The Tale of Hill Top Farm: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter [Hardcover]

Susan Wittig Albert (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2004

The author of Peter Rabbit and other creature tales, Beatrix Potter is still, after a century, beloved by children and adults the world over. In this first Cottage Tale, Albert introduces Beatrix, an animal lover who has just bought a farm in England's beautiful Lake District. As Beatrix tries to win over the hearts of her fellow villagers, her animal friends set out to solve a mystery all their own.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–This novel is the first of a proposed eight-volume mystery series and, as might be expected, a great deal of time is spent introducing the characters who live in Near Sawrey, England, where Beatrix Potter has recently bought the farm of the title. This rather curious story, in which all the animals interact and speak to one another, opens with a death, strictly in the "cozy" category; however, the first eyewitness testimony comes some 60 pages later, and from a cat at that. The book comes "fully loaded" with an author's note, a cast of characters (actual beings distinguished from fictional), historical notes, a map, resources, recipes, and a glossary. Keeping track of all of the villagers plus all of the "talking" animals (never mind trying to keep track of clues–this is a mystery after all) can become a chore. All that said, Tale is endearing and worth the work for most readers. The English country village resonates with charm and humor, and sleuth Beatrix positively shines. When the animals or children appear, the story gains an even more vivid voice. Teen fans of Potter or any book in which animals are the protagonists will find this mystery appealing.–Jane Halsall, McHenry Public Library District, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

This is a perfectly charming cozy, as full of English country loam, leaf, and lamb as could be desired--no murder occurs, although the action begins with a death. What is a bit hard to take is the quasi-real historical setting, the Lake District farm in Near Sawrey that children's author and illustrator Beatrix Potter purchased soon after the death of her fiance in 1905. The story is as full of pinched schoolmistresses, vicar's widows, and goodhearted volunteers as any Barbara Pym novel, with the added fillip that the animals all talk to each other, as Potter's mice and bunnies and hedgehogs were known to do, and one timid cat puts a difficult human out of commission in a very catlike way. Potter herself is a shy but spirited presence, one player among many. Albert, of China Bayles fame, adds biography, recipes, and the promise of a series. If only she'd lose the talking animals. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Hardcover (September 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425196348
• ISBN-13: 978-0641806636
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #218,453 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My husband Bill and I live on 31 acres in the Hill Country of Central Texas, and have longhorn cows, sheep, geese, as well as the wild things that roam the meadows and woods. Our best buddies are our three dogs (Zach, Lady, and Toro) and our cat, Shadow. I'm a passionate gardener and am concerned about issues of global warming and energy depletion. You can find out more about the way I live in my new memoir, Together, Alone: A Memoir of Marriage and Place.

I've been writing professionally for nearly 25 years, after a stint in higher education as a faculty member and administrator. When I first started writing full time, I worked in the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series--yep, you got it: I am both Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon! (How cool is that?) In the years I was writing young adult novels, with Bill or by myself, I wrote over sixty books. In addition, Bill and I wrote a series of Victorian/Edwardian mysteries together, as Robin Paige.

Now, I write three mystery series: the China Bayles herbal mysteries, the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, and a new series (starting in July, 2010) called The Darling Dahlias, about a Southern garden club in the 1930s. Writing is not only my work, but my passion. Truly a right livelihood, and I'm grateful to have found it. I am also a member (and the founder) of the Story Circle Network, a nonprofit organization that supports women who want to write about their lives.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Animal Lovers will delight in this gentle mystery, November 14, 2004

By 

Gypsi Phillips Bates "bilbiophile" (Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tale of Hill Top Farm: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter (Hardcover)

Beatrix Potter is the heroine of this mystery, but not in the way that is popular lately: famous historical or fictional person is secretly a great detective. No, in this gentle mystery, Albert mixes fact with fiction and in telling of Miss Potter's first visit to Hill Top Farm as owner. There is no gruesome murder, no horrid secrets, no fearsome villain. Instead, there are a few missing items in the village of Near Sawrey that bring a ripple of disturbance to their (mostly) peaceful village. Miss Potter is not the detective, she doesn't seek out to find the missing items, nor does she use any deductive skills to solve the mysteries. She is merely the central point around which the story moves.

The thing that turns this from just the average village story, sprinkled with domestic mystery, to a delightful and charming story is the animals. Miss Potter brings here hedgehog, two bunnies and mouse with her. Also, the village has quite a cast of cats and dogs. What's even better-they talk! Not to humans, of course, but to each other. There conversations are recorded in italics, so the reader knows immediately which species is communicating. Albert uses it to make several amusing scenes where the animals are trying to tell the humans something, only to be told to stop meowing, or that there's no more fish, or that if they stop that noise they'll have to go outside. How shocked the village residents would be to discover that their pets made great detectives!

Another feature that makes this book so interesting is Miss Potter herself. Albert gives the reader glimpses of Miss Potters biography that made me sincerely want to read more. Luckily, Albert included a biographical not at the end, following Potter's life up to the point when the Hill Top Farm visit took place. I was interested enough, though, to want to know of Miss Potter, of what happens next, of when she does finally move in to Hill Top Farm. I was inspired to re-read Miss Potter's tales, as well, from the many mentions made of them.

I've used the word already, but "gentle" seems the best way to describe The Tale of Hill Top Farm. Pastoral, perhaps would also give the right impression; it is an escape from telephones and traffic and tv (and murder mysteries) to a slower time, when the loss of the Parish Register is a dreadful thing. Animal lovers will enjoy this book, though it might not be quite as satisfying to mystery lovers. Personally, I'm looking forward to the next of "The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter".

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Special Type of "Mystery", October 9, 2005

By 

J (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tale of Hill Top Farm: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter (Hardcover)

The Tale of Hill Top Farm is the first of a series which centers around the imagined life of Beatrix Potter, famed author of The Tale of Peter Rabbit and many other beloved children's books. The facts of her life are adhered to: her growing literary success; her difficult and cold upper class parents; the death from a sudden onset leukemia of her fiance and editor; her purchase of a small farm in the English Lake Country. But, the events surrounding the "mystery" are Susan Wittig Albert's contribution - the excellent description of the countryside and the times (later 1800's), the people, the speech patterns,etc. are done "in the manner of" Beatrix Potter...and well done.

Accustomed as we are to rip-tide quick action packed thrillers, it takes a bit to switch to Ms. Potter's/Ms. Albert's 19th century charm and pace. Don't be put off by the need to "switch gears"...it is a pleasure to have a different pace to a mystery. And the characters, including animals a la Potter, are wonderful.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cute Country Tale, January 4, 2006

By 

Butterscotch (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tale of Hill Top Farm: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter (Hardcover)

This book was listed as a mystery and, although it begins with a suspicious death, this is not a whodunit. Rather, The Tale of Hill Top Farm is a country tale that follows the life of Beatrix Potter and the townsfolk. There is a very interesting group of people in the book and they are all fictional (with the exception of Beatrix and William Heelis). Basically, Beatrix purchases the Hill Top Farm in the small village of Near Sawrey, and the book follows her interactions and struggles. It is weird - at first - to read a fictional book starring a real-life person; plus, the small animals in the book have spoken lines. The animals talk to the humans, but they can't be heard except to other animals. While some reviewers were put-off by the talking animals, I thought it was a sweet addition, and the animals actually help move the plot along. The story is rather `slow' in the sense that there is no action, really. This is a character-driven book in the small country, so you won't zip through this book at the same pace as an adventure or typical mystery. The book reminded me (a bit) of the Mitford series by Jan Karon, but without the religious messages. Overall, the book is very charming and I'll continuing reading the series.