boubas

Lark Rise to Candleford is actually three books, "Larkrise", "Over to Candleford", and "Candleford Green". Set in rural 1890's Oxfordshire, the author recounts her childhood, writing down all the little details and beauty of country life. Flora Thompson was a naturalist and her love of nature is self-evident in this trilogy. "Nearer at hand where the trees and bushes and wild-flower patches beside the path she had trodden daily. The pond where the yellow brandyball waterlilies grew, the little birch thicket where the long-tailed tits had congregated , the boathouse where she had sheltered from the thunderstorm and seen the rain plash like leaden bullets into the leaden water, and the hillock beyond from which she had seen the perfect rainbow. She was never to see any of these again, but she was to carry a mental picture of them, to be recalled at will, through the changing scenes of lifetime. "As she went on her way, gossamer threads, sun from bush to bush, barricaded her pathway, and as she broke through one after another of these fairy barricades she thought, ‘They’re trying to bind and keep me’. But the threads which were to bind her to hernative county were more enduring than gossamer. They were spun of love and kinship and cherished memories" (The BBC TV Adaptation of "Lark Rise to Candleford" converted this final paragraph from "Candleford Green" into a poem that Mrs. Timmins recites) I loved this and all the frequent descriptions of nature, the narrations of the simplicity of country life, and the stories of everyday people was so heartwarming. The final paragraph (quoted above) proved so moving that my eyes began to water. :-) I recommend this book to everyone!

2023-01-16 18:14