Miss Read

I enjoy Writer's Almanac. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to catch it on the radio and get to hear it in Garrison Keillor's own voice, but most times I just check the website, read the day's poem, and see which writers are featured.

I thought today I'd do my own since I don't expect to see one of my favorite writers featured.

Miss Read is the pen name of Dora Saint who was born this day in 1913. A teacher by profession who began writing several journals after World War II. She later worked for the BBC as a scriptwriter.

These novels of English rural life are set in the fictional villages of Fairacre and Thrush Green, and the first she wrote, "Village School", was published in 1955. She continued to write until 1996. In 1998 she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her services to literature. She lives in Berkshire.

I read and re-read Miss Read all the time. Of the two villages, I like Fairacre the best, perhaps because it is told in the first person voice of Miss Read the village schoolmistress. Several of the novels take place over the course of a year and the author obviously enjoys and is a keen observer of nature.

All would be described, I'm sure, as gentle reads. I don't think this diminishes their literary worth at all.

Happy Birthday Mrs. Saint and thank you for your hospitality.