Just Remember - This Is Really A History Book!May 4, 2008 Scots Lass(Scotland) 9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Fans of the BBC adaptation should give this a wide berth if they are expecting witty tales of honest farm folks told in the style of Catherine Cookson. For example, the Pratt Sisters whose ludicrous antics and matching outfits took up so much of the BBC series, have little more than one page in the whole of this book! Miss Lane and her post office does not appear until the final 3rd of the compilation. There is no forbidden romance with the local Squire or any tension between him and his wife. Dawn French's larger than life Caroline gets one chapter on a page!
Instead, this is a glorious peek at the history of rural England, a wonderful read packed with information about the housing, social scene, class system, rural customs and some stories of local people. But it is not anything like the television series and those hoping it will be as accessible are in for a disappointment - in fact 2 friends who were eager to read it both gave it back after failing to get engrossed in what they hoped would be a bumper work of fiction.
Stunning !July 17, 2005 19 out of 20 found this review helpful
This trilogy is just stunning. I didn't want it to end, it's one of those books you savour, and you want it to go on forever. It's one of my all time favourites. I also warmly recommend the stories of Joan Kent, she is in the same league as Flora Thompson. Her "Haywains & Cherry Ale" and "Lamplight on Cottage Loaves" are wonderful, and they relieve any Flora Thompson withdrawal symptoms once you finish 'Lark Rise to Candleford'.
A beautful book about a 'beautiful time'February 9, 2004 G. Thulbourn(England) 27 out of 27 found this review helpful
Life was hard in those days but it was beautiful: well it is nice to think it was anyhow. A lovely book that wanders reminising through the author's childhood, told with the clarity as if it had all just happened yesterday. Captivatingly written and extremely evocative. A 'must read' book: close your eyes and dream what English rural life used to be like. Enjoy!
Returning to my own pastJuly 25, 2003 KitChat(West London, UK) 40 out of 40 found this review helpful
I first read this gem as a set book in school at around age 14, a London-born child educated in the City. The details of it never left me, 'Laura's' description of hamlet life in the 1880's were my benchmark for how poor honest country folk lived in those days, I could always refer to my recollections of the book, I was fascinated by the facts.
I finished re-reading it tonight, 37 years later and am still enchanted by the writer's simple and straightforward style and the vivid descriptions with such attention to detail. It's never fussy or sentimentalised, the reader comes to their own conclusion that material wealth isn't the secret to happiness, which is humbling when we compare today's standards with those of these simple people. Laura does well for herself, and the reader is glad for her but she never loses sight of who she is deep down.
I shall recommend that my young neice reads it, I doubt she'll enjoy it as I did but if only a little of the good natured common sense of the people is recognised that will be a good thing for a child brought up these days to know about. Am I really getting that old-fashioned?
Out of the OrdinaryMay 28, 2002 Nhaka 15 out of 15 found this review helpful
This book is a wonderful read from beginning to end. The author wrote a book of great beauty about the places and people of her childhood and early adult years. Her discriptions of both are interesting and written with a love for the world she knew. If you are interested in social history then this is an excellent read. Even those with no real interest in such will find it entertaining and a superb read. One of those books you read slowly.
