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Over the Gate: A Novel
Over the Gate: A Novel
Over the Gate: A Novel
Ebook248 pages3 hours

Over the Gate: A Novel

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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“Here you’ll find delicious wit, quirky characters, the colorful intrigues of daily life, and certainly love and laughter. . . . Delightful.” —Jan Karon

Throughout her years as schoolmistress, Miss Read has gathered excellent accounts of the rich and varied history of her beloved English village, often through neighborly conversation over the gate. Fairacre has garnered its share of odd incidents, entertaining episodes, and village folklore, from an unusual recipe for weight loss found in an old notebook—and used with alarming consequences—to the tragic story of the village ghost. In Over the Gate, Miss Read retells many of these treasured stories of Fairacre past and present, with characteristic grace and wit.
 
“Affectionate, humorous, and gently charming . . . sometimes funny, sometimes touching, always appealing.” —The New York Times
 
“Miss Read has a humble, laughing heart.” —Mademoiselle
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 2, 2007
ISBN9780547527192
Over the Gate: A Novel
Author

Miss Read

Miss Read (1913-2012) was the pseudonym of Mrs. Dora Saint, a former schoolteacher beloved for her novels of English rural life, especially those set in the fictional villages of Thrush Green and Fairacre. The first of these, Village School, was published in 1955, and Miss Read continued to write until her retirement in 1996. In the 1998, she was awarded an MBE, or Member of the Order of the British Empire, for her services to literature. 

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Rating: 3.6666666666666665 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This novel is set up as a series of stories, loosely linked by Miss Read's interactions with different members of the village. It is effective in providing a reason for her stay in Fairacre when there is a possibility that she might move on to a different school.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book, the fifth in the Fairacre series is a story pulled together by the school year and a group of anecdotes that several of the characters tell to Miss Read as they reminisce and teach her more about the area she calls home.

    Miss Read, the village school mistress has been doing the same thing now for several years and while she still enjoys her job and the children, she wonders if it is time to move on and get out of her rut. The thought of another teacher taking her place is what makes her accept the fact that desperately miserable winters are not enough to chase her away.

    Miss Read creates an idyllic world where even a stranger at one's door is more of an adventure than a threat of home invasion. Her description of the bucolic surrounding sent me to google on several occasions to find out what feverfew, cowslip and thrushes look like. These pleasures in the smallest of plants and animals that inhabit a country lane, all of which have individuality is lovely. Sadly when I take a walk in a rural setting I can put a name to nothing but the most common of plants like yarrow, Queen Anne's lace and dandelions.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book relies more on the casting back and relating historical tales from long-dead village residents rather than than following chronologically the earlier books. It's still a warm, delightful book but it's not, to my eyes, as engaging as the earlier ones. But I liked it a lot, even so.

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Over the Gate - Miss Read

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