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 Remembers – 1962
• Over the Gate – 1964
• Village Christmas** – 1966
• Fairacre Festival – 1968
• Emily Davis – 1971
• Tyler's Row – 1972
• Christmas Mouse** – 1973
• Farther Afield – 1974
• No Holly for Miss Quinn** – 1976
• Village Affairs – 1977
• The White Robin – 1979
• Village Centenary – 1980
• Summer at Fairacre – 1984
• Mrs. Pringle – 1989
• Changes at Fairacre – 1991
• Farewell to Fairacre – 1993
• A Peaceful Retirement – 1996

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 Green – 1959
• Winter in Thrush Green – 1961
• News from Thrush Green – 1970
• Battles at Thrush Green – 1975
• Return to Thrush Green – 1978
• Gossip from Thrush Green – 1981
• Affairs at Thrush Green – 1983
• At Home in Thrush Green – 1985
• School at Thrush Green – 1987
• Friends at Thrush Green – 1990
• Celebrations at Thrush Green – 1992
• Year at Thrush Green – 1995
• Christmas at Thrush Green – 2009 written with Jenny Dereham

• The World Of Thrush Green – 1988. 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 Cottage – 1958
• The Little Red Bus – 1964
• The New Bed – 1964
• No Hat! – 1964
• Plum Pie – 1964
• Hob and the Horse Bat – 1965
• Cluck, the Little Black Hen – 1965
• The Little Peg Doll – 1965
• Tiggy – 1971. A non-fiction biography of one of the author's beloved cats.
• Animal Boy – 1975

Autobiography:

• A Fortunate Grandchild – 1982
• Time Remembered – 1986

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

Others she has written:

• Fresh from the Country – 1960. The story of a young country girl who has taken a first teaching job in the big city.
• Tales from a Village School – 1994. Short stories.
• Miss Read's Country Cooking – 1969. ISBN 0-7181-0327-0

External links

• Lisle, Nicola (September 2005). "On the Thrush Green trail". Oxfordshire Limited Edition. Newsquest (Oxfordshire). Archived from the original on 2005-11-03. http://web.archive.org/web/20051103235324/http://www.thisislimitededition.co.uk/item.asp?category=People&ID=730. Retrieved 2007-06-07. 

Persondata
Name	Dora Jessie Saint
Alternative names	Miss Read
Short description
Date of birth	April 17, 1913
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death