The Beautiful Years

The Flax of Dream #1

by Henry Williamson

The Beautiful Years is a tender evocation of West Country childhood in the golden years before the First World War. It is also the first volume in Henry Williamson's tetralogy T he Flax of Dream . All four volumes - The Beautiful Years , Dandelion Days , The Dream of Fair Women and The Pathway - are being reissued in Faber Finds, and together they make up the life story of Willie Maddison.

The Flax of Dream is one of the major literary achievements of the twentieth century.

Genres: Fiction, Novels

246 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1921

About the author

Henry William Williamson was an English soldier, naturalist, farmer and ruralist writer known for his natural history and social history novels, as well as for his fascist sympathies. He won the Hawthornden Prize for literature in 1928 with his book Tarka the Otter.

Henry Williamson is best known for a tetralogy of four novels which consists of The Beautiful Years (1921), Dandelion Days (1922), The Dream of Fair Women (1924) and The Pathway (1928). These novels are collectively known as The Flax of Dream and they follow the life of Willie Maddison from boyhood to adulthood in a rapidly changing world.

Reviews

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first in a series of four about a young boy growing up in the countryside before the First World War. For some reason, I read the second in the series (Dandelion Days) back in the early eighties, but I've only just read this one after coming across it in an online bookstore.
At the time I didn't know about Henry Williamson's fascist sympathies. However, setting that aside, it's a wonderful depiction of rural childhood in the early part of the 20th century (though some 'hobbies' like egg collecting, are thankfully now no longer acceptable, and for me it sharply brings home how much of our native wildlife has been lost in the time since it was written.

[Cameron Sloman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Williamson’s indulgence in natural description is simply captivating. In no way does it impede the narrative of dear Willie, but gives us access into the boys thoughts, his view of the world, and what he holds close to his heart: the natural world.
Very much looking forward to reading Dandelion Days!

[Beccy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evocative descriptions of nature and English countryside had me completely transported. I didn't know about the author's fascist leanings at the time - I read it as it was presented, a poetic narrative of a childhood lived outdoors.

[Paula R C R. C. Readman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful written. Of its time.

[Elaine Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this many years ago and loved it , enjoyed it again and will try to read the rest of the series too

[David]

Enthralling and well-written but we must remember his proto-fascist leanings.