Thrush Green

The exact opposite of these chaotic, cruel days.

That's why I selected this book to read before bedtime: life of the villagers on Green Thrush is the exact opposite of the life in 2026 America.

I have no idea how realistic the depiction of life in a small English village in the mid 20th century this little novel is. I suspect, even in the "good ol'" days of 1959 when it was written, it was pure dewy-eyed nostalgia. But that's why I selected it. I wanted to read about a variety of characters, some even quite flawed and grumpy, that somehow live together in peace and gratitude. They even sweetly believe that life will go on just as it is.

Something I didn't expect, but absolutely loved, is the many different ages of the characters. Everyone show more is a factor of the good life. In fact, one character, an old gypsy woman who owns a traveling fair is the central theme in the story. (Stories featuring old ladies gets me every time.) Whenever she appeared on the page, my blood pressure began a beautiful journey into the normal range.

This novel reminds me of Miss Marples' St Mary Mead--but rather all cozy with no murders.

In the coming years, post-Trump, the only thing about these times that I will feel nostalgic about will be the books I read and the calming friendships I made here on Goodreads and LibraryThing. show less

Despite my love of Village England novels, I've somehow never read a Miss Read book. I think I thought they would be too twee for me. And the first quarter kind of reinforced that. Everyone is so wonderful, everything is so lovely, even the bad things are presented through a softened glow.

But then, as I read, I started to get caught in the story. And the writing is lovely, especially the descriptions of nature and the understated observations of the people.

By the end I wanted to read another one. Immediately. I guess I'll go find the first installment of the other series, the one narrated by Miss Read herself (Doris Saint, the author, wrote two series, and this is the not-as-famous-but-still-famous-one).

A fluffy warm blanket book, show more for sure, but it captures an era and its people in a way that doesn't condescend at all, and still holds up. Fascinating.

Oh yeah, the plot. The story takes place over the course of May 1, when a much-loved fair comes to town. The villagers and the fair people all know each other. There are crossover stories between the traveling folk and the villagers, a couple of extremely decorous love stories, and amusing secondary characters. It's very early-Thirkellian, which makes sense because Saint was a fan of Trollope. But when Thirkell wrote about the 1950s she was in her embittered phase. This is more like reading the Thirkell of the 1930s and 1940s, but set in the later era. If that makes sense.

There are illustrations sprinkled throughout the text. I'd forgotten how nice it was to have those. Just black and white on my ereader, although they don't look to be in the right shades to be in color (when available). A few typos but overall a wonderful throwback read. show less

You know what I like most about this book? It combines a quiet, interesting, lovely story of English village life with evocative writing and thoughtfulness on the subjects of growing old and letting go. Yes, you are sure from the start that all will be well. But you don't choke on the treacle, as in some so-called cozies.

It's no Fairacre, but it still provided a much-needed dose of gentle coziness, although I could certainly do without the toxic masculinity of some of the characters. I also felt that this wasn't a great series starter, since it's on the shorter side and it all takes place in one day. I'm grateful I started with Fairacre because if I'd started here I might not have felt compelled to continue with Miss Read's books! But since I did love Fairacre, I'll keep on with Thrush Green to see if it improves.

I've read this series many times but I often don't read this one but it was good to revisit the start of things. It is set in late 1950s middle England and the characters and society are of their time - lovely and cosy to read about but I wouldn't want to live there or then.
The action takes place over a single day - 1st May - but the narrator's explanations and the characters' thoughts fill us in on what has led up to this day.

Covering one day - the first of May, the day of the annual fair - this novel follows the hopes and dreams and history of various characters in the village. There is a curious mix of careful attention to detail and sweeping summaries of feelings and plans.

Pleasant, engaging tale of a small village (in the Cotswolds, I believe) in the first half of the 20th century on a single spring day when the annual "fair" (we would say "carnival" in the States) came to town. Things aren't all rosy, but they do seem to work out as they ought to, allowances being made for meanness and mortality. Just the ticket with a cup of tea and a cat on your lap.
2016