Eleven-year-old Vixie, the shepherd's daughter, is living in a period of great change. The time is 1908. The old countryside ways are dying and the old trades are vanishing. But Vixie is full of spirit and imagination. When she is sent off into the world, only half-prepared and half-educated, she puts her mind and strength into making the best of things. This is the story of one year in the life of Martha Bowden, nicknamed Vixie, of the changes that happen to her and her family, and of how she grows up in a peaceful village in Wiltshire at the turn of the century. Reminiscent of Laurie Lee's Cider With Rosie and the writings of Thomas Hardy, this is an evocative and moving novel for young readers.