Miss Read

The villagers of Thrush Green celebrate Christmas traditionally, in a way that has hardly changed over the generations. But not everything is as peaceful as it seems....

Dorothy Watson and Agnes Fogerty have taught at the school for as long as anyone can remember, but now they're thinking and talking about retirement. It won't be an easy adjustment....

On a bright summer's day, old Miss Clare, now retired from teaching, awaits the visit of her oldest friend, Emily Davis. In between, she recalls the events in their 70-year friendship....

Fairacre is a village of cottages....

Nestled in the heart of the Cotswolds, Thrush Green is normally a peaceful place....

There are new people on the Green... When old Admiral Trigg and his sister Lucy died, their house - Tullivers - stood empty for many months....

On a blustery day in Fairacre, Miss Clare sees two strangers "pacing slowly, side by side, along the edge of Hundred Acre Field, which lay on the other side of Miss Clare's garden hedge....

As spring begins at Thrush Green, a series of local dramas takes hold of the community....

After the death of Emily Davis, school teacher and well-loved member of the local community, many of those who knew her cast their minds back to days past and to their memories of Emily....

The arrival of a stranger in the village of Thrush Green stirs up ripples of speculation and interest....

From organising the school summer fete to the sometimes rather odd passions of childhood, Miss Read captures the essence of rural life as only she can....

The first charming Caxley tale introduces the deep-rooted camaraderie between Septimus Howard....

Summer at Fairacre charmingly recounts this bright, bustling season and the problems and possibilities that unfold against the backdrop of roses, skylarks and bees....

It's the May Day holiday, and a fair has come to the village of Thrush Green. The residents of Thrush Green all have their own views about the fair....

A mouse's appearance on Christmas Eve in a widow's bedroom leads to a chance encounter with a small boy....

‘As I have been given a large and magnificent diary for Christmas... I intend to fill it in as long as my ardour lasts.’ Luckily, Miss Read’s ardour lasts all year, encompassing every aspect of Fairacre life....

A new excitement comes to the village of Thrush Green when Harold Shoosmith, a distinguished bachelor....

Having enjoyed robust health throughout her career, Miss Read, the village schoolmistress at Fairacre, is looking forward to an energetic retirement in a few years' time.....

When Charles Henstock, rector of Thrush Green, moves a mile downhill to the parish of Lulling, his many friends rejoice in his promotion....

Illegal battering of gingernuts and conkers in a murky corner of the playground; a procession of bearers of lost property interrupting the telling of the story of Joseph....