"The writing is an evocative ticket back to the 1950s and 60s: delightful tales of country life, which will stir memories in those old enough to remember and charm those young enough not to have those memories... Anyone who takes pleasure in tales of times past, and the interesting trivia that make up everyday life will revel in this book. It's a delight from start to finish." OXFORD TIMES

Miss Read, in real life Dora Saint, was a teacher by profession who started writing after the Second World War, beginning with light essays written for Punch and other journals. She then wrote on educational and country matters and worked as a scriptwriter for the BBC. Miss Read was married to a schoolmaster for sixty-four years until his death in 2004, and they had one daughter. Miss Read was awarded an MBE in the 1998 New Year Honours list for her services to literature. She was the author of many immensely popular books, including two autobiographical works, but it was her novels of English rural life for which she was best known. The first of these, Village School, was published in 1955, and Miss Read continued to write about the fictional villages of Fairacre and Thrush Green for many years. She lived near Newbury in Berkshire until her death in 2012.