Ronald Blythe Libri

In this rich, rare book, which John Updike called "exquisite", forty-nine men and women, from a blacksmith and a bellringer to the local vet and a gravedigger, speak to us directly, in honest and evocative monologues, of their works and days in the rural country of Suffolk. Composed in the late 1960's Blythe's volume paints a vivd picture of a community in which the vast changes of the twentieth century are matched by deep continuities of history, tradition, and nature.

At the Yeoman's House centres on Bottoengoms Farm, East Anglia. The celebrated authour of Akenfield explores the building inhabited by 20th century artist John Nash. It is part of the landscape loved by Constable. Inside Bottengoms there are telling handprints and footprints everywhere, and this is their tale. A tale told by a true countryman.

Richly detailed observations highlight the beauty and gifts of each season, showcasing the simple pleasures that transform everyday life into a miracle. The author, recognized as Britain's greatest living rural writer, weaves themes of friendship and wonder throughout this collection, inviting readers to appreciate the world around them.

A special edition of Hardy's brilliant novel to tie in with the major new film starring Carey Mulligan, Michael Sheen, Tom Sturridge and Matthias Schoenaerts, based on David Nicholls' screenplay.Hardy's powerful novel of swift sexual passion and slow-burning loyalty centres on Bathsheba Everdene, a proud working woman whose life is complicated by three different men - respectable farmer Boldwood, seductive Sergeant Troy and devoted Gabriel - making her the object of scandal and betrayal. Vividly portraying the superstitions and traditions of a small rural community, Far from the Madding Crowd shows the precarious position of a woman in a man's world.Formerly a prize-winning architectural student, Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) went on to become a prolific novelist and poet. Far From the Madding Crowd is the second of Hardy's great series of Wessex novels. His other novels include Under the Greenwood Tree, The Return of the Native, Two on a Tower, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure, all of which are available in Penguin Classics.

A celebration of one of our greatest nature writers, and an unforgettable ode to the English countryside.

This publication continues Ronald Blythe's celebrated Word from Wormingford, though with a difference. For here, a village record moves further into the personal life of a writer who is not only a working part of the small community to which he has belonged for so many years, but who in many respects is isolated from it. Intimacy and distance are revealed as having their contrasting places in this both imaginative interpretation of the English countryside at the close of the 20th century.

'The View in Winter' is a timeless and moving study of the perplexities of living to a great age, as related by a wide range of men and women: miners, villagers, doctors, teachers, craftsmen, soldiers, priests, the widowed and long-retired. Their voices are set in the context of what literature, art, religion and medicine over the centuries have said about ageing. The result is an acclaimed and compelling reflection on an inevitable aspect of our human experience.