Village Diary

Miss Read's books are pure comfort reading for me. No challenges, nothing thought-provoking, or controversial or even topical, just kind, simple stories of village life in the Cotswolds, where time seems to stand still...or rather, things seem to carry on without reference to any particular period of history. We do know it's the early 1950s in this one, but nothing intrudes. Miss Read, the head teacher at the Fairacre School, has been given a diary by her more cosmopolitan best friend, and urged to record the events of her life, which she does, one month at a time. The usual annual school, church and community-wide events, sprinkled with an occasional bit of spice from the "outside" world a few villages away to give our cast of show more characters something to talk about over tea. These books are cozy, and at the same time real. If you've read them, you know what I mean. show less

In this second in the series, the focus widens out from the schoolchildren to the rest of the village. The narrator's rosy coloured spectacles do get a bit irritating at times but as an elegy for what was then a vanishing way of life and now has probably completely gone these gentle books are very soothing.

Village Diary by Miss Read is the second book in her Fairacre series. Fictionally written by the village school mistress, this volume follows a monthly schedule as Miss Read writes in her diary an account of village and school life. Opening in January and closing in December, we are treated to sketches of various residents, descriptions of nature and gardens, general village affairs and day to day life at the two room schoolhouse.

Set in a beautiful rural location, these books are timeless and charming. I am slowly working my way through the Fairacre series and I seize these books whenever I feel the need for a comfort read as these books never fail to transport me to a kinder, gentler world.

More musings from Miss Read about Life in an English village in the late 1950s. The diary format enables her to write about anything and everything, although there is an overriding narrative arc as well. It - very neatly - covers a calendar year.

I liked this better than the first one- the characters, most of whom were introduced in [b:Village School|611240|Village School (Chronicles of Fairacre #1)|Miss Read|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176303070s/611240.jpg|2424019], had more room to breathe. This was decidedly amusing. It's pure candyfloss for the Anglophile, and I gobbled it up and giggled all the way through. I'm going forward with this series, though perhaps not all at once.

This installment takes look at a year in Fairacre through the eyes of the head teacher from January to December at a time when many schools were being consolidated. It's also a glimpse of village life, and especially, of the poverty of some village residents. It's a delightful re-read from days gone by.

Another wonderful book by Miss Read (a pseudonym for Dora Saint), this one the recounting of an entire year in Miss Read's diary. As the village school headmistress, the unmarried Miss Read describes life in her village with warmth and good humor. If you like action, this book is not for you but if you like homey stories that delve into various types of personalities, by all means pick this one up.