Customer Reviews

News from Thrush Green

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

All of Miss Read's books are enchanting and this one is no exception. I only wish that her Thrush Green books and Fairacre books would be republished as sets so I could read them all again and this time in chronological order.

Up until a few weeks prior to buying this book, I was unfamiliar with the works of Miss Read. Since then I've managed to collect not just this particular volume in the Thrush Green series, but also the ones prior and those that follow, with 2 exceptions, which I shall soon rectify as I would like the entire series. This is definately a prime example of a light read. Miss Read's descriptions of her fictional English village, built within picturesque surroundings (notice her flowing narrative concerning the woodlands and the village inhabitants gardens; she definatley knows her horticulture!), are indeed idealic, setting-wise. And of course, the village is filled with typical but tolerable, lovable, eccentrics. Looking to escape into the English countryside, even for just a chapter or two before bed or on a rainy afternoon, this is the perfect place to start.

News from Thrush Green is, as are all of Miss Read's books, perfect. It provides relaxed, clean reading, humor and wonderful people. One can't ask for more.

If you enjoy this general type of book, you can't do much better than this author read by this narrator. The series of 10 or more books was written between early 1950's and mid 1990's, and it follows the life stories of an delightful cast of characters in village life. You know them through all life's stages. Molly and Ben, referred to only briefly in this book, fall in love, face formidable family members with their plans, and start a new life in the first book. The old town doctor in the first book begins to accept that he is not going to fully recover and must accept turning his practice over to a new young doctor. In this book, the young doctor is now well accepted in the village and has married a local girl. In a later book, the doctor has passed on and his widow faces her grief with courage and good memories and good friends.

For many readers, all this would be quite boring but I enjoy simple and amusing stories by an exceptional story-teller who knows how to 'show' rather than 'tell.'

This narrator could become one of my all-time favorites. She captures young boys, the eccentric old Dotty Harmer, the constantly complaining church sexton, and even the evil genius of Dotty's malicious billy goats. The narrator does not over-dramatize, which so many do.

I'm hoping for the whole series as a set all read by this narrator.

This book continues with the lives of the people in the little village of Thrush Green. All the regulars are there with a couple new interesting people added in. The story expands on their daily life in the village.

As always, Miss Read takes us back in time to the "Good Old Days".
Excellent book, well written, relaxing reading. Highly recommend!