Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #155286 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 250 pages

Synopsis
For eighty years Mont Abbott lived and worked on the land in Oxfordshire. In this record by Sheila Stewart, Mont 'lifts the latch' and takes us into a forgotten world of roly-poly puddings and street fairs, describing his lost skills of carting and shepherding to the joys of singing in the church choir, and the loyalty of a rural community.

From the Publisher
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Customer Reviews

Best tale of English Rural life ever.
I own a 1987 copy of 'Lifting the Latch' and is without doubt the best book I have ever read on rural life in England. Sheila Stewart has done a first class job, not once does she interupt or give an opinion (other editors please note), she just lets Mont Abbott tell his story. I like the way she writes Mont's spoken words as he actually says them and not as they should be spelt, ie ockard for awkward (a word I've always used my self, even though I'm from South Oxfordshire). Also Mont's attitude to difficult situations is something that todays generation should try, 'Us got used to it'.
Mont's story proves that that you do not need lots of material things to be happy in life.

how does she do it?!
Another incredibly well told story from Sheila Stewart! I got a copy of this book after reading 'ramlin rose'. Once more, Sheila Stewart has succeeded in evoking the magic of ordinary lives, in relating the story of Old Mont Abbott. Without sentimentality, Ms Stewart perfectly captures her subject and the harshness of his life as a shepherd in rural Oxfordshire. I am sorry I discovered this book only lately, even though it isn't really the sort of book I would normally seek out. Sheila Stewart is a fine writer and I will be looking for more of her books in future. I can't praise her highly enough!

A simple sometimes tragic but devoted life.
The interest in the story lies, for me, in its factual base. It is the story of a man who lived worked and died in the small community north of Oxford. Not only is it an account of the social history of the time but the events that happen in this individual's life are almost unbearable and yet he still manages to carry on as if they are his 'lot in life' and that life must go on. I was moved and at times shocked by this man's life story. I really enjoyed it and went straight on to read the Ramlin Rose canal story. Well done to Sheila Stewart for offering some insight into the lives of these 'ordinary' people woven into a story and in this case based on hours of factual interviews.