Lark Rise to Candleford

View books by Flora Thompson.

Stunning ! - Rated
This trilogy is just stunning. I didn't want it to end, it's one of those books you savour, and you want it to go on forever. It's one of my all time favourites. I also warmly recommend the stories of Joan Kent, she is in the same league as Flora Thompson. Her "Haywains & Cherry Ale" and "Lamplight on Cottage Loaves" are wonderful, and they relieve any Flora Thompson withdrawal symptoms once you finish 'Lark Rise to Candleford'.

A beautful book about a 'beautiful time' - Rated
Life was hard in those days but it was beautiful: well it is nice to think it was anyhow.
A lovely book that wanders reminising through the author's childhood, told with the clarity as if it had all just happened yesterday. Captivatingly written and extremely evocative.
A 'must read' book: close your eyes and dream what English rural life used to be like.
Enjoy!

Returning to my own past - Rated
I first read this gem as a set book in school at around age 14, a London-born child educated in the City. The details of it never left me, 'Laura's' description of hamlet life in the 1880's were my benchmark for how poor honest country folk lived in those days, I could always refer to my recollections of the book, I was fascinated by the facts.

I finished re-reading it tonight, 37 years later and am still enchanted by the writer's simple and straightforward style and the vivid descriptions with such attention to detail. It's never fussy or sentimentalised, the reader comes to their own conclusion that material wealth isn't the secret to happiness, which is humbling when we compare today's standards with those of these simple people. Laura does well for herself, and the reader is glad for her but she never loses sight of who she is deep down.

I shall recommend that my young neice reads it, I doubt she'll enjoy it as I did but if only a little of the good natured common sense of the people is recognised that will be a good thing for a child brought up these days to know about. Am I really getting that old-fashioned?

Out of the Ordinary - Rated
This book is a wonderful read from beginning to end. The author wrote a book of great beauty about the places and people of her childhood and early adult years. Her discriptions of both are interesting and written with a love for the world she knew. If you are interested in social history then this is an excellent read. Even those with no real interest in such will find it entertaining and a superb read. One of those books you read slowly.

A fascinating tale of growing up in rural 19th c. England - Rated
This is the beautiful tale of Flora Thompson's life from childhood to adolecence in Victorian Oxfordshire. In the book she changes place names and describes event from the character of "Laura". They live in a small hamlet, in a farming community; and the detail of the people and little day to day things is fascinating. The people she describes are so complete... and throughout she tells us so much of her thoughts, emotions and fears, that you feel as if you have met her yourself. From a social history point of view, her descriptions of festivals and rural life, are invaluble. This is a long book, and a little slow in parts, but it is rich and worth reading. You will really be drawn to her character, and feel her highs and lows. It's not as bouncy and amusing as "Cider with Rosie", but it is poignant for its bare honesty. You will wipe away a tear or two whilst reading it, and I promise you won't forget it.