Return to Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village in the 21st Century

by Craig Taylor

Thirty-five years after the publication of Ronald Blythe's classic portrait of an English village, Akenfield, Craig Taylor returned to the Suffolk village on which the book was based. He sought out locals who appeared in the original book to learn how their lives had changed, met newcomers, and interviewed Ronald Blythe himself. The result reverberates with the voices of the young farmers, retired orchardmen, and Eastern European migrant workers talk about farming in an age of globalisation; commuters, weekenders, and retirees discuss the realities behind the rural idyll; and the local priest, teacher, and pub owner describe the daily pleasures and tribulations of village life.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

Audible Audio

First published March 1, 2003

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It is centered around a fictional village which is likely a composite of a number a rural Suffolk villages, and a follow-up to Ronald Blythe's 1969 book "Akenfield". It is a series of stories of about 5 to 10 pages about various local characters; lots of farmers, orchardists, a handyman, shopkeeper, pub owner, priest and many others. They are very honest stories and not particularly sentimental. A lot of the things about the good old days were not that good. There was a lot more physical labour and uncertain employment for farm workers. In current times it is a much leaner and mechanized business but as a result some of the closeness to the land has been lost. The tone of the village has changed also. People from larger towns have moved to rural properties, inflating the prices and making it more difficult to afford a farm. Most of the farms in the book were inherited from the current owners parents. As one farmer says, "I am asset rich but cash poor".

[Jonny Parshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

On meaning to learn more about English village life, I found this book much more suitable than the Robinson book I read previously. Not only is it a snapshot of the livelihood I was seeking, but it compared and contrasted from a book that had done so some many years earlier.

[Nette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently enjoyed the author's oral history of London and tracked down this earlier book, an oral history of people living in an English village. It was lovely and soothing and by God I learned a tremendous amount about how to farm blackcurrants.

My only problem -- and I don't know how this happened -- was that I could NOT stop picturing the interviewees as the regulars in a Christopher Guest mockumentary. Michael McKean as the elderly farmer who can list 30 types of peaches! Catherine O'Hara as the jolly female priest! Eugene Levy as the Polish immigrant! Parker Posey as the B&B owner who leads tourists on brisk country walks! I sure hope this isn't a trend for me, because Hilary Mantel's new book just got published and I do not want to imagine Jennifer Coolidge as Ann Boleyn.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the book "Akenfield" by Ronald Blythe in the early 70s shortly after it was published. I was therefore delighted to be loaned a copy of this book by a fellow Goodreads member. The format used was much the same as the original book. Each chapter begins with a short paragraph describing the person being interviewed followed by the words of the interviewee. Akenfield is actually a composite of 2 or 3 Suffolk villages. At times the words seemed nostalgic, calling forth life in the Suffolk countryside as it used to be. Having said that, the work was hard and people were poor with none of the advantages that we have present day, which tends to dispel any romantic notions we might have of the English farm. A very good read.

[Overbylass · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the book ,by chance, on a libary returns trolley and thought it sounded rather interesting .One of the reviews on the cover of this book was by William Trevor -who praised the writing style .I enjoy William Trevors's writing, so this all sounded like it was shaping up to be a good read.
.The book was indeed well written and I enjoyed the voices of many of the villagers of today .I was sure I would hate the incomers , but found that though they had replaced the old order of things. I couldn't dislike them for this . I will now read the original book.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this non-fiction book in a neat bookstore in London--Foyles. If you ever have a chance, go there. Using oral interviews of residents (new, old, former, present), it revisits what was once considered the classic English village and documents its dramatic changes in the 21st century. This was very interesting to read after just having been in Britain.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A most excellent endeavour by Craig Taylor to revisit Ronald Blythe's seminal Akenfield. He uses the same technique as he shines the spotlight on modern day Akenfielders in turn, with the wonderful addition of Ronald Blythe himself. I particularly appreciated his introductory contrast of the land with the prairies of Canada as he comes in to land. It's utterly beautiful and utterly unsentimental.

[Rahul · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the original Akenfield in 1968, it's not 2004 and gone are the wheelwright and the thatcher, and in their place we meet internet entrepreneurs musing about Tesco online shopping!

At least in the earlier part of this book, there is a lot more immediacy, familiarity to the world of 2025. There are the farmers dealing with rising labour costs, immigrants from the EU and New Zealand, even bigger and (in some ways) better farm equipment - a main theme of the original book as well - and now, computers and I.T.

Later interviews with older people are much more poignant and moving. One thing that really stuck me was how much more people today *live* than people of old- who lived crushingly circumscribed lives dictated by material and social constraints. Many older interviewees allude to this - "young people want more out of their lives, don't they".

A worthwhile read, as long as you're interested in the niche theme.

[John Stotesbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a well-edited return to Ronald Blythe's "Akenfield" after the lapse of a whole generation of change, the volume records memories of rural change in Suffolk up to the early 2000s. For me, the most glaringly "awful" voice of change is that of Tim Lodge, the "turf specialist", who has not a grain of rural sensibility in his simplistic, exploitative mind. I do hope that someone will soon pick up the baton of memory and work on a subsequent volume to bring "Akenfield" into the 2020s.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bit boring. Didn't finish this book.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A must read for those interested in the anthropology of contemporary English rural life. A sequel to the original Akenfield. The region has become somewhat different from last time, because modernity has encroached. There are some lovely moments in this book, but finding such moments is hard work...as hard as harvesting plump and delicious fruit from the stone-filled earth of Akenfeld.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it would be a comparison of then and now..but it was just now and as I had read the original about 30 years ago, I couldn't remember much about then. But there were some interesting vignettes.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is about the village of Akenfield many years later.

[Diana180]

#suffolk