Miss Read
Affairs at Thrush Green (1984)
Author: Miss Read
Genre: Gentle
Plot Summary:
Affairs at Thrush Green focuses on the efforts of the local vicar, Charles Henstock, as he goes about his duties to the residents of Thrush Green and the neighboring villages. Henstock has only recently moved to nearby Lulling and is slowly getting the lay of the land and gaining the respect on his new congregation. He must settle disputes concerning not only the running of the church, but also the rivalry between two of the local business establishments.
Geographical Setting: Rural England
Time Period: Mid-20th Century
Series: Thrush Green series
Appeal Characteristics:
Affairs at Thrush Green is a very leisurely paced story, with a pleasent literary tone, and presented in an episodic form. The book is filled with well defined and often rather eccentric characters that, at times, makes for a rather humorous read. Miss Read also does an excellent job of describing the small villages themselves, as well as the English country side.
Read-alikes:For more of the character and country side found in this book try Thrush Green as it is the first in the Thrush Green series written by Miss Read. She also writes the Fairacre Chonicles, the first of which is entitled Village School. Jan Karon's At Home in Mitford is set in America, but has a similar feel and emphasis on setting and characters. All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot is also set in the English country side and follows a veterinarian through his work, just as Affairs follows the local vicar. The Ladies of Covington Send Their Love by Joan A. Medicott is the first in a series that is set in North Carolina and follows the lives of three women in their sixties that move out of a retirement into an old farmhouse. The series is presented in a similar episodic manner as the Thrush Green series and focuses on the lives of its characters.
Red Flags:None
News from Thrush Green (1970)
Author: Miss Read
Genre: Gentle
Plot Summary:
Thrush Green's newest resident, Phil, has moved in with a son but no husband, and it eventually gets out that he has left her. She attracts the attention of a kindly older bachelor, Harold, and a young, serious one, Richard. Harold becomes close with her and tends her garden on a regular basis, and comforts her upon hearing the news that her husband has died while abroad in France. He introduces her to an editor, Frank, who helps her get her stories published in order that she might get some money now that her husband is no longer around to send any. SPOILER: Eventually Richard gets up the courage to propose to Phil but is rebuffed, and before Harold can get up his wits to do the same she announces to him that Frank has proposed to her, to which news he gives her his congratulations.
Geographical Setting: Rural England
Time Period: Mid 20th Century
Series: Thrush Green, Book 3
Appeal Characteristics:
This story is very slowly paced and the relatively uneventful main plot takes places over a what seems like a relatively huge number of pages in relation to the action. Much description of the town, the weather, nature and of the goings-on of other, more minor characters makes up a huge number of subplots that are fairly unrelated to the major conflict. Any new event described must be gossiped about by the majority of the minor characters before another new event can proceed. The tone is leisurely and fairly bright, as even when conflict arises, it is generally used to show the goodwill the other characters have toward the conflicted character. The characters are fairly flat and usually are defined only by their pasts and circumstances, and none do much changing in terms of their personalities throughout the course of the book. The setting is probably the major draw for most readers, as the little town of Thrush Green is mentioned over and over by the residents and described in lush detail by the author. The frame is largely defined by the setting and plot, and the plot is loose and doesn't dwell too long on any one storyline, but weaves them all together in a general narrative about the town.
Read-alikes: Miss Read's Fairacre series is a quite similar series with similarly simple characters and a small town setting, readers should start the first book, Village School. Jan Karon's Mitford Years series, beginning with At Home in Mitford, has more religious elements, but a similarly slow pace with multiple plot threads that intertwine with one another. Joanna Trollope's The Rector's Wife as a bit more of a romantic angle, and would be satisfying to readers who liked the romance in this book, and it also seems to have a similar frame to one of the smaller plots about Thrush Green's village Rector as well as a small town setting. Rebecca Shaw's A Country Affair has a similarly leisurely tone and slow pace, and would be appealing to those who enjoyed the Britishness of Miss Read's books. Jennifer Chiaverini has a series called the Elm Creek Quilts books, the first of which is The Quilter's Apprentice, which take place in a small town and have a gentle, inoffensive plot and quaint, compassionate characters.
Red Flags: One racial slur/racially stereotyped character, very mild language ("damn"), and references to offstage marital infidelity
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