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In The Place of Fallen Leaves
This overwhelmingly hot summer everything seems to be slowing down in the tiny Devon village where Alison lives, as if the sun is pouring hot glue over it. 'This idn't nothin',' says Alison's grandmother, recalling a drought when the earth swallowed lambs, and the summer after the war when people got electric shocks off each other. But Alison knows her grandmother's memory is this is far worse. She feels that time has stopped just as she wants to enter the real world of adulthood. In fact, in the cruel heat of summer, time is creeping towards her, and closing in around the valley.
352 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1994
26 people are currently reading
657 people want to read
About the author
Tim Pears
20 books104 followersBorn in 1956, Tim Pears grew up in Devon and left school at sixteen. He worked in a wide variety of unskilled jobs: trainee welder, assistant librarian, trainee reporter, archaeological worker, fruit picker, nursing assistant in a psychiatric ward, groundsman in a hotel & caravan park, fencer, driver, sorter of mail, builder, painter & decorator, night porter, community video maker and art gallery manager in Devon, Wales, France, Norfolk and Oxford.
Always he was writing, and in time making short films. He took the Directing course at the National Film and Television School, graduating in the same month that his first novel, In the Place of Fallen Leaves, was published, in 1993.
Always he was writing, and in time making short films. He took the Directing course at the National Film and Television School, graduating in the same month that his first novel, In the Place of Fallen Leaves, was published, in 1993.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
June 19, 2016
I remember finishing this and going “Wow”. This is not just a novel, but also an almost surreal mood piece. It possesses a certain magic that remains unbroken right to its very last word.
Very atmospheric and downright beautiful. One of my favourite books of all time.
Very atmospheric and downright beautiful. One of my favourite books of all time.
April 1, 2011
I knew I would enjoy this book when I read the following on page 2:
"It had a small pond inhabited by goldfish, which used to jump out of the water whenever someone slammed the front door, but which when the pond dried up in July had disappeared off the face of the earth, leaving no trace except for a mysterious quiver in the whiskers of our cats."
I hated to finish this book. It was a joy to read.
"It had a small pond inhabited by goldfish, which used to jump out of the water whenever someone slammed the front door, but which when the pond dried up in July had disappeared off the face of the earth, leaving no trace except for a mysterious quiver in the whiskers of our cats."
I hated to finish this book. It was a joy to read.
December 16, 2011
A novel set in 1980s Devon, written by an Englishman but with an unaccountable "magic realism" feel. The depths of human failings and goodness are explored through the eyes of a 13 year old girl. A beautiful novel.
September 8, 2018
I bought, read, and loved this back when the paperback version came out in the U.S. in 1995, and the book still holds up beautifully now.
Author Tim Pears must have scribbled madly to get down on paper what village life was like for Devon farm families during the 1980s, the last gasp of the family farm era. Here's the life: live-in grandparents, a succession of sheepdogs, a gorgeous horsy girl next door, one farmer brother who's a beast, and another who's a genius who dresses like a 19th century artisan for his nights on the town. Grandma can easily lay hands on a paraffin lamp to carry about while checking on her sleeping family. Teenager Alison's only friend is the son of the local laird, and she teaches him to dive in the quarry pond. The village priest shows silent film comedies--Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy--at communal pox parties for the kids. And all of it's bathed in nostalgic, golden light. Read it: you won't be sorry.
January 17, 2010
I loved this book not challenging no intricate plot, just simplicity. A young girls take on the long hot summer when she left her childhood behind and began to embark on her journey into adulthood. It made me long for the days when we had communities, and nature drove life not money. A time when you were part of a family from birth to death, when the old were excepted, and all the challenges of elderly infirm relatives were part of the wonderful tapestry of life. When families were never termed as dysfunctional just families each one finding their way around the obstacles laid before them. Beautifully written, loved the dip into some of the main characters pasts. I would recommend for a bit of feel good and comfort
March 28, 2017
The story of a girl, her family, and the people she encounters in a small Devon village is a bit standoffish for the first couple of chapters, but turns into a lovely work.
After reading the author notes in Notwithstanding I was compelled to pick up this, Tim Pears (Pairs? Piers?) first novel and have to agree with de Bernières…it is a beautiful work.
Seemingly set in the late 1980’s, Pears creates a terrific cast of characters as seen through the eyes of Alison, the book's young narrator during the hottest summer ever recorded. The novel handles the large cast of characters well and their motivations seem for the most part natural. I have a minor issue with one character’s actions in the closing chapters which felt was a bit contrived, but it didn’t detract from the overall tone, mood and atmosphere created.
The weather becomes a character as well. Pears does a great job describing the heat, the dryness and the dying of the land. Time seems to stand still, or from the point of view of Alison’s grandmother, has reached the top of the spiral and is starting to come back down.
A very good first novel.
After reading the author notes in Notwithstanding I was compelled to pick up this, Tim Pears (Pairs? Piers?) first novel and have to agree with de Bernières…it is a beautiful work.
Seemingly set in the late 1980’s, Pears creates a terrific cast of characters as seen through the eyes of Alison, the book's young narrator during the hottest summer ever recorded. The novel handles the large cast of characters well and their motivations seem for the most part natural. I have a minor issue with one character’s actions in the closing chapters which felt was a bit contrived, but it didn’t detract from the overall tone, mood and atmosphere created.
The weather becomes a character as well. Pears does a great job describing the heat, the dryness and the dying of the land. Time seems to stand still, or from the point of view of Alison’s grandmother, has reached the top of the spiral and is starting to come back down.
A very good first novel.
April 13, 2014
So beautifully written
March 17, 2018
Beautiful book. Weighty in scope. Other reviewers call it "atmospheric." It circles around a beastly hot summer; events are narrated by an omniscient 13 year-old girl. She looks into the hearts and minds of many villagers, and her family members. This summer supposedly takes place in the 1980s. It covers the late months and goes into October, until the weather breaks and several lives are destroyed, not exactly caused by the weather, but because human life is difficult.
I was impressed how this book is deeply nostalgic. But it is one of the few that shows the past as being glorious yet truly awful at the same time! Does it beg the question: Why should we even bother to reminisce?
A spoken refrain is voiced by the protagonist's mother: "Why, dear God, do it not get no easier?"
It's a series of vignettes, really, up into the middle, and then a sort of plot moves the action along into a somewhat tidy conclusion for the family.
Perhaps this would be a good book to read during a cold day, because the descriptions of heat are quite graphic.
I was impressed how this book is deeply nostalgic. But it is one of the few that shows the past as being glorious yet truly awful at the same time! Does it beg the question: Why should we even bother to reminisce?
A spoken refrain is voiced by the protagonist's mother: "Why, dear God, do it not get no easier?"
It's a series of vignettes, really, up into the middle, and then a sort of plot moves the action along into a somewhat tidy conclusion for the family.
Perhaps this would be a good book to read during a cold day, because the descriptions of heat are quite graphic.
July 15, 2008
Plausibly written as a teenage girl growing up in remote Cornish farm. Slowly unfolding tales of displacement/detachment/oddness and growing up etc.
July 28, 2018
That Louis de Berniers should not only recommend this book at the end of his lovely ‘Notwithstanding’, but admit to delaying his own publication because of this Tim Pears classic says a great deal for both authors, I believe. For me, ‘In the place of fallen leaves’ is up there with Laurie Lee - and may well surpass him for a Desert Island Disc choice. Wonderfully atmospheric and quite beautifully written. It turns out that I’ve a friend who taught his daughter and learned from her how very autobiographical this book is: I can’t wait to see how good his others are.
Very highly recommended indeed.
Very highly recommended indeed.
November 15, 2014
This novel was a very intimate, slow-paced look into life in a small English village. It was an unusual setting in that there was a heatwave and a teacher strike to put added pressure on relationships and provide the opportunity for a first person account from a pre-teenager. The style of writing evoked a sense of time and place that brought you into the middle of family and village intimacies that counteracted the lack of a real plot line. A nicely written story about people, their farms, the elderly and the church.
February 25, 2015
The time span of this book can only be several weeks (it's term time) but that gone-forever sensation of the endless holidays is perfectly recreated. The weather is almost a character in the story - the relentless heat adds to the dreamy ambience. This is Devon in the 70s. Nothing much happens. But the minutiae of life is never boring. (I was particularly delighted by Alison's enriching relationships with two much older men - the rector and her brother - which weren't twisted by sexuality).
May 24, 2011
While this novel lacks a satisfying arc, I give it four stars for its beautiful, fresh language. You've got to love an author who comes up with a metaphor like this one describing men at a barn dance: "One by one the men were persuaded by other men's wives to join in, and they fell off the sides of the barn like currants into mother's cake mix."
August 20, 2018
1984 erlebt Devon im Süden von England einen wahrhaften Jahrhundertsommer. Sengende Hitze und furchtbare Trockenheit bringen die Menschen gesundheitlich und mental an ihre Grenzen. Die 13jährige Alison steht an der Schwelle zur Pubertät und hat das Gefühl, dass in diesem erdrückenden Sommer die Zeit stillsteht. Die Schule fällt schon seit Wochen wegen eines Lehrerstreiks aus, sie verbringt so viel Zeit am kühlen Baggersee, wie es nur eben geht und schließt eines Tages unerwartet Freundschaft mit dem schüchternen Sohn des Viscounts. Eine ungewöhnliche Paarung, denn die meisten Kinder der ortsansässigen Bauern und Bergarbeiter wollen mit dem Adel, wenngleich verarmt, nichts zu tun haben.
Alison lebt mit ihrer Großfamilie unter einem Dach - die Großeltern, deren Kräfte langsam schwinden, dem Vater, der unter alkoholbedingter Frühdemenz leidet, der Mutter, die immer nur ackert, und ihren drei Geschwistern, von denen der Älteste den Hof bewirtschaftet. Ihr bevorzugter Ansprechpartner unter den Erwachsenen ist allerdings kein Familienmitglied, sondern der Pfarrer der Gemeinde, mit dem Alison ein besonderes Vertrauensverhältnis verbindet.
Und obwohl es scheint, als bewege sich die Welt in diesem glühend heißen und wasserarmen Sommer nur sehr zäh weiter, geschieht bis zum Ende dieser unbarmherzigen Dürre schließlich doch so viel, dass in Alisons Leben nicht mehr sehr viel sein wird wie zuvor.
Dieses Buch habe ich vor sehr langer Zeit schon einmal gelesen und musste in diesem heißen und trockenen Sommer schon so oft daran denken, dass ich es mir noch einmal besorgt habe.
Auch beim zweiten Durchgang hat es mich nicht enttäuscht. Tim Pears fängt die lähmende Hitze und ihre Auswirkungen auf Mensch, Tier und Dorfleben schon beinahe greifbar ein. Alison als Erzählerin ist geschickt gewählt, ihre Stimme ist authentisch, unsentimental und unverstellt, ihr Seelenzustand im Umbruch, irgendwo zwischen Kind und Teenager, sie beginnt, ihren Platz in der Welt zu suchen und schildert den Mikrokosmos, in dem sie aufgewachsen ist, eine ländlich geprägte Bergarbeitergemeinde, mit all seinen kleinen Eigenheiten, mit den Schrullen und Macken der Menschen, den Traditionen, dem einen oder anderen Aberglauben und viel harter Arbeit.
Das Buch ist nicht dick, doch packt Pears zahlreiche Einzelschicksale hinein, die alle lebendig werden und irgendwie faszinieren, vielleicht gerade weil eigentlich gar nichts so Besonderes geschieht. Lediglich die Perspektive wirkt gelegentlich etwas holprig, wenn Alison manchmal von den Gedanken anderer Figuren erzählt, die sie gar nicht kennen kann.
Das perfekte Buch für alle, die in diesem Sommer wie die Protagonisten im Buch Woche um Woche vergeblich auf Regen und Abkühlung warten.
Alison lebt mit ihrer Großfamilie unter einem Dach - die Großeltern, deren Kräfte langsam schwinden, dem Vater, der unter alkoholbedingter Frühdemenz leidet, der Mutter, die immer nur ackert, und ihren drei Geschwistern, von denen der Älteste den Hof bewirtschaftet. Ihr bevorzugter Ansprechpartner unter den Erwachsenen ist allerdings kein Familienmitglied, sondern der Pfarrer der Gemeinde, mit dem Alison ein besonderes Vertrauensverhältnis verbindet.
Und obwohl es scheint, als bewege sich die Welt in diesem glühend heißen und wasserarmen Sommer nur sehr zäh weiter, geschieht bis zum Ende dieser unbarmherzigen Dürre schließlich doch so viel, dass in Alisons Leben nicht mehr sehr viel sein wird wie zuvor.
Dieses Buch habe ich vor sehr langer Zeit schon einmal gelesen und musste in diesem heißen und trockenen Sommer schon so oft daran denken, dass ich es mir noch einmal besorgt habe.
Auch beim zweiten Durchgang hat es mich nicht enttäuscht. Tim Pears fängt die lähmende Hitze und ihre Auswirkungen auf Mensch, Tier und Dorfleben schon beinahe greifbar ein. Alison als Erzählerin ist geschickt gewählt, ihre Stimme ist authentisch, unsentimental und unverstellt, ihr Seelenzustand im Umbruch, irgendwo zwischen Kind und Teenager, sie beginnt, ihren Platz in der Welt zu suchen und schildert den Mikrokosmos, in dem sie aufgewachsen ist, eine ländlich geprägte Bergarbeitergemeinde, mit all seinen kleinen Eigenheiten, mit den Schrullen und Macken der Menschen, den Traditionen, dem einen oder anderen Aberglauben und viel harter Arbeit.
Das Buch ist nicht dick, doch packt Pears zahlreiche Einzelschicksale hinein, die alle lebendig werden und irgendwie faszinieren, vielleicht gerade weil eigentlich gar nichts so Besonderes geschieht. Lediglich die Perspektive wirkt gelegentlich etwas holprig, wenn Alison manchmal von den Gedanken anderer Figuren erzählt, die sie gar nicht kennen kann.
Das perfekte Buch für alle, die in diesem Sommer wie die Protagonisten im Buch Woche um Woche vergeblich auf Regen und Abkühlung warten.
September 14, 2018
Stimmung, Atmosphäre und all die Kleinigkeiten, die so schnell übersehen werden, sind in dieser Erzählung wichtiger als temporeiche Handlung - und genau das macht dieses Buch so gut. Während des Lesens hat sich auch bei mir Ruhe eingestellt und ich war verzaubert vom Dorf- und Familienleben. Die Schilderungen sind jedoch nicht romantisch verklärend, sondern einfach und ehrlich - auch wenn manche Geschichten vom immer und immer wieder erzählt werden (innerhalb der Familie und der Gemeinschaft) ihre eigene übernatürliche Wahrheit angenommen haben.
Danke für diese Entdeckung, @Kissmekate, die wirklich perfekt in diesen Sommer passte. Die letzten Seiten habe ich (in Griechenland) gelesen, während Wolken aufzogen und es donnerte, jedoch kein Regen kam. ;)
Danke für diese Entdeckung, @Kissmekate, die wirklich perfekt in diesen Sommer passte. Die letzten Seiten habe ich (in Griechenland) gelesen, während Wolken aufzogen und es donnerte, jedoch kein Regen kam. ;)
August 21, 2012
This novel caught my attention from it's beautiful composition of grammar and language. Every sentence was moving in a way that left me feeling as if I myself was experiencing the emotions of the novel's protagonist, Alison Freemantle. Through Alison's memories and the memories of those around her, a picture is painted of the small Devon community she lives in. I felt connected to the subject of this painting as if I knew the land,the atmosphere, and every character personally, from objects,places, and people mentioned only a few times to Alison's family farm itself.
However, this book is only that- a portrait of Alison's summer. The lovely structure of the language tricked me into thinking that at some point the book will reach it's climax, that something exciting will happen. It's only when I reached the end that I realized that it was the book itself that was the said summer that was the climax- the turning point in Alison's life.
Tim Pears has written a wonderfully compelling novel about the struggles of growing up, but in short there is little plot. Perhaps that is what makes it so unique; it is not a typical coming of age story, where one changes from child to young adult, but rather a story that gives the impression that the protagonist is on the brink of that change. It's simply a story of what it means to be a 13 year old girl living in a small village in Devon during the hottest summer yet.
However, this book is only that- a portrait of Alison's summer. The lovely structure of the language tricked me into thinking that at some point the book will reach it's climax, that something exciting will happen. It's only when I reached the end that I realized that it was the book itself that was the said summer that was the climax- the turning point in Alison's life.
Tim Pears has written a wonderfully compelling novel about the struggles of growing up, but in short there is little plot. Perhaps that is what makes it so unique; it is not a typical coming of age story, where one changes from child to young adult, but rather a story that gives the impression that the protagonist is on the brink of that change. It's simply a story of what it means to be a 13 year old girl living in a small village in Devon during the hottest summer yet.
November 16, 2017
I picked this up at the library, remembering reading about Tim Pears online as a good author I’d not heard of before, so I was surprised to see the original publication date as 1993. This pbk ed is 2017. The reviews looked promising too.
The year is 1984, the place rural Devon, and the summer unnaturally long and droughty. Alison is supposed to be starting secondary school, but a teachers’ strike prevents her. So this is both an atmospheric description of farm, village and country life, a ‘coming of age’ novel, and a description of a large farming family of three generations, all living together.
I’m still not quite sure about this one. It took me longer than usual to read, and I only really got into it about two thirds of the way through. The style is certainly unusual, poetic even, but it felt a little forced from time to time, and many of the sentences seemed too long, the similes and metaphors contrived.
I’d probably give it three and a half stars if I could; feeling a bit mean to do so, but it didn’t really rock my boat.
The year is 1984, the place rural Devon, and the summer unnaturally long and droughty. Alison is supposed to be starting secondary school, but a teachers’ strike prevents her. So this is both an atmospheric description of farm, village and country life, a ‘coming of age’ novel, and a description of a large farming family of three generations, all living together.
I’m still not quite sure about this one. It took me longer than usual to read, and I only really got into it about two thirds of the way through. The style is certainly unusual, poetic even, but it felt a little forced from time to time, and many of the sentences seemed too long, the similes and metaphors contrived.
I’d probably give it three and a half stars if I could; feeling a bit mean to do so, but it didn’t really rock my boat.
December 7, 2010
'Atmospheric' is the best word I can think of to describe the world laid out in this book. That and 'fabulous'. It's one of those stories that seems to have no real plot to it but kind of meanders until you realise that you've gone somewhere without being quite aware of the journey. It's set in the hot late summer of 1984 in a Devon village with eleven year old Alison leading us around her family and friends. The story is coming-of-ageish I suppose, but it's delightful. Definitely an author to read more of. Exceptionally well written too.
July 3, 2013
Although lacking a plot this book recreates a rural world, the Teign valley in Devon, during a hot, dry summer of 1984. A series of vignettes of the village and a farming family, largely seen through the eyes of 13 year old Alison. Lots of good things in the book - the imagery and language, the characters, and the relationship between Alison and her confused father - very tenderly portrayed.
We will be discussing this book at my group holiday which this year is in Devon, near Tavistock, not many miles from where this book is set.
We will be discussing this book at my group holiday which this year is in Devon, near Tavistock, not many miles from where this book is set.
October 8, 2013
This is a beautifully written book. I read and reread sentences for the sheer pleasure of seeing our language so evocatively and precisely used. It's rare to find sentences, paragraphs like that. The characterization is excellent. But I'm an impatient person, one who likes action, and the plot wasn't fast-moving enough for my taste. That said, the fight between the brothers toward the end of the novel was convincing, absolutely riveting. I wish there had been more of that potent conflict. I'll certainly look for more of Tim Pears books to read.
December 24, 2017
If you are a person who likes to read about a farm family living country life during a stunning heat spell, then you'd give this book higher ratings than I have. It's a well-written story, but I wasn't nostalgic for the simpler days and ways it depicted. Beyond this, I thought it wasn't titled well and I hated the key event (no spoiler alert!) that happened near the end of the book.
Having said all that, I can readily see why a LOT of people would like it. It just wasn't quite my cup of morning tea.
Having said all that, I can readily see why a LOT of people would like it. It just wasn't quite my cup of morning tea.
September 11, 2018
Felt myself falling into this story almost right away, certainly by the start of the second chapter. The writing is lyrical, creating images and imparting information in an intricate weave. It's a book without a plot, though, more a memoir in tone than a story, an exposition of events over a long, hot summer in Devon, at times grave, others times sad and humorous. Not one to speed through. Nostalgic in a beautiful way.
June 22, 2017
Searched for a copy of this book because I had liked the horseman so much but I just couldn't get into this one. Stuck with it to the end but my mind would wander and I'd have to reread sections. Similar style in which he paints a portrait of a family over just regular everyday living but this one would drift off on tangents from the past about various characters.
March 18, 2020
This story didn't appeal to me at all. A story of depressed farmers struggling with drought from the viewpoint of a 13 year old girl. Set in the mid 1980's, in a rural English village the hardships just pile up. One entire chapter devoted to the bodily pain experienced by the village rector as he works his way through a week of the flu. A paragraph would be enough, maybe a page. I just didn't want to read about it. Sometimes the writing had a lilt to it that may have carried the story of this child but the onslaught of metaphors and similes had me wondering what was a metaphor and was something a thing or just like a thing.
I may give Tim Pears another chance down the road but I won't be rereading this one any time soon.
I may give Tim Pears another chance down the road but I won't be rereading this one any time soon.
February 16, 2025
In the place of fallen leaves is Tim Pears debut novel and what a debut novel it was winning the Ruth Hadden Memorial Award in 1993 and the Hawthornden Prize in 1994 and after devouring this literary masterpiece I can see why. The story focuses on a small Devon village family set in the unbearable scorching summer heat of 1984 seen through the eyes of 13 year old Alison Freemantle the youngest of a farming family. The highs and lows of this farming family along with Alisons perspectives on life are all beautifully told by Pears and I will go on record to say that it's the single most poignant and beautifully written book I've ever read, the way Tim draws you into the small Devonshire community and how I became emotionally invested in all of the characters from start to finish was just fictional literature at its very best. Chapter 19 (Electric summer) will remain with me forever, A truly harrowing, heart pounding scene of child birth written with such intensity and creative flair that I felt as though I were there, simply flawless, descriptive writing by Pears. The novel doesn't take a dip and Tim is consistently excellent throughout keeping you guessing right up until the very last moment when you realise you've made the end looking for extra pages.
May 24, 2018
First novel (1993) by Tim Pears; a beautifully written family story set in rural England in the great drought of Summer 1984. It's like a tapestry; Mr. Pears introduces his characters one by one, then develops them in depth in an intertwining series of events during the brutal summer. His sense of place, so impressive in his current work (The Horseman, The Wanderers), is already on display here. The story is told from the point of view of the teenage girl in the family, and works perfectly; not an easy task for a male writer. Recommended.
November 9, 2021
Good read about 1980s rural Devon
Easy flowing narrative with intimate detail of personal, family and community life. Told through the experience of a 13 year old girl during a hot summer I had to keep reminding myself it was not autobiographical. Written just a decade later than the times he describes it relies a lot on describing what perhaps seems to be unorthodox behaviour and events. Be interesting to know where the author has got his information and experience to write in such detail.
Easy flowing narrative with intimate detail of personal, family and community life. Told through the experience of a 13 year old girl during a hot summer I had to keep reminding myself it was not autobiographical. Written just a decade later than the times he describes it relies a lot on describing what perhaps seems to be unorthodox behaviour and events. Be interesting to know where the author has got his information and experience to write in such detail.
May 18, 2023
This is a book written in exquisite prose that manages to conjure up the atmosphere of a farming family living through a dry summer heat wave, (1984 judging by the reference to the Battle or Orgreave). You do "feel" the oppression of a hot English summer in a small village and the challenges of a farming family attempting to protect the business as it transitions through the generations. To me it was a form of "update" or "respect" to the classic Cider with Rosie but more relatable since it's much recent past that I can remember. A magical evocation of a time that has now past.
February 15, 2018
Setting: Devon, UK; 1980's. Against a background of the hottest and driest summer on record, teenage Alison narrates the story of her farming family: their lives, loves and losses and her coming of age. Overall, I enjoyed the book but didn't bond as well with the characters as I would have wished to - this is essential in a story like this but, for some inexplicable reason, I found myself unable to. Would still give it 7/10.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews