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Summary
Author Notes
Miss Read, 1913 - 2012 Miss Read was born on April 17, 1913 as Dora Jessie Shafe. She worked as a teacher and started writing after World War II for Punch and other journals and as a scriptwriter for the BBC. She wrote her novels under the name Read, which was her mother's maiden name. She is best known for her novels of English rural life and used her own memories of living and teaching in a small English village in her novels. She wrote more than forty novels; many were set in the British countryside -- Fairacre and Thrush Green novels.
Read finished her writing career in 1996 with A Peaceful Retirement. In 1998, she was awarded an MBE for her services to literature. She died on April 7, 2012.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The latest Thrush Green novel by the prolific, pseudonymous ``Miss Read'' will undoubtedly satisfy those who enjoy simple and undemanding narratives largely about, and from the perspective of, the elderly. Having reached their 80s, the two village primary-school teachers Dorothy Watson and Anges Fogerty decide to retire and buy a new home at Barton-on-Sea. Dorothy alarms Agnes by determining to take driving lessons and Agnes disconcerts Dorothy by adopting a cat. Introducing a cast of stock village characters, the author pokes gentle fun at their foibles while tacitly disapproving of permissive child-rearing and the messily self-indulgent lives of the younger generation. Miss Read's worldwide popularity in translation is understandable in view of the clarity of her prose. Beneath the deceptive simplicity, however, there is arch humor and perceptive character analysis. Goodall's illustrations, having been culled from earlier novels, occasionally strike a slightly discordant note. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
The latest Read chronicle--all about the buzzing state of affairs among a selective spread of English villagers, linked in neighborly gossip and obligation. With a remarkable economy of detail--and a faintly amused tone encapsulating the reigning local mores--the author again populates the village of Thrush Green with breathing beings. By this time, Miss Read's following is assured, sizable--and rapt. Here, the deceptively lazy eddies of events swirl around the upcoming retirement of the Headmistress of the Thrush Green school, Dorothy Watson, and her housemate, close friend, and fellow teacher, little Agnes Fogerty. Timid Agnes can, however, show her mettle--there's a traumatic almost-breakup of the friendship because of a stray cat--and Agnes does allow herself to regret that ""Dear Dorothy could be so downright at times."" For Dorothy and Agnes, there'll be the upsetting matters of moving, buying a car, driving lessons, and those farewell parties. ""Where will it all end?"" While the two rally, the village pops and simmers. Mean old Albert Piggot grumbles away at The Two Pheasants; wife Nelly comforts a friend with a runaway daughter, and cooks for The Fuchsia Bush, where the three ancient Lovelock sisters (""renowned for their parsimony"") dine weekly; elderly Winnie Bailey patiently copes with her nephew, irritating Richard, and his irritating family; and there's the usual to-ing and fro-ing among friends. Mild as milk? Maybe, yet ordinary problems faced by ordinary people tend to loom large as they do everywhere in the absence of major disasters. The village to-do's take place from January's ""howling gale and lashing rain"" through a hot and often lovely summer--when, in the schoolhouse, the sunburnt arms of children ""smelt of freshcooked biscuits."" For the insatiable fans and newcomers--those attracted to the English rural settings within which Miss Read applies her spiderweb skills to the most fragile and slightest of subjects. As always, illustrated with old and new drawings by John S. Goodall. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Once again Miss Read renders a charming recital of events in Thrush Green, a quaint English village caught in time (most likely teatime). The beloved school teachers, Miss Dorothy and Miss Agnes, have decided to retire. The townspeople are aflutter musing about the teachers' replacements and seeking an appropriate farewell gift. After neatly setting up the requisite number of potential troubles and perplexing quandaries, the novelist then allows her familiar characters to resolve each other's difficulties as the story ambles to a pleasant close. DPD.
