Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #133135 in Books
• Published on: 2000-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 216 pages

Customer Reviews

Life on a Derbyshire farm enchantingly remembered.
The domestic routine,seasonal farming activities ,character observations and personal fantasies recorded in this wonderful book by the country child of the title, Susan Garland, provide a deeply satisfying account of farming life at the close of the 19th Century as witnessed by a solitary little girl. This is a heart-warming story,exquisitely detailed, funny and moving in turn. Alison Uttley's autobiographical evocation of the hill farm of her childhood will stay in the memory of both children and adults who are interested in rural life, social history or simply a story well told. I was 18 when I first encountered this book. I adored it and have re-read it numerous times, seeing more to enjoy in the text every time. The simple illustrations are perfectly suited to the content and add to the charm of this delightful book. I recommend it to anyone as an antidote to the materialism and mass-production of modern life.

Memorable Story of Girl on a Farm in Victorian England
I read this book as a 12-year-old Texan living in Edinburgh, and it has stayed with me over a quarter of a century. It's the story of a year in a 9-year old girl's life on her family's farm in Victorian-era England. Little Susan Garland is an only child, highly imaginative, and used to keeping herself entertained. The descriptions of life on the farm, her walks to school, the farm animals, the holidays, are intensely vivid, and it brought late 19th century rural England alive to a 1970's American city girl.

A sample paragraph from the chapter "December":
"Holly decked every picture and ornament. Sprays hung over the bacon and twisted round the hams and herb bunches. The clock carried a crown on his head, and every dish-cover had a little sprig. Susan kept an eye on the lonely forgotten humble things, the jelly moulds and colanders and nutmeg graters, and made them happy with glossy leaves. Everything seemed to speak, to ask for its morsel of greenery, and she tried to leave out nothing."

It's not for everyone: children who want a lot of adventure in their books, or who prefer books with a lot of interaction between characters may find it boring.

A beautifully written account of growing up in Derbyshire
A beautifully written book, based on Alison Uttley's own childhood, growing up on a farm near Cromford in Derbyshire in the early 1900's. A very gentle read, full of fascinating information about life in another age.