The Country Child

I first read 'The Country Child' when I was 13 back in the early 80s, although I can't remember how I found my way to it. My copy was a unimpressive orange and yellow paperback, with tiny woodblock illustrations peppering the text throughout (by the wonderful C.F.Tunnicliffe), but it soon became the most precious book in my entire library. It still is. This is an incredible book; vibrant and textured with evocative descriptions and some of the most memorable writing I've ever experienced. Every chapter is a new treasure, bringing Susan, the farm and her family to glowing reality as well as the detailing in gem-like prose the events of the year; Easter, Spring, harvest and Christmastime. 'The Country Child' is a book to treasure and a year rarely goes by when I don't dip into it to read a particular chapter or just to refresh my memory. It never disappoints and is maybe all the more precious because so few people seem to know about it. So I'm passing on the love. Buy this book for yourself or for your children. It's truly beautiful.

I read this book as a 12-year-old, and it has stayed with me over a quarter of a century. It's the story of a year in a 9-year old girl's life on her family's farm in Victorian-era England. Little Susan Garland is an only child, highly imaginative, and used to keeping herself entertained. The descriptions of life on the farm, her walks to school, the farm animals, the holidays, are intensely vivid, bringing late 19th century rural England alive to a late 20th century American city girl.A sample paragraph from the chapter "December": "Holly decked every picture and ornament. Sprays hung over the bacon and twisted round the hams and herb bunches. The clock carried a crown on his head, and every dish-cover had a little sprig. Susan kept an eye on the lonely forgotten humble things, the jelly moulds and colanders and nutmeg graters, and made them happy with glossy leaves. Everything seemed to speak, to ask for its morsel of greenery, and she tried to leave out nothing."It's not for everyone: children who want a lot of adventure in their books, or who prefer books with a lot of interaction between characters may find it boring.