Orem Library

Brings to life with humour and charm 'Miss Read's view of life in the countryside of the past. Born into a home where food and clothing were hard-earned, where oil and candles were luxuries, Miss Clare--retired village schoolmistress and devoted countrywoman--looks back on a richly rewarding life.

VILLAGE CENTENARY welcomes us back to Miss Read's cozy downland village just in time for the one hundredth anniversary of Fairacre School. Miss Clare, who was a pupil and later a teacher there, points out that such a centenary should be celebrated, and all of Fairacre is quick to offer suggestions -- from a tea party to a full-scale pageant. Deciding how best to stage the grand occasion, however, is only of Miss Read's problems. The ancient skylight...

Miss Read, whose real name is Dora Jessie Saint, has been producing these delightful novels of English village life since 1956. On the first day of the summer holidays Miss Read plunges literally into the end of term, by falling downstairs and breaking her arm and twisting her ankle. Her old friend Amy Garfield insists on taking her on holiday to the idyllic island of Crete. The two women, so dissimilar but united in friendship, have time to assess...

Cranford, in 1842, is a market town in northwest England. It is a place governed by etiquette, custom and above all, an intricate network of ladies. It seems that life has always been conducted according to their social rules. For spinsters Deborah Jenkyns, the arbiter of correctness, and Matty, her demurring sister, the town is a hub of intrigue. Handsome new doctor Frank Harrison has arrived from London; a retired Captain and his daughters move...

Nestled in the heart of the Cotswolds, Thrush Green is normally a peaceful place. But as autumn turns to winter, feelings are running high in the village. Miss Fogerty, a respected teacher at the village school for over thirty years, is troubled by the methods of the new young teacher. Dotty Harmer takes up driving, much to the concern of others, and it isn't long before she is involved in an accident and a threatening court case. And when the good...

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty facade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils, Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the town's council...

The rivalry between two Gloucestershire farm families intensifies when Jim, a member of neither family, takes his expertise from one farm to the other.

"After a long winter of red noses and wet mittens, summer is a welcome time for Miss Read and her village friends. 'Summer at Fairacre' charmingly recounts this bright, bustling season and the problems and possiblities that unfold against the background of roses, skylarks, and bees. Joseph Coggs finds a temporary home in the schoolhouse while his mother is in the hospital. Miss Read's friend, Amy, mysteriously disappears. Perhaps most difficult of...

Flora Thompson's immortal trilogy, containing "Lark Rise", "Over To Candleford" and "Candleford Green", is a heartwarming portrayal of country life at the close of the 19th century. This story of three closely related Oxfordshire communities - a hamlet, the nearby village and a small market town - is based on the author's experiences during childhood and youth. It chronicles May Day celebrations and forgotten children's games, the daily lives of farmworkers...

In Affairs at Thrush Green, Miss Read continues the fortunes of the Thrush Green families whom we last met in Gossip from Thrush Green. Here we follow the kindly vicar, Charles Henstock, to the neighboring Lulling, after his home was burned to the ground at the end of the earlier novel. Going to a new church is never easy, even in the best of times; indeed, poor Dr. Henstock encounters some very redoubtable females in Lulling. A full-scale power struggle...