This is a story of survival set in a small fishing village near Bombay. Lila & Hari aged 13 & 12 struggle to keep the family including two young sisters going when their mother is ill & their father usually the worse for drink. When Hari goes to Bombay to find work Lila seems to be responsible for everything. Although the book paints a picture of extreme poverty it demonstrates the strength of the family even in the most extreme circumstances & offers a powerful picture of another culture. ...

Village Centenary welcomes us back to Fairacre just in time for the one hundredth anniversary of the village school. Such a centenary should be celebrated & all of Fairacre is quick to offer suggestions
- from a tea party to a pageant. Deciding how best to stage the grand occasion however is only one of Miss Read's problems. The ancient skylight in the school is leaking & Mr Willet the school caretaker fears that replacing it will be a difficult job. The new teacher Miss Briggs fresh from college & full of idealistic theories proves a thorn in Miss Read's side. The vicar has decided to keep bees. & Mrs Pringle is her usual dour self. But the seasons continue to change & the centenary year unfolds with its hopes & fears its memories & forecasts its friendships & feuds. Village Centenary marks yet another delightful year in the company of our favourite Fairacre friends.
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When Harry Dickenson arrives in Turnham Malpas the warm welcome he receives convinces him to stay. Handsome & charming Harry quickly earns his place in rural life. But despite his outward friendliness Harry is a troubled man hiding memories of a tragic past from which he is desperate to escape. Just as Harry finds some measure of peace he encounters the one woman in the village likely to turn any man's head. Soon Harry is caught in an obsessive love that threatens to ruin everything that he has accomplished
- & reveal his shocking secret to all. But Harry isn't the only man in the village to fall head-over-heels. Paddy Cleary the shy gardener is smitten. But will Paddy find the confidence to reveal his true feelings? & will the young lady return his affections? The villagers must wait & watch hoping the burgeoning friendship will lead to something more...
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With the Rector Peter Harris & his family back from Africa the villagers of Turnham Malpas heave huge sighs of relief
- everything
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A mysterious visitor has arrived in Turnham Malpas. What can Titus Bellamy want? Is it true the villagers ask each other that he has discovered a medieval charter which grants the right to hold a market on their picturesque village green? & if it is true can he be stopped? Meanwhile after twenty-five years the marriage of Liz & Neville Neal is on the rocks. Or so the unhappy Liz thinks. But Neville to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary has decided to throw a lavish party. The anniversary party & the market on the green mark both the beginning & end of two quite different relationships. But is it really all the fault of Titus Bellamy? The village is divided
- before a spate of burglaries on market day adds fuel to the hot debate & someone unexpected decides to take matters into her own hands...
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Rivalries flare & scandal abounds in Rebecca Shaw's sparkling tale of love loyalty & village life. The villagers of Turnham Malpas are in for a shock. With Sir Ralph now dead his fortune & title go to a newcomer. It swiftly becomes clear that Johnny Templeton could not be more different to his well-loved predecessor. Johnny soon finds himself in conflict with long-standing members of Turnham Malpas
- particularly Craddock Fitch who is determined to obstruct Johnny's plan to buy back the Templeton estate. Meanwhile there are two other villagers in crises but theirs is a much more private issue. Marcus & Alice March have longed for a child for years. But when Alice finally becomes pregnant there are those in the village who harbour doubts about the child's progeny knowing how close Alice has grown to Johnny. As gossip begins to circulate the village Alice must make the most difficult of decisions
- whether to follow her heart or her morals...

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This reprint of the third book in Nichols Allways Trilogy" contains a new foreword by Bryan Connon Beverley Nichols biographer. Set in the English countryside the hilarious memoir is as much about the authors love for plants as it is about the village in which he lived. The depictions of flowers & ornamentals
- A single one of those gloxinias would be an event in Allways...I should give a party for it
- are both inspiring & unforgettable. This is the voice of one whose chief endowment is an appreciation for plants & the landscape including a keen understanding of the importance gardens play in an increasingly modern world."

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This book is the perfect antidote to the stress of life in the 21st Century. It portrays the idyll of life in an 1850s village far from the sound of the trains whistle". The identity of the village was lost to the world for 150 years & only by a miracle does this magical set of stereoscopic views survive brought together for the very first time by Brian May & his co-author photohistorian Elena Vidal. Their research is amazingly in-depth but the book is utterly readable & the pictures leap into glorious 3-D viewed in the new focussing stereoscope which May has designed & produced to bring the stereos to life & then fold neatly into the slip-case of the book. The book gives an extraordinary insight into everyday village life at the time
- with a woman at her spinning wheel the blacksmith outside his smithy three men at the grind stone sharpening a tool the villagers in the fields bringing in the harvest as well as often taking time to enjoy a good gossip. In every case the original verse which accompanied the view is reproduced. In addition May & Vidal have researched & annotated all the views revealing another layer of meaning by exploring the history of these real characters this idyllic village & its links with the present day. The result is a powerfully atmospheric & touching set of photographs." A Village Lost & Found brings master pioneering stereographer T. R. Williamss passionate life-work Scenes in Our Village to a new audience
- in glorious 3-D as never before. For an Electronic Press Kit for A Village Lost & Found click here"

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Ford & Mercedes Barclay have decided to spend their twilight years in the lovely village of Turnham Malpas
- but will these two
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The village school is to get a new head & the inhabitants of Turnham Malpas await her arrival with curiosity. At first sight Kate Pascoe seems ideal. She's young pretty & obviously loves her job. But when she introduces meditation classes for her ten-year-olds & even tree-hugging the villagers begin to think again. Then a strange malaise afflicts the whole village: lights are seen in Sykes Wood at night; a dog long dead appears to come to life & a sudden shocking death plunges the village into a state of superstitious dread. & always at the eye of the storm is Kate Pascoe... ...