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Original poster

Does/did anyone else like Miss Read's books?

37 replies

CambridgeBlue · 12/11/2013 19:57

I was sad to discover that she died recently. I am enjoying her last book (a collection of memoirs complied by her daughter) but it's a shame to think there won't be any more although 'her' last fiction book was actually written by her editor and was a bit rubbish.

I have read everything she's ever written, many of them several times. I don't think anyone could call it great literature but it's lovely gentle reading with some beautiful descriptions of the English countryside and some interesting historical stuff. I just wondered if anyone else was a fan?

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LoveMyBoots · 19/11/2013 13:17

I love her books and after reading this thread, I'm going to dig out the Christmas ones to read now it's getting colder!

ancientbuchanan · 19/11/2013 13:11

Doesn't it belong to Simon ex blue Peter thingy's family? It's lovely. About 15 miles from DM.

gwenniebee · 16/11/2013 22:33

Ooh A Traveller in Time is set in the farmhouse across the field from my aunt's :) Love that book, especially because of that! Love James Herriot too.

MiddleAgeMiddleEngland · 16/11/2013 19:58

My elderly aunt has a whole row of them although she can't read anymore. I've read a few when I've been staying there and enjoyed them - as others have said, a gentle and undemanding read.

She has the James Herriot books, too, and they are just as easy and pleasant to read.

NotCitrus · 16/11/2013 11:02

I read them as a teenager - they had them in my school bookshop and they got better once you were familiar with most of the characters from other books, a bit like a soap opera. I too preferred Fairacre to Thrush Green - the latter were a bit too cosy.

TunipTheUnconquerable · 16/11/2013 10:33

It's one of the most magical books ever IMO Smile

I would love to write something like that but pulling off timeslip stories is so, so hard and it would harder now to quite believe the continuity of life on the farm over 400 years which is such an important aspect of the book.

LaQueenOfTheDamned · 16/11/2013 10:01

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Original poster
CambridgeBlue · 16/11/2013 08:02

eggy it's called Mrs Griffin Sends Her Love, it's on Amazon as hardback or a Kindle book. Hope you are feeling better soon - this would be perfect light pregnancy reading :).

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TunipTheUnconquerable · 16/11/2013 07:38

LaQ - A Traveller In Time?

eggybrokenoff · 16/11/2013 07:27

my mum has all of these and i loved them as a child/young teen.

i am currently v poorly in pregnancy and reading simple non taxing books as i cant really watch tv and have to be in bed by 8 at the latest- my mum is coming to visit next week and ive asked her to bring them all!

cambridge what is the new one you mention? i wonder if bew enough my mum doesnt know about it!

MirandaWest · 15/11/2013 22:39

I love them too. Am more of a Fairfield person than a Thrush Green one although have read most of them though.

Original poster
CambridgeBlue · 15/11/2013 22:36

We had our honeymoon in Crete and I'm sure it was due to me having read Farther Afield!

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gwenniebee · 15/11/2013 22:17

I loved them when I was a young teen. I'm now a primary teacher in a little village school and rather resent Miss Read for making it sound so idyllic! I also blame Gervaise Phinn (sp?) for my poor career choice!

LaQueenOfTheDamned · 15/11/2013 22:15

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LaQueenOfTheDamned · 15/11/2013 22:11

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Original poster
CambridgeBlue · 15/11/2013 21:23

Have to say, I am really enjoying the new book - lots of unpublished Fairacre stuff and beautiful descriptive writing. Well worth getting IMO, it's Miss Read at her best :).

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emmelinelucas · 15/11/2013 20:06

Oh yes - its true that you were either a Fairacre fan or a Caxley/Thrush Green girl.
At the same time as I borrowed Miss Read books from the library I chose the Madeleine books by Mrs Robert Henry and the Molly Weir autobiographies.
Miss Clare Remembers is one of my favourite books.
Reading - Smile

maudpringle · 13/11/2013 15:46

Oh I love Miss Clare Remembers! I found her whole 'story' fascinating.
I too enjoyed the Fairacre series the best, though the Caxley/ Thrush Green are also interesting I never felt the same connection to the characters.
Bob and Alice Willet are my grandparents to a tee. Wonderful, wonderful stories.

Original poster
CambridgeBlue · 13/11/2013 15:14

I think if you accept them for what they are, and are aware that they're not especially highbrow, then they are just as good for adults as children.

How funny Mignonette - The Magic Apple Tree is one of my all-time favourite books and I haven't read A County Child but it's on my wish list, you have persuaded me to buy it now!

PeterParker the Fairacre ones are my favourite too. The Thrush Green series is a bit more about the characters rather than the countryside and changing seasons which feature more in the others. I love the more historical ones too - The Caxley Chronicles is a lovely read, as is Miss Clare Remembers.

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NCISaddict · 13/11/2013 13:50

I don't think you have to read them as a child, I only read them because I read so much that I'd gone through the childrens section in the library by the time I was 9 and these were 'nice' books in the adult section that I could understand. I've since read more from the series and loved them just as much.

ObtuseAngel · 13/11/2013 13:42

Is it the type of book that you have to have read them as a child/teen in order to enjoy them as an adult? (I remember the bitter disappointment when I read I Capture the Castle as an adult after strong recommendation from people who had read it in their early teens.)

ExcuseTypos · 13/11/2013 13:38

I used to love them. Haven't re read them but am going to dig them out and do just that!

PeterParkerSays · 13/11/2013 13:33

I read all the Fairacre ones when I was breastfeeding DS. They were wonderful and so cosy.

I hadn't realised that she'd died.

Oddly enough, I never got on with her other books, just the Fairacre ones.

SolidGold · 13/11/2013 13:29

They are very comforting and nostalgic. I particularly love the Christmas ones. Glad to hear they are available on kindle, I will have a look for them.

Mignonette · 13/11/2013 13:25

I started reading them some years ago when Paula Yates recommended them. Yes, that is how old I am Smile.

I agree w/ Cambridge that they are particularly timely at Christmas making me nostalgic for something I never had. Along with Alison Uttley's 'A Country Child' and Susan Hill's 'Magic Apple Tree Cottage' they are my comfort reading.

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