Lark Rise to Candleford: A Trilogy [Paperback]

Flora Thompson (Author), introduction by H. J. Massingham (Author), Julie Neild (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2010

Flora Thompson (1876-1947) wrote what may be the quintessential distillation of English country life at the turn of the twentieth century. In 1945, the three books - Lark Rise (1939), Over to Candleford (1941), and Candleford Green (1943), were published together in one elegant volume, and this new omnibus Nonpareil edition, complete with charming wood engravings, should be a cause for real rejoicing.

This is the story of three closely-related Oxfordshire communities -- a hamlet, a village, and a town -- and the memorable cast of characters who people them. Based on Thompson's own experiences as a child and young woman, it is keenly observed and beautifully narrated, quiet and evocative.

The books have inspired two plays that ran in London, and the trilogy has been adapted into a multi-part, long-running television drama series by the BBC. The first series of ten episodes is scheduled to be syndicated on various PBS stations throughout the Unites States.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Our literature has no finer remembrancer . . . no observer so genuinely endearing. --John Fowles, New Statesman

Flora Thompson's great memoir of her Oxfordshire girlhood [is] a model of the form. The richness of the language, the lingering over detail and incident creates a haunting classic. --The New York Times

About the Author

Flora Thompson was born in 1876 in a hamlet in Oxfordshire. Her first job was an assistant to the postmistresses in a town eight miles away. She married young, and her husband became a postmaster. Her first book was a collection of poems, but she is best remembered for her three autobiographical novels which became the Lark Rise trilogy. A fourth volume, Still Glides the Stream, was published posthumously in 1948. She died in Devon in 1947.

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: David R. Godine; First Godine Edition edition (March 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567923631
• ISBN-13: 978-1567923636
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Juniper Hill, Oxfordshire, Flora Thompson left school at 14 to work in the local post office. She married young, and wrote mass-market fiction to help support her increasing family. In her 60s she published the semi-autobiographical trilogy combined as LARK RISE TO CANDLEFORD (1945).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Perceptive and Empathetic Account of English Rural Life by a Precursor and Kindred Spirit of Miss Read, September 18, 2009

By 

min-bee (Nyack, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lark Rise to Candleford: A Trilogy (Paperback)

This book provides an easily readable, well-written account of English rural life in the late 1800s, before this culture was forever changed by industrialization. The author was a young girl whose simple adventures are described, and she does have an eye for the details of country life that provides a charming portrait of that life. Oxford University Press was the original publisher of this trilogy, and the quality of the book justified the publisher's faith. The author observes that although people didn't have as many material goods as today, and although they worked very hard, they seemed happier than their descendents. For example, she describes the system of assistance in the community among its different classes and members when there was no welfare state.
Perhaps because I discovered this book through an article in "Victoria" magazine in the 1990s--before the BBC made a television series out of it--I did not miss the absence of a storyline or plot. This is a beautiful book when it is taken on its own terms. If you enjoy Miss Read's novels of English village life, you will probably appreciate this book's loving depiction of country life at an earlier time. I think the inspiration of Miss Read and Flora Thompson is the same.

60 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Late-19th c. rural England, April 24, 2009

By 

LH422 (Washington, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Lark Rise to Candleford: A Trilogy (Paperback)

Written in the 1940s, this semi-fictional account of hte Oxfordshire villages Lark Rise and Candleford looks back at the 1880s, a time of transition in the ENglish countryside. Work, social relationships, home life, schooling- all of these things changed in the last years of the 19th c. THompson examines these changes through the story of Laura, a girl who comes of age in the 1880s and 90s. But truly, in this work Laura's story takes a back seat to description. Thompson is clearly using this book to capture a lost world, and the book includes whole chapters describing the countryside and the traditions of its people. The writing is almost anthropological. While the description is interesting, and it is a very easy read, I found myself longing for more plot, more discussion of what happened to Laura. I also found that the book seemed to romanticize what must have been, by all accounts, grinding poverty. That said, the descriptions THompson offers are engaging and vibrant, and the book is a quick, and dare I say, relaxing, read.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful view of British country life, January 12, 2011

By 

J. Olsen (UT, United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lark Rise to Candleford: A Trilogy (Paperback)

I have completed the first book in the trilogy, and though I agree with another reviewer that it has the same kind of feel as the "Little House on the Prairie" and "Anne of Green Gables" series' (all of which I love), I don't think I would put this in the same age range as either. The "Little House" series was something my friends and I read starting in elementary school, and my daughters did the same. The "Anne" books were more junior high to high school, and we have enjoyed them as adults as well. Though Thompson's books have the same rural, homey feel to them, I think the lack of an ever-present storyline would make them less appealing to the average youth today who is used to instant gratification and constant entertainment (I know I am generalizing). I'm sure there are some youth that would love them, but they are much more an insightful, descriptive look at country life with stories scattered here and there and I believe they will appeal more to adults. I find them fascinating and I think the people who used these books as a basis for the PBS series have done a brilliant job of creating a consistent storyline from the threads of narrative Thompson has woven together. If you have watched the series and loved it, don't approach the books as "the script" for what you have seen. View it more as background material and enjoy a deeper look into what made the people who they are. If you have read the books and are just considering seeing the series, don't expect to see what you have read. They are both wonderful examples of their own art form. Let each stand alone and appreciate them for what they are.

ETA: I have now completed the book and have seen all four seasons of the PBS series. I love them both, but would still caution people not to expect the movies to be an exact visual portrayal of the books. I admit that I am one who has been upset at times when I have seen a movie "based on" a classic book that has taken great liberties in their portrayal and completely changed characters who are critical to the storyline. However, I had not read these books before seeing the first three seasons of the PBS series, so the show was my introduction to the stories and characters. I still thoroughly enjoyed the books and thought it was fun to see what had inspired many of the stories in the TV series.