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After the death of Emily Davis, school teacher & well-loved member of the local community, many friends recall fond memories of her. Dolly Clare mourns deeply, but warmly remembers their long friendship. She is joined by the town gossip, Mrs. Pringle, & a host of others. This is both a touching story of loss & a celebration of life, rich with affection for which Miss Read is so well knownTags
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I listened to an audio version of Emily Davis, the 8th book in Miss Read’s Fairacre series of stories about rural life in England. In this outing we explore the life of Emily Davis, after her death. She had been a well-loved teacher and in her twilight years had lived with another beloved local teacher, Dolly Clare.
Dolly, as well as other friends in the village and previous pupils remember Emily for her warmth and wisdom and through their individual recollections we grow to know Emily and at the same time are given a lovely portrait of life in the country from the turn of the century to the beginning of the 1970s. Emily and Dolly grew up together and were each other’s best friend. Emily was there to comfort Dolly when her fiance was show more killed in WW I and Dolly returned the favour when Emily’s fiance fell in love with another woman. The story is full of little stories about Emily's care and concern for others.
Emily Davis is a delightful read and an intriguing addition to the Fairacre series. Yes, Emily and Dolly are elderly spinsters, but Miss Read depicts them as strong, independent and interesting women whose stories touch the heart but are not at all “sappy”. A quiet, simple read that soothes the soul. show less
Dolly, as well as other friends in the village and previous pupils remember Emily for her warmth and wisdom and through their individual recollections we grow to know Emily and at the same time are given a lovely portrait of life in the country from the turn of the century to the beginning of the 1970s. Emily and Dolly grew up together and were each other’s best friend. Emily was there to comfort Dolly when her fiance was show more killed in WW I and Dolly returned the favour when Emily’s fiance fell in love with another woman. The story is full of little stories about Emily's care and concern for others.
Emily Davis is a delightful read and an intriguing addition to the Fairacre series. Yes, Emily and Dolly are elderly spinsters, but Miss Read depicts them as strong, independent and interesting women whose stories touch the heart but are not at all “sappy”. A quiet, simple read that soothes the soul. show less
The word 'gentle' keeps recurring in my reviews of Miss Read. This one's no exception- it's the sweet but not at all cloying story of how Miss Emily Davis has affected the lives of many current and former students and friends. Miss Emily Davis was a rare gift to the people whose paths she crossed, and not all of them were insensible to this fact. You'll walk away glad to have made her acquaintance yourself.
Just lovely. An affair of the heart--the hearts.
Like Miss Clare remembers, more of a memoir style than the Fairacre and Thrush Green series.
1st, HC, DJ
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87+ Works 12,678 Members
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 show more 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) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1971
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Statistics
- Members
- 118
- Popularity
- 274,755
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (4.06)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook
- ISBNs
- 11
- ASINs
- 3
