Changes at Fairacre: The tenth novel in the Fairacre series

Description

Over the years, Fairacre has seen many changes, some for the better, some less so. But the declining number of children at the village school has again threatened it with closure and for Miss Read this means maybe losing her livelihood and her home. And as she loses a dear friend, it is with heavy heart that Miss Read inherits the cottage of Miss Clare. Some things, however, never change: Miss Read's stout housekeeper, Mrs Pringle, continues her tirades; the harvest fair and fete remain cherished events; Amy has a problem with a most unwelcome guest; and a snowstorm and hurricane hit the village.

Miss Read, or in real life Dora Saint, was born 17 April 1913. A teacher by profession, she started writing after the Second World War for Punch and other journals and as a scriptwriter for the BBC. She is the author of many immensely popular books, including two autobiographical works, but it is for her novels of English rural life for which she is best known. The first of these, Village School, was published in 1955 and Miss Read continued to write about the fictitious villages of Fairacre and Thrush Green until her retirement in 1996. She lives in Berkshire, and in the 1998 New Year Honours list was awarded an MBE for her services to literature.