My Friends the Miss Boyds

I loved this book (thank you, markon) for both the characters and the setting. It is the first in a series of nineteen novels based on the author's life.

Janet is a curious, observant eight-year-old growing up on a farm in the Scottish Highlands in 1918. Her world is quite small--her family's farm, Reachfar, and the village, Achcraggan--but Janet's powers of observation make every person, detail of nature, and event come alive for the reader. Clearly this is not the voice of an eight-year-old, no matter how precocious, but the first-person narrative works. Although the title focuses on the Miss Boyds, six unmarried sisters, they are not major figures in the book. They do act as a foil for exploring village stereotypes toward spinsters show more and toward those in trouble, but the action focuses on what Janet sees and hears, and the Boyds are simply one of the many curious aspects of adulthood that Janet sees around her.

The characters are vivid and both quaintly exotic and familiar. The setting is beautifully rendered, and Janet's attention to detail gives the reader a close look without being claustrophobic. The plot is slow and uncomplicated, as befits a child in a small village; yet I could not stop reading and was regretful when the book ended. I immediately ordered the next in the series, but was sad to read that it picks up when Janet is twenty. I will miss the rest of Janet's childhood. show less

Written in the first person by eight-year-old Janet Sandison (known also by the name of the croft, Reachfar) this story is set in Scotland in 1918 when her world is beginning to change. Also a social history of manners and local customs, it describes a charming childhood where Janet is expected to "Do As She Is Told" but with solicitude and sensitivity. Granny is boss, except when Grandfather chooses make a decision, reminding me of my own beloved grandparents. The Miss Boyds were six sisters who came to the village from the town and were protected by the Reachfars. Although there are dark sections, the story is for the most part sweet and will tug at the heartstrings.

This is the first of a new series for me. I think it came up as a suggestion here at LibraryThing. I liked the cover and decided to try it. I was just delighted! I kept sharing stories with my Mama. I think she would love this one as well. I did sort of wish that I had it on my Kindle to have easy access to a dictionary, though a lot of words might be slang for the area. A wonderful cozy read with an edge. I loved the characters and hope to read all 19 in the series.

This story is told by Janet Sandison, also known as Janet Reachfar after the croft where she lives. She's a young girl and is very much part of the village life in the Black Isle in Scotland. Into that life come the Miss Boyds, six rather silly sisters of varying ages.

I liked the characterisations in this book, and the story as told by Janet. The book reads for the most part like it could be a children's book, until something happens that sobers up the reader, and brings back to mind the harsh times in which the book is set (towards the end, and post, World War One). However, the book is for the most part an easy and pleasant read. I've since got hold of a copy of the Millrace Books edition of My Friend Monica, which I'm looking show more forward to reading too. show less

While it has been a while since I have read the Reachfar series by Jane Duncan they remain one of my favourite series ever. Written from the 1950's onwards the semi-autobiographical works follow the central character Jane throughout her life. Jane has a wonderful style and her character's are classics - the love story development between Janet the narrator and Alexander Alexander aka Twice is hilarious.

First published in 1959, Duncan writes of the world at the close of WWI in the depths of an economic depression, she knew as a child--a close woven community on Scotland's Black Isle. Outsiders from Inverness, the Miss Boyds, disrupt the rural self-reliant idiosyncratic way of life.

This is one of the very few books I've read where I wish that I knew the people and the places described within. What a marvelous book!