Miss Read books

I would be interested too as I loved all of her books as well.

Have you tried Sybil Marshall. A family saga based in Norfolk. I have them all, but they are old and not sure if still in print.

Have you tried books by Gervase Phinn? I really enjoyed them.

I second Sybil Marshall.

When I think of Miss Read I remember the long hot days of 1975 (it wasn't just '76 that was a scorcher) lazing by the River Wissey with my friends and our toddlers. We gossiped, swapped books, ate picnics and watched our children paddle.

Happy days.

I have tried Gervaise Phinn but he's too up himself for me.

Miss Read's books are so gentle, wonderful reading for a hospital stay or recuperation from any illness or trauma. Comfort reading!

I agree, I love Miss Read and still have all of them, like merlotgran my friend who sadly didn't reach 60yrs, and I enjoyed the 70's with our kids. I always wanted to live in one of those villages.

When I clean the kitchen floor I think of Miss Read teaching the cleaner (can't remember her name, it is so long since I read the books) showing her how to do it by going backwards and not to walk over the part which you have just washed!

I read most of them many years ago, but bought a number of them again from Amazon just a few months ago, for old time's sake. This thread has prompted me to lift them off the shelf again.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I'll look out for Sybil Marshall. I've got all the Miss Read books as well as the Audio Books on Audible, wonderful! Jamila the cleaners name was Mrs Pringle!

I'll look out for Sybil Marshall too. Have you tried 'Miss Buncle's Book"? Its by DE Stevenson. Its an old book about village life in the 1920/30s (I think). I really enjoyed it.

Yes Jane10 I did read it, also the follow up when she got married. I love these books! Persephone Books are a good source.

hello bartonlady * I've always loved Miss. Read. I read them at about the same time I discovered Monica Dickens, Muriel Spark and Jean Plaidy - so a long while ago. These days I have to confess to an adoration to the Agatha Raisin books- an eccentric, lady living in the Cotswolds solving highly unlikely murders whilst having even more unlikely love affairs - they are hilarious. The author M C Benson also writes the Hamish Macbeth book which are equally lovely but of course Scottish in location. Enjoy!

Ah Miss Read how i love these books!!! I have several of them which i purchased from a jumble sale at a local church.

They are old, stained and smell very musty but i love them and i can read them over and over again.

I first discovered Miss Read as a young mother in the 70's when i was attending the library with my children, so when i found the collection at the jumble sale they bought back so many happy memories of when my children were small and i just associate them with a time in my life when all was good.

If you haven't tried them and want to be transported back in time to an era when many on this forum where young, visit the library and borrow a copy you may be pleasantly surprised.

I've just thought if another author. Lucy M Boston, who wrote The Children of Green Knowe. There are about 6 books, and are really for children, but I enjoyed them. My youngest son ( now 40) borrowed them from school, and I got hooked.

Miss Read has been by my side each time I have been recovering from surgery - they just hit the spot.

Try Lilian Harry's Burracombe series. They also feature a young teacher in a rural setting. I read them all on kindle and thoroughly enjoyed them.

I was working in libraries in the seventies, and Miss Read books were only ever read by 'older ladies'.
Perhaps now that I'm an 'older lady' myself I should give them a try, but I love my gruesome murder mysteries too much

I first started reading Miss Read in my 30s.

Bartonlady have you tried Lillian Beckwith's books on Hebridean life? Ronald Blythe's Akenfield. Or Larkrise to Candleford ( not to be confused by the later television programmes. )
I have read and loved all Miss Read. I had an aunt who was a headmistress in a similar school in a Devon village.

BBbevan I have all Lillian Beckwith's books and really enjoyed them. Many a laugh and a tear. A real student of human nature.

The Hills is Lonely by Lillian Beckwith always reminds me of my Mum. It was one of the last books she read

I had my first Miss Read book as a prize in my first year at High School many moons ago and went on to be a teacher and headteacher. My experiences in urban settings were never as gentle but I too have all her books and will not be parting with them. Thanks for the memory!

I loved the Miss Read books , I borrowed them from the library.They so reminded me of my own childhood ,I went to a Gloucestershire village school very similar in the 1950's.I well remember the tortoise stove,if you were sat at the back of the classroom you were freezing no nice warm trousers for girls in those days,just knee length socks.