number of stories that both book share.
Fairacre Festival (1968) is a novella that relates the efforts of the people of Fairacre to raise money to fix the roof of the local church damaged by a windstorm and a fallen tree. It is told, loosely, in first person. The teacher narrator is the fictional “Miss Read.” I say loosely, as she reports on meeting and conversations that she herself did not attend, so it’s kind of an inner-third person narrative – a story related by Miss Read but often in as a remote observer. It’s a petty slight story. It is interesting that she seems to write the stories as contemporary stories, i.e. the story took place in 1968. One gets the impression that while many things have changed in the southeast English countryside, the old patterns still linger.
Summer in Fairacre (1984) is, I think, Miss Read, after 30 years of writing, is at her best. The story is in first person – Miss Read – a happy spinster, is the head teacher of the two room Fairacre school. She has a married best friend who’s on the lookout for a husband for her. The school janitor is a lady who she’s often at odds with, but recognizes that she’s good at her job, and must take the rough with the smooth. You get to meet all the other regular characters in her stories, and the trials and tribulations of the residents of Fairacre and the neighboring small town. She doesn’t turn a blind eye to the hardships of country life – persistent poverty, abusive husbands, mentally handicapped people, and such, even as she celebrates the beauty of the countryside. This story seems also to be contemporary, and she sees the end of the little school in the not too distant future.
As I mentioned, this story is written in first person, and the person, Miss Read, is a pleasant person to hang around with. She’s kind, thoughtful, has her weakness, and her wit. It makes for a pleasant read, though nothing earthshaking ever happens in the story. If you’re a writer and read the how-to-write articles and such, you’ll have been told to continually ratchet up the tension – to the point where you should even end chapters on little cliffhangers to keep people engaged – at least if you’re writing genre books. Well, this book is pretty much the anti-version of that approach. The story sort of strolls along – it has its mysteries; Miss Read’s married friend disappears for a few days – where has she gone and why? Miss Read is roped into giving a talk before an adult audience; and dreads it. Her janitor takes time off, saying she’s going to quite; who can Miss Read find to replace her? These are cliffhangers in Summer at Fairacre. You don’t read Miss Read for thrills. You read her for the quiet charm of her writing – sprinkled with wit and observations on village life in England. I’m a reader who values and enjoys, light, clever writing, more than the story it tells. So I like Miss Read’s books. If that’s your cup of tea, you might, as well.
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