If you read this, then read this.
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There's an entire genre of 'moving to the countryside' books, what publisher's like to call settlement non-fiction. The books are normally written to commission, it's a genre I had never explored or read before I wrote my own book, which I suppose I have to now admit, belongs in some way to this genre.
This is clearly one, and I haven't read it. So I who I am I to argue with the reviewers, hence the 5 stars.
But if you do read this book, then try A PLACE IN MY COUNTRY: In Search of a Rural Dream.
I'm biased, because I wrote it. Well and widely reviewed, it is sinking like a stone; there you go.
Perhaps the best is The Engima of Arrival by V.S Naipaul, luckily a book I only read after I had finished mine. I think I could have called mine The Enigma or Arrival and been tougher about resisting my publisher's insistence on a subtitle, which all these books seem to have.
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Great Read About Life On The Farm
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The subtitle of the book sums it up, really. The laughter and tears of one woman's farm in Cumbria.
This is a very entertaining book, written by a lady with a very entertaining style. There are a lot of laughs all the way through this book, which is chock-a-blck with tales of the people and animals around the farm. The animals steal the show though, as usual, and the author's easy style makes you feel you know these little, and not so little, characters. It comes through very plainly that she is also very fond of her animals. The sad bits of farming are not glossed over, and my heart bled for her as I read the account of the foot and mouth disease debacle, and the loss of her beloved Milly Goat (Yes, that's an "M" not a "B" !). The sad bits, however, are heavily outweighed by the fun bits, so it is not at all morbid. For lovers of the countryside this is a book well worth a read. You'll enjoy it.
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very disappointing
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to call this a book i found very misleading, its a mish mash of the authors articles from her newspaper column, and not even apparently arranged in the order in which they happened chronologically, and with no link from one chapter to the next. one of the most disjointed books i have read, which is a shame because the material would appear to be there if only it had be properly re written as a book.
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Laughter through tears.
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This is one of those books you cannot put down. As someone who has pets, including a manxie & a horse, I identified with every chapter. This is perhaps the only book that has moved me to tears as I read about the foot & mouth outbreak. You can share her anger at the MAFF & how it was handled. But her fighting spirit gets her through it. A fantastic book. This is a perfect gift for anyone who has animals of any kind. When's the next one due?
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Fantastic!
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What a joy this book was. I found it by accident when browsing Amazon but it is one of my best ever buys, a book I delighted in reading from cover to cover and will return to time and again to dip into. A selection of articles from the author's column in a Cumbrian magazine, (and how I wish I had access to that and had read everthing Jackie Moffat had written!), these are snapshots of life for someone who took the brave, and some would say mad step, of chucking in the rat race and moving to the tranquil beauty of the Eden Valley. Jackie Moffat writes of her life, her animals and her neighbours with a wit and turn of phrase that had me laughing out loud most of the way through. She has warmth and a special ability to draw you in and make you feel you are living the dream along with her. Magical stuff. And the few entries that touch upon the horrors of the foot and mouth outbreak and the devastation that brought to so many people's lives, are written with understanding and poignancy. This is a book I shall be giving my friends for birthday and Christmas presents. It is a fabulous read and I hope to goodness there will be a second volume of tales about life at the Funny Farm very soon.
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