The Yorkshire Farm Girl by Diane Allen - #BookReview

 

Sally stood next to her mother, cold and ready for home, but she knew better than to say so as they both walked down the steep hillside of the graveyard to her grandparents' graves. Her long brown hair was damp and her winter coat barely kept her warm, and she shivered as they reached the graves.

Ivy Fothergill, still a good-looking woman for her age, looked down at the graves of her long-dead parents. Even though it had been more thant ten years since her father had died, she still missed them both...

***

Life is hard for the Fothergill family as they try to make a living on their farm in the Yorkshire Dales. Bob Fothergill has set his sights on buying his own farm instead of renting the one they currently hold. Sally his teenage daughter, wishes her father would see that she could help more with the farm, but he believes that a girl's place is in the home. Ben, their youngest, has no interest in farming so is ignored. Sally's mother makes do knowing her husband wants what's best for them.

But when Bob decides to take a well-paid job collecting it causes friction in the family, bringing tension to everyone. With Germany is shaking its angry fist at other nations and the threat of another war undermines everything. Times are hard and the future is uncertain, but perhaps the coming years could bring better times. But will the Fothergills survive the oncoming storm?

***

If you are wondering what that noise was, it was the sound of my very contented sigh. I adored this book from start to finish. The book came recommended by The People's Friend, and anyone who enjoys their lovely magazine will already know what to expect from this book.

The book is set during 1938/39 in the period just before the declaration of the Second World War. Rumours that the country will soon go to war are rife, and everyone is on edge. This created the perfect backdrop to place the main character, Sally, and her family, friends and neighbours.

The book begins during the winter of 1938 and with the preparations for Christmas. This was delightful to read as it described a world which is so much simpler than the present day. Life in rural Yorkshire was hard, money was scarce and pleasures were modest, and I really enjoyed reading about this family and their way of life.

It is a leisurely paced novel to read and made for easy reading. I liked the way the plot meandered along even though there was plenty going on in the plot. It felt very unhurried and made for a lovely read.

It is a very character driven novel and I really enjoyed spending time with Sally and her family. The author is very skilled at bringing her characters alive on the page. I almost felt like I had spent time with them, supping a cup of tea at the farmhouse table with Sally and Ivy.

The book depicts an old-fashioned way of life which felt full of realism. My parents were young during this period and many of their stories that I heard growing up were echoed in the attitudes of the adults in the novel.

The book left me wanting more, and I do hope that the author will write a sequel to this book.

Anyone who enjoys historical fiction will enjoy this book.  I will definitely read more books by this author. In fact, I already have The Girl From the Tanner's Yard on order.

ISBN:  978 1529093117

Publisher:  Pan

Formats:  e-book, audio, hardback and paperback

No. of Pages:  320 (paperback)

About the Author:

Diane was born in Leeds on Halloween. However Leeds was not my home city, I was to return to my family farm set high in the Yorkshire Dales and have an idyllic childhood. 

As a child she lived for the travelling library coming up her farm track once a fortnight and she loved to rifle through the shelves looking for a book she hadn’t read.

In her teenage years her choice of reading matter changed from lovely sweet stories to the darker side of life and she enjoyed Ira Levin’s, Rosemary’s Baby and Dennis Wheately’s To the Devil a Daughter. Her reading choices soon changed and she  read the classic’s, The Bronte sisters, being her all time favourite author’s. How could any one not fall in love with dark brooding Heathcliffe? The setting on the wild swept moor lands above Haworth not unlike the wild fell land that I was brought up with.

Now she is manager of a large print book firm in Yorkshire and have access to a host of reading matter.

(book courtesy of the publisher)

( all author info courtesy of the author's website http://www.diane-allen.co.uk/)

(all opinions are my own)