John S Goodall

Friends, neighbors, and relatives disturb the tranquility of Joan and Edward Young in their stone house in the English village of Thrush Green.

After a long winter of red noses and wet mittens, summer is a welcome time for Miss Read and her downland village friends. Summer at Fairacre charmingly recounts this bright, bustling season and the problems and possibilities that unfold against the background of roses, skylarks, and bees. Joseph Coggs finds a temporary home in the schoolhouse while his mother is in the hospital. Miss Read's friend Amy mysteriously disappears. Perhaps most difficult...

Times are changing in the charming downland village of Fairacre, and Miss Read isn't certain that it's all for the best. The new commuter lifestyle has caused a drop in attendance at the local school, and officials are threatening closure. Miss Read worries about the failing health of Dolly Clare. Vegetable gardens have given way to trips to the Caxley markets, and the traditional village fete now includes a prize for best quiche. With her trademark...

There had been general dismay when Miss Watson and Miss Fogerty retired to Barton-on-Sea after many years of devoted service teaching the children of Thrush Green, so their visit to see old friends in the village brings great pleasure. The new headmaster, Alan Lester, is cautiously accepted, but rumor is rife about his wife's health. Meanwhile, farmer Percy Hodge is also the subject of local speculation: Is his strange behavior the result of an infatuation...

It's spring again in the village of Thrush Green, and with the change of the seasons comes change in the lives of many villagers. The Young family's tranquility is disrupted by the sudden arrival of Joan's father, while Molly and Ben Curdle consider putting an end to their wandering days in order to finally settle down. Even the reappearance of Sexton Albert Piggot-one of Thrush Green's more malevolent sorts-cannot dim the happiness that inevitably...

Open the gate to Fairacre, America's favorite English village. The English village of Fairacre may appear idyllically peaceful to passersby, but those who live among its shady lanes always have problems to untangle. When a terrible rumor emerges - that the Fairacre School is to be closed and the children bused to nearby Beech Green - the village is up in arms at once. The schoolmistress, Miss Read, suffers agonizing indecision at the prospect, and...

Through the eyes of many Fairacre friends, we trace Mrs. Pringle's life and her stormy standing as the redoubtable cleaner of the town's school. However maddening she is, life at Fairacre would be poorer without her.