Product Description

Flora Thompson's immortal trilogy, containing LARK RISE, OVER TO CANDLEFORD and CANDLEFORD GREEN, is a heartwarming portrayal of country life at the close of the 19th century. This story of three closely related Oxfordshire communities - a hamlet, the nearby village and a small market town - is based on the author's experiences during childhood and youth. It chronicles May Day celebrations and forgotten children's games, the daily lives of farmworkers and craftsmen, friends and relations - all painted with a gaiety and freshness of observation that make this trilogy an evocative and sensitive memorial to Victorian rural England.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4143 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

About the Author
Born in Juniper Hill, Oxfordshire, Flora Thompson left school at 14 to work in the local post office. She married young, and wrote mass-market fiction to help support her increasing family. In her 60s she published the semi-autobiographical trilogy combined as LARK RISE TO CANDLEFORD (1945).

Customer Reviews

A Cautionary Note
If you have been watching the excellent tv series of Lark Rise to Candleford, you may decide that you would like to have the book. If you were expecting a novel or even sketches like Cranford, you will sorely be disappointed. The books in this trilogy are memoirs and go into life in turn of the century Oxfordshire.

If you are interested in history or what life was like at the turn of the century in pastoral communities you will love this book. In its pages you will find the games and rhymes of the children, the houses that people lived in, the clothes they wore and what life was really like. This omnibus book is a unique social commentary and is deeply absorbing, as well as very interesting, but remember it isn't what was on the tv. However, it would make a brilliant companion piece to the series.

Please Note - This is A History Book!
Fans of the BBC adaptation should give this a wide berth if they are expecting witty tales of honest farm folks told in the style of Catherine Cookson. There is virtually NO DIALOGUE within the stories.

For example, the Pratt Sisters whose ludicrous antics and matching outfits took up so much of the BBC series, have little more than one page in the whole of this book! Miss Lane and her post office does not appear until the final 3rd of the compilation. There is no forbidden romance with the local Squire or any tension between him and his wife. Dawn French's larger than life Caroline gets one chapter on a page!

Instead, this is a glorious peek at the history of rural England, a wonderful read packed with information about the housing, social scene, class system, rural customs and some stories of local people. But it is not anything like the television series and those hoping it will be as accessible are in for a disappointment - in fact 2 friends who were eager to read it both gave it back after failing to get engrossed in what they hoped would be a bumper work of fiction.

A true gem
I have just finished reading this delightful book and recommend it highly, especially if you are interested in social history. It is a nice gentle read and very informative of village life and village people in the late 1800's. Flora writes with great insight and foresight about the many people she knows and sees in the villages of Candelford and Lark Rise. Flora through Laura was obviously an extremely deep, sensitive and thoughtful person and at times her humbleness when speaking about herself strikes at the heartstrings. I wish I could have met this lovely lady! This book will be one of my treasures which I shall keep for ever. Don't miss out on this gem of a book. I am now eager to read Flora's biography.