Miss Read (1913–2012)

I enjoy an older, cozy British novel from time to time, and in many ways, Village School did not disappoint. Our narrator, Miss Read, is a primary school teacher in a two-room schoolhouse in Fairacre, a village in the bucolic English countryside. Through her eyes we see the quiet doings of the villagers and especially the children both in school and out. Festivals, measles outbreaks, and choir practices enliven an otherwise placid atmosphere. I enjoyed escaping to a simpler world for a show more while. Unfortunately that world is also home to an undercurrent of gentile racism that was startling whenever it appeared. Because of it I was unable to truly enjoy the novel and won't be continuing on with the series. show less

A pure comfort read. A cosy non-mystery. This is the first in Miss Read's Fairacre series; it follows students, teachers and villagers through a school year in the English village of Fairacre, through Christmas pageants, substitute teachers, gentle romances, and the occasional domestic upheaval shortly after the end of WWII. It will unruffle your feathers if they need it, supposing you like this sort of thing. When the mood is on me, I like it very well. Jan Karon, without so much show more ecclesiastical perspective; or, as my daughter would have it, Angela Thirkell with the snark dialed back. show less

More charm and gentle neighborliness to be found at Thrush Green. There, the sorrows of life coexist with the comedies and provide reassurance that life always has its compensations. The character I love best in these books is Winnie Bailey, the doctor's widow. She's one of the main ones that looks for those compensations even when life is a bit difficult, and she always takes things in stride, with a kindly humor and self-awareness. I feel drawn to her. Her conversation toward the end of show more this book about her experience of being married vs. being widowed felt very honest and balanced. However, that is not the quote that I have earmarked to share in my review. Enjoy this comic nugget...
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Before he could decide how best to cope with this strange behaviour, Dotty had recovered herself and was rattling on again about her demise.
"It's the disposal of the body which is the difficulty, as murderers always find. I should really like to be buried in the vegetable garden. All that good humus and those minerals being released slowly into the soil would do so much for the plant growth. However, there seems to be a great reluctance to let me have my way about this, and I suppose it must be cremation after all."
"They do it very nice," said Albert comfortingly.
"Well, I hope so," said Dotty doubtfully. She picked up her mug and drank deeply.
"I suppose the ashes would contribute a certain amount of nourishment," she continued more cheerfully. "I shall tell Connie to put most of it by the rhubarb."
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'Dotty's Collywobbles' was a common local complaint, familiar to Dr. Lovell and his partners, and the inhabitants of Thrush Green and Lulling had soon learned that it was wiser not to broach any of Dotty's sinister brews. No one had actually died, but many had hoped to, when suffering from sampling Dotty's offerings. show less

I turned to Miss Read's Fairacre Chronicles when I had finished the last Thrush Green book, The Year at Thrush Green. I had always thought the Thrush Green books infinitely better than the Mitford books my sisters-in-law so love. I was heartbroken when it was over. Thinking that the Fairacre novels would be more of the same, I turned to Village School.

Was I wrong! Yes, the story concerns a Cotswold village, as in Thrush Green. But the Fairacre novels are more worldly wise and the humor is show more much more sly. Thrush Green is the terribly idealized village everyone wishes they could live in; Fairacre is the village that you really live in, if you are lucky. The world of Fairacre is more realistic, with misbehaving children, out-of-wedlock births, alcoholic schoolmasters, the occasional abusive parent, and a schoolmistress who is human enough to lose patience and lose track of a 5-year-old while on a field trip.

I turned to Fairacre because I had already devoured all 12 Thrush Green books; I was seeking consolation. However, if Village School is any indication, I shall come to prefer it even to my own beloved Thrush Green. show less