I'm so glad I decided to give "Miss Read's" books another chance. Years ago I started one (I think it was a different series from this), and I found it rather dull. Either I wasn't in the right mood, or else the Thrush Green series is just better, because I'm thoroughly enjoying these tales. (Thank you, Rebekah!)
These books exemplify what I love best in a story: social truths handled with a deft and kindly hand. That is to say, when an author brings characters together and then pulls back the curtain on what they are each thinking and feeling about each other or about themselves, it adds real depth to the things that they actually do and say. And when all the characters are fundamentally decent people, but with loads of idiosyncrasies, it makes for a cozy, totally relatable story.
In "Battles at Thrush Green," the battles are small and (mostly) civil, but they're still important to the people who have a stake in them. The rector wants to beautify the cemetery, but several parishioners are against it. The eccentric old maid Miss Harmer inherits a car which no one thinks she should drive, and causes an accident. The schoolteachers experience a rift in their friendship after the intrusion of a third teacher in their domain. And the doctor's wife is fighting a private battle of how to face up to life as a widow. Mostly it's a story of how regular people get on with life. It's real life, but it's gently handled, and that's kind of a nice escape. ( )

Friction with the new teacher at the village school, disagreements over maintenance of the churchyard, and a charge of dangerous driving in this visit to the Cotswolds in the early 1970s. Lovely nature-writing and now 50 years later, a real nostalgia-inducing read. ( )

What I remember most about this book is a quote from one of the characters, in one of the scenes where a group of the older ladies of Thrush Green are chatting over tea. They are discussing the winter doldrums and one of the ladies says "I always buy a new pair of shoes in January and that perks me right up". This book is full of little moments like that, that for me were very easy to relate to. It focuses on the community of Thrush Green and the ordinary issues that it's members face--a widow moving on after her husbands death, a mother debating the schooling of her son with her husband, an older woman's questionable driving habits, a falling out between the teachers at the school. What is remarkable and heartwarming is how the members of the community slowly and steadily tend to one another and work out compromises that create a harmonious ending. Read this one for a cozy uplift-it might even be just as good as buying a new pair of shoes. ( )

A wonderful comfort read, Battles At Thrush Green by Miss Read (Dora Saint) gives it’s readers a slice of rural British life in the late 1950’s to early 1960’s delving into the affairs of the residents that live in and around Thrush Green.

The battles referred to in the title are small, but nonetheless important to the residents, from the rector’s plan for the much neglected churchyard, to the battle on-going with the three teachers as to who gets which classroom. One resident find herself having to cope with widowhood, and another finds herself in trouble with the law as she attempts to take up driving after getting access to a car after a number of years without.

Through all the various stories, the author details the passing of the seasons through vivid descriptions of both the natural flora and fauna as well as depicting the calendar year through the gardens that the residents are so proud of. Battles At Thrush Green is the 4th book in Miss Reads’ portrait of day-to-day life in this small Cotswold village. ( )

A lovely escape read, into an English village where the "battles" are never very bloody. Along about March, when the snow is dirty and the weather can still be nasty, I long to escape to the Cotswolds and Miss Read's villages. Fortunately, all that's needed is a library card. ( )