In a village there are no secrets. As head of Fairacre's two-class school, Miss Read's every deed is subject for speculation, and she is inevitably involved in most of her neighbours' concerns.

Her first novel recounts the ups and downs Village School of a year in 1950s Fairacre with the clear-sighted tolerance, sharp observation and gentle irony that make her so enduringly

popular. From Miss Clare's failing health to the new infant teacher's budding romance and Mrs Pringle's never-ending complaints, from the everyday wonders of nature to the often less wonderful behaviour of the villagers, very little escapes Miss Read's notice...