"Changes at Fairacre", charts the heroine's relationship with her predecessor at the village school, Miss Clare. "Farewell to Fairacre" covers her decision to retire and the final tome shows how Miss Read copes with her new-found life of leisure.

In an afterword, the author says she is laying down her pen "with a thankful heart". It is all the more surprising therefore that these final tales show no sign of staleness. In particular, "A Peaceful Retirement" is quite playful in tone as Miss Read copes valiantly with a series of unlooked-for marriage proposals.

Given that the school year is so regular the author manages to describe events such as Christmas celebrations and harvest festivals with no sense of repetition, and as ever captures the tensions between town and country living, children's and adult worlds and men and women beautifully.

With "Last Chronicle of Fairacre", Dora Saint, the real-life Miss Read, can take her own retirement from authorship knowing that she has served her readers well.