Miss Read

Miss Read

Dora Jessie Saint MBE née Shafe (born 17 April 1913), best known by the pen name Miss Read, is an English novelist, by profession a schoolmistress. Her pseudonym is derived from her mother's maiden name. She began writing for several journals after World War II and worked as a scriptwriter for the BBC.

Saint wrote a series of novels from 1955 to 1996. Her work centred on two fictional English villages, Fairacre and Thrush Green. The principal character in the Fairacre books, Miss Read, is an unmarried schoolteacher in a small village school, an acerbic and yet compassionate observer of village life. Saint's novels are wry regional social comedies, laced with gentle humour and subtle social commentary. She is also a keen observer of nature and the changing seasons. Saint and her husband, Douglas, now deceased, married in 1940. The couple had one child, a daughter named Jill.

Her most direct influence is Jane Austen, although her work also bears similarities to the social comedies of manners written in the 1920s and 1930s, and in particular the work of Barbara Pym. Miss Read's work has in turn influenced a number of writers, including American writer Jan Karon. The musician Enya has a track on her Watermark album named after Saint's book Miss Clare Remembers, and one on her Shepherd Moons album titled No Holly for Miss Quinn.

Saint retired in 1996. In 1998, she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her services to literature. She lives in a hamlet near Newbury in Berkshire.

Bibliography

Below is a bibliography of all Miss Read's works with publication dates.

The Fairacre novels:

  • Village School*1955
  • Village Diary*1957
  • Storm in the Village*1958
  • Miss Clare Remembers1962
  • Over the Gate1964
  • Village Christmas**1966
  • Fairacre Festival1968
  • Emily Davis1971
  • Tyler's Row1972
  • Christmas Mouse**1973
  • Farther Afield1974
  • No Holly for Miss Quinn**1976
  • Village Affairs1977
  • The White Robin1979
  • Village Centenary1980
  • Summer at Fairacre1984
  • Mrs. Pringle1989
  • Changes at Fairacre1991
  • Farewell to Fairacre1993
  • A Peaceful Retirement1996

The first three books (marked with *) have been published in a single volume, Chronicles of Fairacre.The three Christmas books marked with ** have been published together.

  • The Market Square (1966) and The Howards of Caxley (1967) are set in the historical past of Caxley, the nearby market town to Fairacre where Fairacre people go from time to time. Fairacre and Beech Green, a nearby village, are mentioned. The events in these books end before the events of the first Fairacre book start.

Thrush Green books:

  • Thrush Green1959
  • Winter in Thrush Green1961
  • News from Thrush Green1970
  • Battles at Thrush Green1975
  • Return to Thrush Green1978
  • Gossip from Thrush Green1981
  • Affairs at Thrush Green1983
  • At Home in Thrush Green1985
  • School at Thrush Green1987
  • Friends at Thrush Green1990
  • Celebrations at Thrush Green1992
  • Year at Thrush Green1995
  • Christmas at Thrush Green2009 written with Jenny Dereham
  • The World Of Thrush Green1988. This book discusses the real place that inspired Thrush Green and has excerpts from all Thrush Green books published as of 1988.

Children's books:

  • Hobby Horse Cottage1958
  • The Little Red Bus1964
  • The New Bed1964
  • No Hat!1964
  • Plum Pie1964
  • Hob and the Horse Bat1965
  • Cluck, the Little Black Hen1965
  • The Little Peg Doll1965
  • Tiggy1971. A non-fiction biography of one of the author's beloved cats.
  • Animal Boy1975

Autobiography:

  • A Fortunate Grandchild1982
  • Time Remembered1986

These two were also published in an omnibus edition titled Early Days.

Others she has written:

  • Fresh from the Country1960. The story of a young country girl who has taken a first teaching job in the big city.
  • Tales from a Village School1994. Short stories.
  • Miss Read's Country Cooking1969. ISBN 0-7181-0327-0

External links


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