J. L. Carr (1912–1994)

This is a lovely book, beautifully written. My personal problem with it was a substantial amount of vocabulary I wasn't familiar with as well as some of the references. That was my fault, not the author's, but it meant I didn't understand everything Carr wanted to tell me and thus prevented me from enjoying the book 100%. It reminded me a little bit of Laurie Lee's As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, except that while I think there are some autobiographical elements to it, this isn't a memoir, it's a novel.… (more)

I was motivated to read this book (in this really rather nice edition) having seen North Country Theatre's travelling production of the play-of-the-book. The production follows the plots pretty closely, so no surprises there, nor in the prose itself. This quiet, low-key book follows our hero and WWI survivor Tom Birkin as he arrives in the small North Yorkshire village of Oxgodby to spend August restoring the long-covered-over wall paintings in the church.

The book is melancholy, nostalgic, recalling an era long gone, when farms were unmechanised and church and chapel were still central to the lives of many. It's a time of healing for Tom as he recovers from a failed marriage and shattering years in the trenches. We're subtly aware that this special time is a temporary idylll in a difficult life, and we too can bathe in the restorative peace and simple pleasures of the setting.

There are memorable characters: his friend the archaeologist Moon; the unsympathetic vicar and his sympathetic wife; the lay preacher-cum- station master and his family.

This is a gentle elegy to an English country summer, but the underlying suffering of the narrator prevents it descending into mere sentimentality. A rewarding read.… (more)