Orion Tyler's Row Miss Read

'No matter how devoted, dedicated, conscientious and altogether noble a teacher is, I feel pretty sure that each and every one feels that same sense of freedom and relief from her chains when the end of term arrives...' • So it is for Miss Read - but on the very first day of the long summer holiday, she falls and breaks her arm. Instantly, all her plans for the holidays are in tatters • But Miss Read's friend, Amy, comes up with a plan: and so it is that the two of them leave Fairacre for the island of Crete. The change of scene provides a welcome break for both women, giving Miss Read the opportunity to recuperate and for them both to discuss the merits of single and married life. And when Miss Read returns refreshed to Fairacre, she is ready to tackle the problems which await her

In her first book Village School Miss Read gave a picture of the small but detailed world of a typical primary school in a remote country area, a world peopled by the children themselves, Miss Clare the venerable infants teacher, glum Mrs Pringle the cleaner, the vicar and other inhabitants of Fairacre. In Village Diary Miss Read describes the people of Fairacre with the same exactitude, sense of comedy and sharp observation • In addition to those characters familiar to readers of Village School there are newcomers, including dictatorial Amy, an old college friend, Mr Mawne, whom the village sees as a possible husband for the unwilling Miss Read and the earnest new infants teacher. Overshadowing everything, there is the mammoth country pageant in which Fairacre is so sharply and painfully divided

'People in Fairacre simply won't stand for their children being uprooted, and carted away in buses like so many - er, so many-' • 'Animals ' prompted Mr Roberts helpfully • 'No, no, not animals,' said Mrs Mawne testily. 'Animals don't go in buses! What I mean is, we won't have it. We'll never let Fairacre school close.' • She looked round the table. Her face was red, her eyes bright • 'Agreed ' • The village of Fairacre is buzzing with rumours of the imminent closure of its two-class school. As fears grow amid mounting conjecture, headmistress Miss Read's future hangs in the balance. And trouble is never far away as village life is further disrupted by tangled matrimonial affairs and a police investigation. The community must rally together to face this new threat

Сегодня первомайский праздник, и в деревню Траш-Грин приехала ярмарка. У всех жителей Траш-Грин свои представления о ярмарке. Для юного Пола, только что оправившегося от болезни, - радость, что ему разрешили поиграть на ярмарке; для Рут, которая вернулась в умиротворяющее спокойствие Траш-Грин, ярмарка - желанное отвлечение от проблем. А для доктора Ловелла ярмарка приносит неожиданного нового пациента. Еще есть миссис Кэрдл, давний матриарх ярмарки. Для нее посещение "Траш Грин" в этом году вызывает смешанные чувства и трудности, с которыми она не хочет сталкиваться • Это роман "Траш Грин", исполненный неподражаемого очарования и юмора Мисс Рид • Книга на английском языке • It's the May Day holiday and a fair has come to the village of Thrush Green

A nostalgic collection on rural schools, childhood and English country life from the much-loved author of Village School • From organising the school summer fete • 'Because of our inability to recognise our climatic shortcomings from the outset, arrangements for outdoor jollities get completely out of hand' • to the sometimes rather odd passions of childhood • 'I collect stones with holes in them' • Miss Read captures the essence of rural life, and in particular of village schools, as only she can. This collection also includes extracts from her letters • 'Michael Joseph wrote after the Observer thing and is throwing out feelers for a book. I shall know if he still feels like it - me too! - after we've met' • It will also include an Introduction on how 'Miss Read' was first created • 'Miss Read was born fully clothed in sensible garments and aged about forty

On a blustery March day in the village of Fairacre, Miss Clare sees two strangers, 'pacing slowly, side by side, along the edge of Hundred Acre Field which lay on the other side of Miss Clare's garden hedge...' • So begins a story which brings all the villagers of Fairacre together, as they face the prospect of developers who hope to build new houses on the fields adjoining old Mr Miller's farm. Everyone has an opinion - but not everyone is in agreement about the development • Under the watchful gaze of Miss Read, the school teacher, we meet old characters and new, from retired teacher Miss Clare and the surly Mrs Pringle, to the new assistant teacher, Miss Jackson - who brings with her problems of her own

When Miss Read took early retirement, she anticipated days of relaxation and calm. She couldn't have been more wrong! Instead she finds herself as busy and in demand as ever: on holiday in Florence, helping with church and school affairs and offering a kindly ear to her eccentric neighbours • As village life continues as always, Miss Read embarks on a local project and discovers a new talent, opening up an exciting chapter in her life

Taken from the orginal omnibus Christmas at Fairacre, Miss Read's wonderfully festive collection of Christmas stories is packed with entertaining characters and enchanting stories • From the rural festivities in Village Christmas and Jingle Bells to the pre-war story Christmas at Caxley 1913, the intriguing The Fairacre Ghost and the poignant tale of The White Robin, Miss Read's wry wit and light touch is the perfect antidote to the long winter evenings

Summer at Fairacre charmingly recounts this bright, bustling season and the problems and possibilities that unfold against the backdrop of roses, skylarks and bees • Joseph Coggs finds a temporary home in the schoolhouse while his mother is in the hospital. Miss Read's friend Amy mysteriously disappears. Perhaps most difficult of all, Mrs. Pringle, the grumpy school cleaner, is unable to work because of her 'bad leg' • Still, the sounds of children playing and the fragrance of summertime flowers fill the air, as Miss Read shepherds her students and friends through the warm season

The arrival of a stranger in the village of Thrush Green stirs up ripples of speculation and interest. Not only does the village find itself paying tribute to this stranger's hero - a missionary born and bred in Thrush Green - but his presence has a dramatic affect on Miss Dimity Dean's romantic prospects • As the story plays out, Miss Read succeeds in portraying village life with all its often unexpected incidents and her unwavering eye for detail beautifully captures the character of a gradually disappearing aspect of rural English life

'The story of the village goes back a long, long time, and it still goes on. I have listened to my neighbours' accounts of tales long ago, and with what unfailing curiousity I observe the happenings of today!' • From an unusual weight-loss recipe in an old notebook - and used with alarming consequences - to the queen of copy-cats who drives her neighbour mad with anger, Over the Gate is a hugely entertaining collection of tales from Fairacre, past and present • Miss Read, the school mistress, continues to attract odd stories and village folklore, and retells them with her characteristic compassion and humour

There are new people on the Green • When old Admiral Trigg and his sister Lucy died, their house - Tullivers -stood empty for many months. Then one bright April day, some discreet onlookers saw a good-looking woman pushing her way through the nettles to the front door • Who was she? Was she on her own? Had she bought the house and if so, what kind of a neighbour would she be? These were just some of the questions asked by the curious residents of Thrush Green, a village bubbling with feuds, disasters and delights, all observed by Miss Read with her customary wry wit and charm