Tales from the Country Matchmaker

by Patricia Warren

Since she founded the Farmers' and Country Bureau from her farmhouse in the Peak District more than twenty years ago, Patricia has been helping love blossom the length and breadth of rural England. She has hundreds of marriages to her credit and numerous babies, including one set of quads.A born matchmaker whose warmth, patience and humour have literally changed the lives of hundreds of people, here she brings us the stories of love and romance that she has helped to create.Of course love isn't always on the cards for her clients. Take George, who wouldn't leave his lady friend until she'd finished knitting his jumper. Or the pig farmer who omitted to take a shower. But for the truly romantic take Harry, the poetry writing farmer who found his perfect match just when he'd given up hope.Patricia Warren's tales are pure delight - and a heartening reminder that there really can be a 'happy ever after'.

Genres: Nonfiction

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[d m palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good true comedy story

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy reading and amusing. Just dip in and read a few pages, then pick it up again a week or so later and read a bit more.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tales from the Country Matchmaker was a sweet book, full of stories of pleasant people, isolated by character or circumstance, being brought together for a happier future. Patricia Warren, the eponymous matchmaker, was obviously a lovely woman who had a wealth of interesting anecdotes to relate, but unfortunately I didn’t think that the book was very well organised, so it quickly began to feel repetitive and muddled, although undoubtedly earnest, gentle and heartwarming.

One of Patricia’s clients remarked: "The trouble is, we’re all fed a diet of knights in shining armour whereas what I had in reality was this decent, good-looking, nice man who I was terribly comfortable with, but wasn’t fireworks and parties every night and travelling round the world. Maybe the knight in shining armour was around the next corner. But the guy who produces the fireworks is not the guy you want to spend your life with. The comfortable alternative sometimes puts people off because lots of us want to live on the edge. What I’ve learnt now is that companionship, trust and laughter are so important, and it can seem fuddy duddy — but it’s not, it’s real. And we do have our firework moments." (p. 118)

This statement encapsulates the tone of the book for me. It was steady, warm, quiet and sweet, at times touching and at others amusing, but sadly without any fireworks to provide a change of pace and mood. I liked this book and thought that it had potential, but I wish that it had been written by someone else who could perhaps have brought the stories to life a bit more and made them seem more individual and exciting.

[Sian Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet story about a lady who set up a dating agency for farmers and other country folk. She set the agency up pre-smart phone era, so it is a more personal, gentler world we are in than the speed and impersonal nature of tinder etc. She tells us about her life story and how she always felt she belonged in the countryside. There are many lovely stories about the couples she has matched, with a lot of background about farming and how it can be such a lonely life. As you can imagine, she met some real characters. The book is let down by its narrative style, the stories could have been told better. Maybe better editing would have helped. It was nonetheless an enjoyable read.

[Doris Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

Warm story but very slow - took a long time to read as I found a lot of the stories thin on the ground. They may of been different people but with all very much the same sort of story. By far not the best book I've read.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warm collection of stories on matchmaking people from the countryside who don't get the chance to meet others easily.

[Lorna Sixsmith · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's okay. It's interesting to read about the matchmaking process and there are some lovely romantic stories within the book, as well as stories which reveal why relationships don't work out or why the chemistry just isn't there but it needed more humour. I don't mean in terms of poking fun at the couples but perhaps some self-deprecating humour pointed at herself or more humour in how some relationships worked and some didn't. It needed the touch of a James Herriot type - and then it could have been a 5 star read - the potential is certainly there.