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all muck and mullets
This series of short stories will make you wet yourself laughing, well up with tears, shake your head in disbelief and even cringe at 80s style memories...
Good humour, like good cheese, gets riper with age and this is very much the case with All Muck and Mullets, a light-hearted look at life in the 1980s in the heart of rural England. We spend a year in the company of a colourful collection of eccentric but endearing characters from the peculiar village of Adderstey.
Beginning in May 1985, the twelve chapters of the book take us through each month as various hilarious events unfold at the expense of the residents. Prepare for village brawls, Women's Institute ladies getting fruity on hash cakes, sponsored drinking events, tantrums among the amateur dramatics group, naked druidic rituals in the forest, campanologists indulging in a spot of 'swinging' in the bell tower, sporadic poaching and cattle rustling...
Some chapters have darker storylines than others, but most have an element of humour interwoven into the plot and readers will quickly grow fond of the characters. Did Craigie's highly alcoholic entrepreneurial activities put the residents of the old folks' home into intensive care? Who severed Rick the Shop's ponytail? And who really knocked up Olivia, the local land owner's daughter?
Good humour, like good cheese, gets riper with age and this is very much the case with All Muck and Mullets, a light-hearted look at life in the 1980s in the heart of rural England. We spend a year in the company of a colourful collection of eccentric but endearing characters from the peculiar village of Adderstey.
Beginning in May 1985, the twelve chapters of the book take us through each month as various hilarious events unfold at the expense of the residents. Prepare for village brawls, Women's Institute ladies getting fruity on hash cakes, sponsored drinking events, tantrums among the amateur dramatics group, naked druidic rituals in the forest, campanologists indulging in a spot of 'swinging' in the bell tower, sporadic poaching and cattle rustling...
Some chapters have darker storylines than others, but most have an element of humour interwoven into the plot and readers will quickly grow fond of the characters. Did Craigie's highly alcoholic entrepreneurial activities put the residents of the old folks' home into intensive care? Who severed Rick the Shop's ponytail? And who really knocked up Olivia, the local land owner's daughter?
285 pages, Paperback
First published June 28, 2014
About the author
Samantha Nash
4 books2 followersSamantha Nash attended the Universities of Hull and Leicester before becoming a teacher of science and computing. She lives in Market Harborough in Leicestershire where she continues to teach while working on the next book in the series amongst other literary projects.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 9, 2014
Usually I enjoy humorous stories about quirky villagers, especially when the author writes well. But not this time.
For those with the right sort of sense of humor (which mine obviously is not), the village brawls, poaching, and tantrums may be slapstick enough to provoke laughter, but for me the characters’ main common feature was stupidity – suitable perhaps for a country rube joke but not at all designed to create “winning” or even remotely endearing characters. Which probably explains why I had such a hard time telling the idiots (other than Mazzer) from each other – I got bored.
My three-stars feel like a gift, but only because I expect authors to at least like some of their characters. Readers who don’t care about that may like this one.
For those with the right sort of sense of humor (which mine obviously is not), the village brawls, poaching, and tantrums may be slapstick enough to provoke laughter, but for me the characters’ main common feature was stupidity – suitable perhaps for a country rube joke but not at all designed to create “winning” or even remotely endearing characters. Which probably explains why I had such a hard time telling the idiots (other than Mazzer) from each other – I got bored.
My three-stars feel like a gift, but only because I expect authors to at least like some of their characters. Readers who don’t care about that may like this one.
October 25, 2019
such a funny read. reminds me of a village I used to live in .
August 17, 2014
These short stories are funny if you appreciate this type of humor. It is not my "type" of humor. It is well written and I even had a chuckle or two myself.
This book is well written and easy to read.
Disclaimer: I received a digital galley of this book free from the publisher from NetGalley. I was not obliged to write a favourable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
This book is well written and easy to read.
Disclaimer: I received a digital galley of this book free from the publisher from NetGalley. I was not obliged to write a favourable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
August 8, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews