John Moore (4) (1907–1967)

What a lovely little book, I shall treasure finding it at a secondhand book sale, where it's cover caught my eye! Although published in 1953 it could easily have been published yesterday, with it's environmental concerns around a small buttercup that was discovered growing in the Midsummer Meadow, it's last surviving habitat in all of the United Kingdom. The eccentric doctor who owns the meadow has a fight on his hands when progress comes to town in the form of the local Water Board, with show more their bulldozers, to dredge and widen the small river that meanders through the meadow. Full of all the usual village characters, plus the colourful ragtag members of a small Travelling Fair who camp, in their caravans, on the meadow, this story has all the elements needed for a great story! show less

The cover of my paperback quotes the New York Times: "The finest novel since To Kill a Mockingbird."