Truly marvellous, 01 Jul 2007
If you yearn for the nostalgia of post WW2 rural England, coupled with romance, friendship, family & humour, then this book is surely a must.
This is one of the most enjoyable books of pure escapism, I think I have ever read.
The Larkins are a joy. The TV series was brilliant but the books, I feel, are on an even higher plain.
This is the first of the Larkin tales,where Mr Charlton from the Inland Revenue pays the Larkins a visit but falls in love (with the way of life, the countryside & of course, Mariette) & never leaves (& to be fair why would he ?)
My top tip - buy every Larkin book you can get your hands on & indeed, the DVD of the TV series - a real treat.

Truly marvellous, 01 Jul 2007
If you yearn for the nostalgia of post WW2 rural England, coupled with romance, friendship, family & humour, then this book is surely a must.
This is one of the most enjoyable books of pure escapism, I think I have ever read.
The Larkins are a joy. The TV series was brilliant but the books, I feel, are on an even higher plain.
This is the first of the Larkin tales,where Mr Charlton from the Inland Revenue pays the Larkins a visit but falls in love (with the way of life, the countryside & of course, Mariette) & never leaves (& to be fair why would he ?)
My top tip - buy every Larkin book you can get your hands on & indeed, the DVD of the TV series - a real treat.

Love In Time of War, 06 May 2000
This is my favourite novel about love under the extreme conditions of war. A downed bomber in France, the danger of detection, the love of a woman, the story of true romance and the ability of two people to build such close, intimate, and wholly trusting bonds is beautifully described in truly well-written English. I am going to buy this book for my fiancee - I want her to see depicted that true love of a woman most can only dream about. I always hoped to find such trust and commitment, and in Bates' novel I find it described so beautifully.

Truly marvellous, 01 Jul 2007
If you yearn for the nostalgia of post WW2 rural England, coupled with romance, friendship, family & humour, then this book is surely a must.
This is one of the most enjoyable books of pure escapism, I think I have ever read.
The Larkins are a joy. The TV series was brilliant but the books, I feel, are on an even higher plain.
This is the first of the Larkin tales,where Mr Charlton from the Inland Revenue pays the Larkins a visit but falls in love (with the way of life, the countryside & of course, Mariette) & never leaves (& to be fair why would he ?)
My top tip - buy every Larkin book you can get your hands on & indeed, the DVD of the TV series - a real treat.

Love In Time of War, 06 May 2000
This is my favourite novel about love under the extreme conditions of war. A downed bomber in France, the danger of detection, the love of a woman, the story of true romance and the ability of two people to build such close, intimate, and wholly trusting bonds is beautifully described in truly well-written English. I am going to buy this book for my fiancee - I want her to see depicted that true love of a woman most can only dream about. I always hoped to find such trust and commitment, and in Bates' novel I find it described so beautifully.

From the back cover..., 01 Jul 2007
An uninterrupted rural riot in the Garden on England, with Larkins as ring leaders.

Here's Pop clinching a deal for two suits of armour, a butter churn, three Regency chamber pots (with pink roses on them) and a load of other junk; and here are all the
younger Larkins being taken into the bosom of the Church at a mass baptism (with marquee and private fairground); and here's the Rev Candy locking a half-nelson on an unwelcome visitor.

Oh! definitely, TO BE IN ENGLAND with the Moon-Rockets and the pink champagne. It's as perfect as A BREATH OF FRENCH AIR or WHEN THE GREEN WOODS LAUGH, as perfect as THE DARLING BUDS OF MAY


Idyllic, 01 Jan 2001
This is the last of the Larkin Chronicles and has a real sense of poignancy about it. In a more gentle way it reminds me of Hardy's mourning for the end of an era in his Wessex novels. Here Pop has to deal with an influx of Teddy boys who want to ruin the farm. Although victorious you feel that he knows that it is only a temporary measure and the golden days of summer cannot last forever. A sensitive and gently funny book about the end of a dream.

Truly marvellous, 01 Jul 2007
If you yearn for the nostalgia of post WW2 rural England, coupled with romance, friendship, family & humour, then this book is surely a must.
This is one of the most enjoyable books of pure escapism, I think I have ever read.
The Larkins are a joy. The TV series was brilliant but the books, I feel, are on an even higher plain.
This is the first of the Larkin tales,where Mr Charlton from the Inland Revenue pays the Larkins a visit but falls in love (with the way of life, the countryside & of course, Mariette) & never leaves (& to be fair why would he ?)
My top tip - buy every Larkin book you can get your hands on & indeed, the DVD of the TV series - a real treat.

Love In Time of War, 06 May 2000
This is my favourite novel about love under the extreme conditions of war. A downed bomber in France, the danger of detection, the love of a woman, the story of true romance and the ability of two people to build such close, intimate, and wholly trusting bonds is beautifully described in truly well-written English. I am going to buy this book for my fiancee - I want her to see depicted that true love of a woman most can only dream about. I always hoped to find such trust and commitment, and in Bates' novel I find it described so beautifully.

From the back cover..., 01 Jul 2007
An uninterrupted rural riot in the Garden on England, with Larkins as ring leaders.

Here's Pop clinching a deal for two suits of armour, a butter churn, three Regency chamber pots (with pink roses on them) and a load of other junk; and here are all the
younger Larkins being taken into the bosom of the Church at a mass baptism (with marquee and private fairground); and here's the Rev Candy locking a half-nelson on an unwelcome visitor.

Oh! definitely, TO BE IN ENGLAND with the Moon-Rockets and the pink champagne. It's as perfect as A BREATH OF FRENCH AIR or WHEN THE GREEN WOODS LAUGH, as perfect as THE DARLING BUDS OF MAY


Idyllic, 01 Jan 2001
This is the last of the Larkin Chronicles and has a real sense of poignancy about it. In a more gentle way it reminds me of Hardy's mourning for the end of an era in his Wessex novels. Here Pop has to deal with an influx of Teddy boys who want to ruin the farm. Although victorious you feel that he knows that it is only a temporary measure and the golden days of summer cannot last forever. A sensitive and gently funny book about the end of a dream.

Moving, atmospheric and sublime, 06 Aug 2008
I read this as a teenager and totally fell in love with the story. I still have the book but have never quite dared to re-read it in case it's not as wonderful as I remember!

Set just after the first world war, Lydia moves to a country town to live with her aunts and uncle, and plays havoc with the emotions of the young men who see her. It's all here: first love, unrequited love, jealousy, passion and despair - but H.E. Bates is a restrained and sublime writer so this never descends into over-blown chic-littish melodrama. I think I've persuaded myself I must re-read it immediately!

Truly marvellous, 01 Jul 2007
If you yearn for the nostalgia of post WW2 rural England, coupled with romance, friendship, family & humour, then this book is surely a must.
This is one of the most enjoyable books of pure escapism, I think I have ever read.
The Larkins are a joy. The TV series was brilliant but the books, I feel, are on an even higher plain.
This is the first of the Larkin tales,where Mr Charlton from the Inland Revenue pays the Larkins a visit but falls in love (with the way of life, the countryside & of course, Mariette) & never leaves (& to be fair why would he ?)
My top tip - buy every Larkin book you can get your hands on & indeed, the DVD of the TV series - a real treat.

Love In Time of War, 06 May 2000
This is my favourite novel about love under the extreme conditions of war. A downed bomber in France, the danger of detection, the love of a woman, the story of true romance and the ability of two people to build such close, intimate, and wholly trusting bonds is beautifully described in truly well-written English. I am going to buy this book for my fiancee - I want her to see depicted that true love of a woman most can only dream about. I always hoped to find such trust and commitment, and in Bates' novel I find it described so beautifully.

From the back cover..., 01 Jul 2007
An uninterrupted rural riot in the Garden on England, with Larkins as ring leaders.

Here's Pop clinching a deal for two suits of armour, a butter churn, three Regency chamber pots (with pink roses on them) and a load of other junk; and here are all the
younger Larkins being taken into the bosom of the Church at a mass baptism (with marquee and private fairground); and here's the Rev Candy locking a half-nelson on an unwelcome visitor.

Oh! definitely, TO BE IN ENGLAND with the Moon-Rockets and the pink champagne. It's as perfect as A BREATH OF FRENCH AIR or WHEN THE GREEN WOODS LAUGH, as perfect as THE DARLING BUDS OF MAY


Idyllic, 01 Jan 2001
This is the last of the Larkin Chronicles and has a real sense of poignancy about it. In a more gentle way it reminds me of Hardy's mourning for the end of an era in his Wessex novels. Here Pop has to deal with an influx of Teddy boys who want to ruin the farm. Although victorious you feel that he knows that it is only a temporary measure and the golden days of summer cannot last forever. A sensitive and gently funny book about the end of a dream.

Moving, atmospheric and sublime, 06 Aug 2008
I read this as a teenager and totally fell in love with the story. I still have the book but have never quite dared to re-read it in case it's not as wonderful as I remember!

Set just after the first world war, Lydia moves to a country town to live with her aunts and uncle, and plays havoc with the emotions of the young men who see her. It's all here: first love, unrequited love, jealousy, passion and despair - but H.E. Bates is a restrained and sublime writer so this never descends into over-blown chic-littish melodrama. I think I've persuaded myself I must re-read it immediately!

David Jason reads A Breath of French Air -, 08 Sep 2007
A typical funny redition by the fantastic David Jason. Full of the inuendos H E Bates writes and put across in the comical way of David. Brilliant. A must listen to tape

Truly marvellous, 01 Jul 2007
If you yearn for the nostalgia of post WW2 rural England, coupled with romance, friendship, family & humour, then this book is surely a must.
This is one of the most enjoyable books of pure escapism, I think I have ever read.
The Larkins are a joy. The TV series was brilliant but the books, I feel, are on an even higher plain.
This is the first of the Larkin tales,where Mr Charlton from the Inland Revenue pays the Larkins a visit but falls in love (with the way of life, the countryside & of course, Mariette) & never leaves (& to be fair why would he ?)
My top tip - buy every Larkin book you can get your hands on & indeed, the DVD of the TV series - a real treat.

Love In Time of War, 06 May 2000
This is my favourite novel about love under the extreme conditions of war. A downed bomber in France, the danger of detection, the love of a woman, the story of true romance and the ability of two people to build such close, intimate, and wholly trusting bonds is beautifully described in truly well-written English. I am going to buy this book for my fiancee - I want her to see depicted that true love of a woman most can only dream about. I always hoped to find such trust and commitment, and in Bates' novel I find it described so beautifully.

From the back cover..., 01 Jul 2007
An uninterrupted rural riot in the Garden on England, with Larkins as ring leaders.

Here's Pop clinching a deal for two suits of armour, a butter churn, three Regency chamber pots (with pink roses on them) and a load of other junk; and here are all the
younger Larkins being taken into the bosom of the Church at a mass baptism (with marquee and private fairground); and here's the Rev Candy locking a half-nelson on an unwelcome visitor.

Oh! definitely, TO BE IN ENGLAND with the Moon-Rockets and the pink champagne. It's as perfect as A BREATH OF FRENCH AIR or WHEN THE GREEN WOODS LAUGH, as perfect as THE DARLING BUDS OF MAY


Idyllic, 01 Jan 2001
This is the last of the Larkin Chronicles and has a real sense of poignancy about it. In a more gentle way it reminds me of Hardy's mourning for the end of an era in his Wessex novels. Here Pop has to deal with an influx of Teddy boys who want to ruin the farm. Although victorious you feel that he knows that it is only a temporary measure and the golden days of summer cannot last forever. A sensitive and gently funny book about the end of a dream.

Moving, atmospheric and sublime, 06 Aug 2008
I read this as a teenager and totally fell in love with the story. I still have the book but have never quite dared to re-read it in case it's not as wonderful as I remember!

Set just after the first world war, Lydia moves to a country town to live with her aunts and uncle, and plays havoc with the emotions of the young men who see her. It's all here: first love, unrequited love, jealousy, passion and despair - but H.E. Bates is a restrained and sublime writer so this never descends into over-blown chic-littish melodrama. I think I've persuaded myself I must re-read it immediately!

David Jason reads A Breath of French Air -, 08 Sep 2007
A typical funny redition by the fantastic David Jason. Full of the inuendos H E Bates writes and put across in the comical way of David. Brilliant. A must listen to tape


Another Larkin Classic, 01 Jul 2007
Another fantastic Larkin tale (this being the last of the "Pop Larkin Chronicles). The whole series of Larkins / Darling Buds stories are a must & this one is no exception. This one differs the most from the TV adaptation but is probably richer for it - Mr Candy the vicar & the blossoming Primrose's relationship is on the rise, under the watchful eye of Ma Larkin.
Although this is, at times, the most sombre of all the Larkin tales (to say why might spoil the read !), it still has all the essential Larkin ingredients - family, friends, bawdy high jinks & a touch of sauce - brilliant in every way.

Truly marvellous, 01 Jul 2007
If you yearn for the nostalgia of post WW2 rural England, coupled with romance, friendship, family & humour, then this book is surely a must.
This is one of the most enjoyable books of pure escapism, I think I have ever read.
The Larkins are a joy. The TV series was brilliant but the books, I feel, are on an even higher plain.
This is the first of the Larkin tales,where Mr Charlton from the Inland Revenue pays the Larkins a visit but falls in love (with the way of life, the countryside & of course, Mariette) & never leaves (& to be fair why would he ?)
My top tip - buy every Larkin book you can get your hands on & indeed, the DVD of the TV series - a real treat.

Love In Time of War, 06 May 2000
This is my favourite novel about love under the extreme conditions of war. A downed bomber in France, the danger of detection, the love of a woman, the story of true romance and the ability of two people to build such close, intimate, and wholly trusting bonds is beautifully described in truly well-written English. I am going to buy this book for my fiancee - I want her to see depicted that true love of a woman most can only dream about. I always hoped to find such trust and commitment, and in Bates' novel I find it described so beautifully.

From the back cover..., 01 Jul 2007
An uninterrupted rural riot in the Garden on England, with Larkins as ring leaders.

Here's Pop clinching a deal for two suits of armour, a butter churn, three Regency chamber pots (with pink roses on them) and a load of other junk; and here are all the
younger Larkins being taken into the bosom of the Church at a mass baptism (with marquee and private fairground); and here's the Rev Candy locking a half-nelson on an unwelcome visitor.

Oh! definitely, TO BE IN ENGLAND with the Moon-Rockets and the pink champagne. It's as perfect as A BREATH OF FRENCH AIR or WHEN THE GREEN WOODS LAUGH, as perfect as THE DARLING BUDS OF MAY


Idyllic, 01 Jan 2001
This is the last of the Larkin Chronicles and has a real sense of poignancy about it. In a more gentle way it reminds me of Hardy's mourning for the end of an era in his Wessex novels. Here Pop has to deal with an influx of Teddy boys who want to ruin the farm. Although victorious you feel that he knows that it is only a temporary measure and the golden days of summer cannot last forever. A sensitive and gently funny book about the end of a dream.

Moving, atmospheric and sublime, 06 Aug 2008
I read this as a teenager and totally fell in love with the story. I still have the book but have never quite dared to re-read it in case it's not as wonderful as I remember!

Set just after the first world war, Lydia moves to a country town to live with her aunts and uncle, and plays havoc with the emotions of the young men who see her. It's all here: first love, unrequited love, jealousy, passion and despair - but H.E. Bates is a restrained and sublime writer so this never descends into over-blown chic-littish melodrama. I think I've persuaded myself I must re-read it immediately!

David Jason reads A Breath of French Air -, 08 Sep 2007
A typical funny redition by the fantastic David Jason. Full of the inuendos H E Bates writes and put across in the comical way of David. Brilliant. A must listen to tape


Another Larkin Classic, 01 Jul 2007
Another fantastic Larkin tale (this being the last of the "Pop Larkin Chronicles). The whole series of Larkins / Darling Buds stories are a must & this one is no exception. This one differs the most from the TV adaptation but is probably richer for it - Mr Candy the vicar & the blossoming Primrose's relationship is on the rise, under the watchful eye of Ma Larkin.
Although this is, at times, the most sombre of all the Larkin tales (to say why might spoil the read !), it still has all the essential Larkin ingredients - family, friends, bawdy high jinks & a touch of sauce - brilliant in every way.

H E Bates at his best, 20 Aug 2008
A wonderful book - admittedly the author is one of my all-time favourites - and its warmth and human understanding are beautiful and timeless. Bates' portrayal of the countryside is perfect as usual. I read it avidly, unusual for a slow reader like me. I felt so close to the 'heroine'.

The plot has been described in the synopsis and by other reviewer, so I wont repeat here.

I fully agree with the other reviewer, except in his criticism of the Larkin series. They were my introduction to Bates at the age of 13, and nearly 50 years later I still think they were / are wonderful. They are meant to be fun, and I think the reviewer takes them too seriously. They represent an urge in many of us to (successfully) buck the system - represented here by the tax man Charlie - and also are a lovely evocation of life in the fifties (my childhood days !). Okay - maybe a bit ott and unrealistic in parts, but dreary ?. Never.

A Lyrical Tragedy, 05 Jun 2003
H E Bates is an author whose reputation has declined somewhat in recent years. During his lifetime, and for about two decades after his death in 1974, he was one of the most popular authors in Britain. Interest in him reached a peak in the early 1990s when his “Larkin Family” novels were serialised on television. In my view, those are far from being his best works, but the series was a huge success, tapping as it did into a vein of rural nostalgia and introducing to public view the most beautiful young actress that Britain has produced for many years. Since then, however, that interest has declined and, apart from the Larkin books and one or two wartime stories, his works are now largely out of print.

“The Feast of July” is one of those neglected works. Its setting is a small town in the East Midlands, probably during the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The mood, however, is not one of nostalgia. Like Hardy’s “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”, the book deals with a young unmarried mother who is abandoned by her seducer and whose child dies in infancy. While searching for her lover, the heroine, Bella Ford, arrives as a homeless and friendless stranger in town, where she is rescued and befriended by Ben Wainwright, a shoemaker, and his family. (Shoemaking is the principal industry of the area). Bella is welcomed into the family and becomes like a daughter to them, especially after their own daughter dies. Ben and his wife have three sons, and, after brief dalliances with the two younger boys, she eventually finds love with the eldest, Con. The climax of the story comes on the Feast of July, a traditional festival in the area, celebrating the first crops of the new season. Bella’s lover Arch Wilson reappears in her life, provoking a confrontation that ends tragically.

The novel is reminiscent of Hardy in more ways than one. There is the book’s late Victorian/Edwardian setting (although it was not written until the 1950s). There is the triangular relationship between Bella, Con and Arch, which parallels that between Tess, Angel and Alec. Most importantly, there is Bates’s deep love of the countryside, which he shares with the earlier writer. Although the Wainwrights live in an industrial town, it is small enough for the surrounding countryside to be an inescapable presence in the lives of its inhabitants. The Feast, second only to Christmas in importance in the area, is celebrated by town and country dwellers alike, and the townspeople are expected to set aside their normal work to join in the harvest. Throughout the book we are made aware of the changing of the seasons; most of the chapters start with a reference to the time of year, to the weather and to the changing landscape. (Winter, when the demand for shoes is depressed, is a time of hardship even for industrial workers). As in many of Bates’s other novels, the beauty of countryside in its changing moods is described with what the Times Literary Supplement described as “lyrical intensity”.

It would be wrong to see this novel as merely a pastiche of Victorian writing. Bates’s style is terse and urgent, rather than the more discursive style favoured in nineteenth century literature. As a result, this is a brief novel of about 200 pages; a Victorian novelist dealing with this theme would in all likelihood have done so at much greater length. This brevity of style has its drawbacks. The characters are less developed than they would have been in a longer work; Arch Wilson, in particular, is a two-dimensional figure, a plot device rather than a believable character (whereas Alec d’Urberville emerges as a complex and credible human being). Nevertheless, brevity has its advantages as well. By concentrating on the essentials, Bates develops his plot with a speed and urgency that gives the impression of events rushing to a headlong climax and makes the culminating tragedy seem all the more terrible and inevitable.

This, then, is a fine piece of writing, evidence that Bates deserves to be remembered as more than the creator of the dreary Larkin clan and as the man who unwittingly gave her big break to Catherine Zeta Jones. Let us hope that the recent decision by ITV to repeat The Darling Buds of May will lead to a revival of interest in Bates generally. The publishers could help by reissuing this and some of his other novels (Love for Lydia, The Distant Horns of Summer and The Jacaranda Tree are examples that come to mind).

Truly marvellous, 01 Jul 2007
If you yearn for the nostalgia of post WW2 rural England, coupled with romance, friendship, family & humour, then this book is surely a must.
This is one of the most enjoyable books of pure escapism, I think I have ever read.
The Larkins are a joy. The TV series was brilliant but the books, I feel, are on an even higher plain.
This is the first of the Larkin tales,where Mr Charlton from the Inland Revenue pays the Larkins a visit but falls in love (with the way of life, the countryside & of course, Mariette) & never leaves (& to be fair why would he ?)
My top tip - buy every Larkin book you can get your hands on & indeed, the DVD of the TV series - a real treat.

Love In Time of War, 06 May 2000
This is my favourite novel about love under the extreme conditions of war. A downed bomber in France, the danger of detection, the love of a woman, the story of true romance and the ability of two people to build such close, intimate, and wholly trusting bonds is beautifully described in truly well-written English. I am going to buy this book for my fiancee - I want her to see depicted that true love of a woman most can only dream about. I always hoped to find such trust and commitment, and in Bates' novel I find it described so beautifully.

From the back cover..., 01 Jul 2007
An uninterrupted rural riot in the Garden on England, with Larkins as ring leaders.

Here's Pop clinching a deal for two suits of armour, a butter churn, three Regency chamber pots (with pink roses on them) and a load of other junk; and here are all the
younger Larkins being taken into the bosom of the Church at a mass baptism (with marquee and private fairground); and here's the Rev Candy locking a half-nelson on an unwelcome visitor.

Oh! definitely, TO BE IN ENGLAND with the Moon-Rockets and the pink champagne. It's as perfect as A BREATH OF FRENCH AIR or WHEN THE GREEN WOODS LAUGH, as perfect as THE DARLING BUDS OF MAY


Idyllic, 01 Jan 2001
This is the last of the Larkin Chronicles and has a real sense of poignancy about it. In a more gentle way it reminds me of Hardy's mourning for the end of an era in his Wessex novels. Here Pop has to deal with an influx of Teddy boys who want to ruin the farm. Although victorious you feel that he knows that it is only a temporary measure and the golden days of summer cannot last forever. A sensitive and gently funny book about the end of a dream.

Moving, atmospheric and sublime, 06 Aug 2008
I read this as a teenager and totally fell in love with the story. I still have the book but have never quite dared to re-read it in case it's not as wonderful as I remember!

Set just after the first world war, Lydia moves to a country town to live with her aunts and uncle, and plays havoc with the emotions of the young men who see her. It's all here: first love, unrequited love, jealousy, passion and despair - but H.E. Bates is a restrained and sublime writer so this never descends into over-blown chic-littish melodrama. I think I've persuaded myself I must re-read it immediately!

David Jason reads A Breath of French Air -, 08 Sep 2007
A typical funny redition by the fantastic David Jason. Full of the inuendos H E Bates writes and put across in the comical way of David. Brilliant. A must listen to tape


Another Larkin Classic, 01 Jul 2007
Another fantastic Larkin tale (this being the last of the "Pop Larkin Chronicles). The whole series of Larkins / Darling Buds stories are a must & this one is no exception. This one differs the most from the TV adaptation but is probably richer for it - Mr Candy the vicar & the blossoming Primrose's relationship is on the rise, under the watchful eye of Ma Larkin.
Although this is, at times, the most sombre of all the Larkin tales (to say why might spoil the read !), it still has all the essential Larkin ingredients - family, friends, bawdy high jinks & a touch of sauce - brilliant in every way.

H E Bates at his best, 20 Aug 2008
A wonderful book - admittedly the author is one of my all-time favourites - and its warmth and human understanding are beautiful and timeless. Bates' portrayal of the countryside is perfect as usual. I read it avidly, unusual for a slow reader like me. I felt so close to the 'heroine'.

The plot has been described in the synopsis and by other reviewer, so I wont repeat here.

I fully agree with the other reviewer, except in his criticism of the Larkin series. They were my introduction to Bates at the age of 13, and nearly 50 years later I still think they were / are wonderful. They are meant to be fun, and I think the reviewer takes them too seriously. They represent an urge in many of us to (successfully) buck the system - represented here by the tax man Charlie - and also are a lovely evocation of life in the fifties (my childhood days !). Okay - maybe a bit ott and unrealistic in parts, but dreary ?. Never.

A Lyrical Tragedy, 05 Jun 2003
H E Bates is an author whose reputation has declined somewhat in recent years. During his lifetime, and for about two decades after his death in 1974, he was one of the most popular authors in Britain. Interest in him reached a peak in the early 1990s when his “Larkin Family” novels were serialised on television. In my view, those are far from being his best works, but the series was a huge success, tapping as it did into a vein of rural nostalgia and introducing to public view the most beautiful young actress that Britain has produced for many years. Since then, however, that interest has declined and, apart from the Larkin books and one or two wartime stories, his works are now largely out of print.

“The Feast of July” is one of those neglected works. Its setting is a small town in the East Midlands, probably during the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The mood, however, is not one of nostalgia. Like Hardy’s “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”, the book deals with a young unmarried mother who is abandoned by her seducer and whose child dies in infancy. While searching for her lover, the heroine, Bella Ford, arrives as a homeless and friendless stranger in town, where she is rescued and befriended by Ben Wainwright, a shoemaker, and his family. (Shoemaking is the principal industry of the area). Bella is welcomed into the family and becomes like a daughter to them, especially after their own daughter dies. Ben and his wife have three sons, and, after brief dalliances with the two younger boys, she eventually finds love with the eldest, Con. The climax of the story comes on the Feast of July, a traditional festival in the area, celebrating the first crops of the new season. Bella’s lover Arch Wilson reappears in her life, provoking a confrontation that ends tragically.

The novel is reminiscent of Hardy in more ways than one. There is the book’s late Victorian/Edwardian setting (although it was not written until the 1950s). There is the triangular relationship between Bella, Con and Arch, which parallels that between Tess, Angel and Alec. Most importantly, there is Bates’s deep love of the countryside, which he shares with the earlier writer. Although the Wainwrights live in an industrial town, it is small enough for the surrounding countryside to be an inescapable presence in the lives of its inhabitants. The Feast, second only to Christmas in importance in the area, is celebrated by town and country dwellers alike, and the townspeople are expected to set aside their normal work to join in the harvest. Throughout the book we are made aware of the changing of the seasons; most of the chapters start with a reference to the time of year, to the weather and to the changing landscape. (Winter, when the demand for shoes is depressed, is a time of hardship even for industrial workers). As in many of Bates’s other novels, the beauty of countryside in its changing moods is described with what the Times Literary Supplement described as “lyrical intensity”.

It would be wrong to see this novel as merely a pastiche of Victorian writing. Bates’s style is terse and urgent, rather than the more discursive style favoured in nineteenth century literature. As a result, this is a brief novel of about 200 pages; a Victorian novelist dealing with this theme would in all likelihood have done so at much greater length. This brevity of style has its drawbacks. The characters are less developed than they would have been in a longer work; Arch Wilson, in particular, is a two-dimensional figure, a plot device rather than a believable character (whereas Alec d’Urberville emerges as a complex and credible human being). Nevertheless, brevity has its advantages as well. By concentrating on the essentials, Bates develops his plot with a speed and urgency that gives the impression of events rushing to a headlong climax and makes the culminating tragedy seem all the more terrible and inevitable.

This, then, is a fine piece of writing, evidence that Bates deserves to be remembered as more than the creator of the dreary Larkin clan and as the man who unwittingly gave her big break to Catherine Zeta Jones. Let us hope that the recent decision by ITV to repeat The Darling Buds of May will lead to a revival of interest in Bates generally. The publishers could help by reissuing this and some of his other novels (Love for Lydia, The Distant Horns of Summer and The Jacaranda Tree are examples that come to mind).

Effervescent, romantic tragedy in the heart of England, 23 Feb 2000
Whilst I haven't heard the tape of this book, I have read the novel many hundreds of times: it perfectly captures an era, and a feeling. The characters are young, naive and perfectly in tune with the England of WW2, yet seem as relevant to today's world as modern fictional characters. The book is just sheer romance: glow-worms, and pilots soaring through the air; beer in country pubs and love under the moon during midnight feasts. But the romance cannot prevent the book from delving into tragic depths, and the heroine/narrator conveys the heartache perfectly, leaving aside sentimentality but gives a sense of hope. This is a book to fall in love to and with, - I defy anyone not to lose their hearts to Splodge, to Mac, to the Count and especially to Fitz - to carry with you at all times, just to cheer yourself up with a favourite paragraph, or allow a certain chapter to express your bluest moods for you.

Truly marvellous, 01 Jul 2007
If you yearn for the nostalgia of post WW2 rural England, coupled with romance, friendship, family & humour, then this book is surely a must.
This is one of the most enjoyable books of pure escapism, I think I have ever read.
The Larkins are a joy. The TV series was brilliant but the books, I feel, are on an even higher plain.
This is the first of the Larkin tales,where Mr Charlton from the Inland Revenue pays the Larkins a visit but falls in love (with the way of life, the countryside & of course, Mariette) & never leaves (& to be fair why would he ?)
My top tip - buy every Larkin book you can get your hands on & indeed, the DVD of the TV series - a real treat.

Love In Time of War, 06 May 2000
This is my favourite novel about love under the extreme conditions of war. A downed bomber in France, the danger of detection, the love of a woman, the story of true romance and the ability of two people to build such close, intimate, and wholly trusting bonds is beautifully described in truly well-written English. I am going to buy this book for my fiancee - I want her to see depicted that true love of a woman most can only dream about. I always hoped to find such trust and commitment, and in Bates' novel I find it described so beautifully.

From the back cover..., 01 Jul 2007
An uninterrupted rural riot in the Garden on England, with Larkins as ring leaders.

Here's Pop clinching a deal for two suits of armour, a butter churn, three Regency chamber pots (with pink roses on them) and a load of other junk; and here are all the
younger Larkins being taken into the bosom of the Church at a mass baptism (with marquee and private fairground); and here's the Rev Candy locking a half-nelson on an unwelcome visitor.

Oh! definitely, TO BE IN ENGLAND with the Moon-Rockets and the pink champagne. It's as perfect as A BREATH OF FRENCH AIR or WHEN THE GREEN WOODS LAUGH, as perfect as THE DARLING BUDS OF MAY


Idyllic, 01 Jan 2001
This is the last of the Larkin Chronicles and has a real sense of poignancy about it. In a more gentle way it reminds me of Hardy's mourning for the end of an era in his Wessex novels. Here Pop has to deal with an influx of Teddy boys who want to ruin the farm. Although victorious you feel that he knows that it is only a temporary measure and the golden days of summer cannot last forever. A sensitive and gently funny book about the end of a dream.

Moving, atmospheric and sublime, 06 Aug 2008
I read this as a teenager and totally fell in love with the story. I still have the book but have never quite dared to re-read it in case it's not as wonderful as I remember!

Set just after the first world war, Lydia moves to a country town to live with her aunts and uncle, and plays havoc with the emotions of the young men who see her. It's all here: first love, unrequited love, jealousy, passion and despair - but H.E. Bates is a restrained and sublime writer so this never descends into over-blown chic-littish melodrama. I think I've persuaded myself I must re-read it immediately!

David Jason reads A Breath of French Air -, 08 Sep 2007
A typical funny redition by the fantastic David Jason. Full of the inuendos H E Bates writes and put across in the comical way of David. Brilliant. A must listen to tape


Another Larkin Classic, 01 Jul 2007
Another fantastic Larkin tale (this being the last of the "Pop Larkin Chronicles). The whole series of Larkins / Darling Buds stories are a must & this one is no exception. This one differs the most from the TV adaptation but is probably richer for it - Mr Candy the vicar & the blossoming Primrose's relationship is on the rise, under the watchful eye of Ma Larkin.
Although this is, at times, the most sombre of all the Larkin tales (to say why might spoil the read !), it still has all the essential Larkin ingredients - family, friends, bawdy high jinks & a touch of sauce - brilliant in every way.

H E Bates at his best, 20 Aug 2008
A wonderful book - admittedly the author is one of my all-time favourites - and its warmth and human understanding are beautiful and timeless. Bates' portrayal of the countryside is perfect as usual. I read it avidly, unusual for a slow reader like me. I felt so close to the 'heroine'.

The plot has been described in the synopsis and by other reviewer, so I wont repeat here.

I fully agree with the other reviewer, except in his criticism of the Larkin series. They were my introduction to Bates at the age of 13, and nearly 50 years later I still think they were / are wonderful. They are meant to be fun, and I think the reviewer takes them too seriously. They represent an urge in many of us to (successfully) buck the system - represented here by the tax man Charlie - and also are a lovely evocation of life in the fifties (my childhood days !). Okay - maybe a bit ott and unrealistic in parts, but dreary ?. Never.

A Lyrical Tragedy, 05 Jun 2003
H E Bates is an author whose reputation has declined somewhat in recent years. During his lifetime, and for about two decades after his death in 1974, he was one of the most popular authors in Britain. Interest in him reached a peak in the early 1990s when his “Larkin Family” novels were serialised on television. In my view, those are far from being his best works, but the series was a huge success, tapping as it did into a vein of rural nostalgia and introducing to public view the most beautiful young actress that Britain has produced for many years. Since then, however, that interest has declined and, apart from the Larkin books and one or two wartime stories, his works are now largely out of print.

“The Feast of July” is one of those neglected works. Its setting is a small town in the East Midlands, probably during the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The mood, however, is not one of nostalgia. Like Hardy’s “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”, the book deals with a young unmarried mother who is abandoned by her seducer and whose child dies in infancy. While searching for her lover, the heroine, Bella Ford, arrives as a homeless and friendless stranger in town, where she is rescued and befriended by Ben Wainwright, a shoemaker, and his family. (Shoemaking is the principal industry of the area). Bella is welcomed into the family and becomes like a daughter to them, especially after their own daughter dies. Ben and his wife have three sons, and, after brief dalliances with the two younger boys, she eventually finds love with the eldest, Con. The climax of the story comes on the Feast of July, a traditional festival in the area, celebrating the first crops of the new season. Bella’s lover Arch Wilson reappears in her life, provoking a confrontation that ends tragically.

The novel is reminiscent of Hardy in more ways than one. There is the book’s late Victorian/Edwardian setting (although it was not written until the 1950s). There is the triangular relationship between Bella, Con and Arch, which parallels that between Tess, Angel and Alec. Most importantly, there is Bates’s deep love of the countryside, which he shares with the earlier writer. Although the Wainwrights live in an industrial town, it is small enough for the surrounding countryside to be an inescapable presence in the lives of its inhabitants. The Feast, second only to Christmas in importance in the area, is celebrated by town and country dwellers alike, and the townspeople are expected to set aside their normal work to join in the harvest. Throughout the book we are made aware of the changing of the seasons; most of the chapters start with a reference to the time of year, to the weather and to the changing landscape. (Winter, when the demand for shoes is depressed, is a time of hardship even for industrial workers). As in many of Bates’s other novels, the beauty of countryside in its changing moods is described with what the Times Literary Supplement described as “lyrical intensity”.

It would be wrong to see this novel as merely a pastiche of Victorian writing. Bates’s style is terse and urgent, rather than the more discursive style favoured in nineteenth century literature. As a result, this is a brief novel of about 200 pages; a Victorian novelist dealing with this theme would in all likelihood have done so at much greater length. This brevity of style has its drawbacks. The characters are less developed than they would have been in a longer work; Arch Wilson, in particular, is a two-dimensional figure, a plot device rather than a believable character (whereas Alec d’Urberville emerges as a complex and credible human being). Nevertheless, brevity has its advantages as well. By concentrating on the essentials, Bates develops his plot with a speed and urgency that gives the impression of events rushing to a headlong climax and makes the culminating tragedy seem all the more terrible and inevitable.

This, then, is a fine piece of writing, evidence that Bates deserves to be remembered as more than the creator of the dreary Larkin clan and as the man who unwittingly gave her big break to Catherine Zeta Jones. Let us hope that the recent decision by ITV to repeat The Darling Buds of May will lead to a revival of interest in Bates generally. The publishers could help by reissuing this and some of his other novels (Love for Lydia, The Distant Horns of Summer and The Jacaranda Tree are examples that come to mind).

Effervescent, romantic tragedy in the heart of England, 23 Feb 2000
Whilst I haven't heard the tape of this book, I have read the novel many hundreds of times: it perfectly captures an era, and a feeling. The characters are young, naive and perfectly in tune with the England of WW2, yet seem as relevant to today's world as modern fictional characters. The book is just sheer romance: glow-worms, and pilots soaring through the air; beer in country pubs and love under the moon during midnight feasts. But the romance cannot prevent the book from delving into tragic depths, and the heroine/narrator conveys the heartache perfectly, leaving aside sentimentality but gives a sense of hope. This is a book to fall in love to and with, - I defy anyone not to lose their hearts to Splodge, to Mac, to the Count and especially to Fitz - to carry with you at all times, just to cheer yourself up with a favourite paragraph, or allow a certain chapter to express your bluest moods for you.

Another Larkin Classic, 01 Jul 2007
Another fantastic Larkin tale (this being the last of the "Pop Larkin Chronicles). The whole series of Larkins / Darling Buds stories are a must & this one is no exception. This one differs the most from the TV adaptation but is probably richer for it - Mr Candy the vicar & the blossoming Primrose's relationship is on the rise, under the watchful eye of Ma Larkin.
Although this is, at times, the most sombre of all the Larkin tales (to say why might spoil the read !), it still has all the essential Larkin ingredients - family, friends, bawdy high jinks & a touch of sauce - brilliant in every way.

Truly marvellous, 01 Jul 2007
If you yearn for the nostalgia of post WW2 rural England, coupled with romance, friendship, family & humour, then this book is surely a must.
This is one of the most enjoyable books of pure escapism, I think I have ever read.
The Larkins are a joy. The TV series was brilliant but the books, I feel, are on an even higher plain.
This is the first of the Larkin tales,where Mr Charlton from the Inland Revenue pays the Larkins a visit but falls in love (with the way of life, the countryside & of course, Mariette) & never leaves (& to be fair why would he ?)
My top tip - buy every Larkin book you can get your hands on & indeed, the DVD of the TV series - a real treat.

Love In Time of War, 06 May 2000
This is my favourite novel about love under the extreme conditions of war. A downed bomber in France, the danger of detection, the love of a woman, the story of true romance and the ability of two people to build such close, intimate, and wholly trusting bonds is beautifully described in truly well-written English. I am going to buy this book for my fiancee - I want her to see depicted that true love of a woman most can only dream about. I always hoped to find such trust and commitment, and in Bates' novel I find it described so beautifully.

From the back cover..., 01 Jul 2007
An uninterrupted rural riot in the Garden on England, with Larkins as ring leaders.

Here's Pop clinching a deal for two suits of armour, a butter churn, three Regency chamber pots (with pink roses on them) and a load of other junk; and here are all the
younger Larkins being taken into the bosom of the Church at a mass baptism (with marquee and private fairground); and here's the Rev Candy locking a half-nelson on an unwelcome visitor.

Oh! definitely, TO BE IN ENGLAND with the Moon-Rockets and the pink champagne. It's as perfect as A BREATH OF FRENCH AIR or WHEN THE GREEN WOODS LAUGH, as perfect as THE DARLING BUDS OF MAY


Idyllic, 01 Jan 2001
This is the last of the Larkin Chronicles and has a real sense of poignancy about it. In a more gentle way it reminds me of Hardy's mourning for the end of an era in his Wessex novels. Here Pop has to deal with an influx of Teddy boys who want to ruin the farm. Although victorious you feel that he knows that it is only a temporary measure and the golden days of summer cannot last forever. A sensitive and gently funny book about the end of a dream.

Moving, atmospheric and sublime, 06 Aug 2008
I read this as a teenager and totally fell in love with the story. I still have the book but have never quite dared to re-read it in case it's not as wonderful as I remember!

Set just after the first world war, Lydia moves to a country town to live with her aunts and uncle, and plays havoc with the emotions of the young men who see her. It's all here: first love, unrequited love, jealousy, passion and despair - but H.E. Bates is a restrained and sublime writer so this never descends into over-blown chic-littish melodrama. I think I've persuaded myself I must re-read it immediately!

David Jason reads A Breath of French Air -, 08 Sep 2007
A typical funny redition by the fantastic David Jason. Full of the inuendos H E Bates writes and put across in the comical way of David. Brilliant. A must listen to tape


Another Larkin Classic, 01 Jul 2007
Another fantastic Larkin tale (this being the last of the "Pop Larkin Chronicles). The whole series of Larkins / Darling Buds stories are a must & this one is no exception. This one differs the most from the TV adaptation but is probably richer for it - Mr Candy the vicar & the blossoming Primrose's relationship is on the rise, under the watchful eye of Ma Larkin.
Although this is, at times, the most sombre of all the Larkin tales (to say why might spoil the read !), it still has all the essential Larkin ingredients - family, friends, bawdy high jinks & a touch of sauce - brilliant in every way.

H E Bates at his best, 20 Aug 2008
A wonderful book - admittedly the author is one of my all-time favourites - and its warmth and human understanding are beautiful and timeless. Bates' portrayal of the countryside is perfect as usual. I read it avidly, unusual for a slow reader like me. I felt so close to the 'heroine'.

The plot has been described in the synopsis and by other reviewer, so I wont repeat here.

I fully agree with the other reviewer, except in his criticism of the Larkin series. They were my introduction to Bates at the age of 13, and nearly 50 years later I still think they were / are wonderful. They are meant to be fun, and I think the reviewer takes them too seriously. They represent an urge in many of us to (successfully) buck the system - represented here by the tax man Charlie - and also are a lovely evocation of life in the fifties (my childhood days !). Okay - maybe a bit ott and unrealistic in parts, but dreary ?. Never.

A Lyrical Tragedy, 05 Jun 2003
H E Bates is an author whose reputation has declined somewhat in recent years. During his lifetime, and for about two decades after his death in 1974, he was one of the most popular authors in Britain. Interest in him reached a peak in the early 1990s when his “Larkin Family” novels were serialised on television. In my view, those are far from being his best works, but the series was a huge success, tapping as it did into a vein of rural nostalgia and introducing to public view the most beautiful young actress that Britain has produced for many years. Since then, however, that interest has declined and, apart from the Larkin books and one or two wartime stories, his works are now largely out of print.

“The Feast of July” is one of those neglected works. Its setting is a small town in the East Midlands, probably during the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The mood, however, is not one of nostalgia. Like Hardy’s “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”, the book deals with a young unmarried mother who is abandoned by her seducer and whose child dies in infancy. While searching for her lover, the heroine, Bella Ford, arrives as a homeless and friendless stranger in town, where she is rescued and befriended by Ben Wainwright, a shoemaker, and his family. (Shoemaking is the principal industry of the area). Bella is welcomed into the family and becomes like a daughter to them, especially after their own daughter dies. Ben and his wife have three sons, and, after brief dalliances with the two younger boys, she eventually finds love with the eldest, Con. The climax of the story comes on the Feast of July, a traditional festival in the area, celebrating the first crops of the new season. Bella’s lover Arch Wilson reappears in her life, provoking a confrontation that ends tragically.

The novel is reminiscent of Hardy in more ways than one. There is the book’s late Victorian/Edwardian setting (although it was not written until the 1950s). There is the triangular relationship between Bella, Con and Arch, which parallels that between Tess, Angel and Alec. Most importantly, there is Bates’s deep love of the countryside, which he shares with the earlier writer. Although the Wainwrights live in an industrial town, it is small enough for the surrounding countryside to be an inescapable presence in the lives of its inhabitants. The Feast, second only to Christmas in importance in the area, is celebrated by town and country dwellers alike, and the townspeople are expected to set aside their normal work to join in the harvest. Throughout the book we are made aware of the changing of the seasons; most of the chapters start with a reference to the time of year, to the weather and to the changing landscape. (Winter, when the demand for shoes is depressed, is a time of hardship even for industrial workers). As in many of Bates’s other novels, the beauty of countryside in its changing moods is described with what the Times Literary Supplement described as “lyrical intensity”.

It would be wrong to see this novel as merely a pastiche of Victorian writing. Bates’s style is terse and urgent, rather than the more discursive style favoured in nineteenth century literature. As a result, this is a brief novel of about 200 pages; a Victorian novelist dealing with this theme would in all likelihood have done so at much greater length. This brevity of style has its drawbacks. The characters are less developed than they would have been in a longer work; Arch Wilson, in particular, is a two-dimensional figure, a plot device rather than a believable character (whereas Alec d’Urberville emerges as a complex and credible human being). Nevertheless, brevity has its advantages as well. By concentrating on the essentials, Bates develops his plot with a speed and urgency that gives the impression of events rushing to a headlong climax and makes the culminating tragedy seem all the more terrible and inevitable.

This, then, is a fine piece of writing, evidence that Bates deserves to be remembered as more than the creator of the dreary Larkin clan and as the man who unwittingly gave her big break to Catherine Zeta Jones. Let us hope that the recent decision by ITV to repeat The Darling Buds of May will lead to a revival of interest in Bates generally. The publishers could help by reissuing this and some of his other novels (Love for Lydia, The Distant Horns of Summer and The Jacaranda Tree are examples that come to mind).

Effervescent, romantic tragedy in the heart of England, 23 Feb 2000
Whilst I haven't heard the tape of this book, I have read the novel many hundreds of times: it perfectly captures an era, and a feeling. The characters are young, naive and perfectly in tune with the England of WW2, yet seem as relevant to today's world as modern fictional characters. The book is just sheer romance: glow-worms, and pilots soaring through the air; beer in country pubs and love under the moon during midnight feasts. But the romance cannot prevent the book from delving into tragic depths, and the heroine/narrator conveys the heartache perfectly, leaving aside sentimentality but gives a sense of hope. This is a book to fall in love to and with, - I defy anyone not to lose their hearts to Splodge, to Mac, to the Count and especially to Fitz - to carry with you at all times, just to cheer yourself up with a favourite paragraph, or allow a certain chapter to express your bluest moods for you.

Another Larkin Classic, 01 Jul 2007
Another fantastic Larkin tale (this being the last of the "Pop Larkin Chronicles). The whole series of Larkins / Darling Buds stories are a must & this one is no exception. This one differs the most from the TV adaptation but is probably richer for it - Mr Candy the vicar & the blossoming Primrose's relationship is on the rise, under the watchful eye of Ma Larkin.
Although this is, at times, the most sombre of all the Larkin tales (to say why might spoil the read !), it still has all the essential Larkin ingredients - family, friends, bawdy high jinks & a touch of sauce - brilliant in every way.

This book is so refreshing. One will laugh out loud!, 23 Mar 2001
The book takes place in England. Just around the end of WWII> If anyone has met a country gentleman and a person like POP Larson this book will have you in stitches. It is not deep. It is light and funny and really just "takes the Mick" out of the country people. It was marvelous. I have finished the whole series and they all are funny except the third one is a bit depressing. No one wants Pop Larsen to be depressed. Read the whole series you will love it.