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Jane's Country Year
The first edition since 1946, with full colour illustrations throughout.
'At last she reached the brow of the hill ... now the country opened out below her and she looked down into a wide and lovely valley ... Still patched with snow the little fields spread like a carpet below her and here and there a farmhouse with barns and golden ricks was clearly seen. Across the plain ran, straight as a ruler, a railway line and she saw a toy train puffing and crawling across the picture.'
Malcolm Saville's classic novel is about eleven-year old Jane's discovery of nature and country life during a year spent convalescing on her uncle's farm, after having been dangerously ill in post-war London. This deeply-felt novel was written while Saville was extending his range as a writer, alongside his very successful Lone Pine adventure series, and nature anthologies for children. Inspired by the experiences of Saville's own god-daughter, this marvellous novel is full of the wonder of discovery, as well the happiness of regaining health, making friends, and learning to love the natural world. The novel is also a record of rural England eighty years ago, written by one of the great twentieth century English nature writers. The Introduction is written by Hazel Sheeky Bird of the University of Newcastle. The illustrations by Bernard Bowerman have been reproduced from the first edition.
'At last she reached the brow of the hill ... now the country opened out below her and she looked down into a wide and lovely valley ... Still patched with snow the little fields spread like a carpet below her and here and there a farmhouse with barns and golden ricks was clearly seen. Across the plain ran, straight as a ruler, a railway line and she saw a toy train puffing and crawling across the picture.'
Malcolm Saville's classic novel is about eleven-year old Jane's discovery of nature and country life during a year spent convalescing on her uncle's farm, after having been dangerously ill in post-war London. This deeply-felt novel was written while Saville was extending his range as a writer, alongside his very successful Lone Pine adventure series, and nature anthologies for children. Inspired by the experiences of Saville's own god-daughter, this marvellous novel is full of the wonder of discovery, as well the happiness of regaining health, making friends, and learning to love the natural world. The novel is also a record of rural England eighty years ago, written by one of the great twentieth century English nature writers. The Introduction is written by Hazel Sheeky Bird of the University of Newcastle. The illustrations by Bernard Bowerman have been reproduced from the first edition.
237 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1946
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271 people want to read
About the author
Malcolm Saville
194 books34 followersLeonard Malcolm Saville was an English author best known for the Lone Pine series of children's books, many of which are set in Shropshire. His work emphasises location; the books include many vivid descriptions of English countryside, villages and sometimes towns.
(wikipedia)
(wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 5, 2021
A new edition of a classic children’s book from 1946, Malcolm Saville’s gently-paced narrative centres on a city child Jane sent to convalesce in the countryside after a long illness. Jane ends up with her aunt and uncle on their farm in rural England. Jane’s story’s essentially a framing device which allows Saville to construct a detailed portrait of English country life over the course of a year, following the seasons from lambing to harvest time and beyond. His text's filled with meticulously drawn accounts of the local wildlife, flowers, plants and trees that Jane encounters as she begins to understand and appreciate the nature around her. One of the joys of this book's the inclusion of an array of full-colour illustrations reproduced from the first edition. Bernard Bowerman’s images are beautifully-realised, evocative representations of country scenes, many based on the farm in Hertfordshire where Saville lived. This reissue comes with a fascinating, informative, introductory essay by academic Hazel Sheeky Bird who provides an overview of Saville’s life and work - a prolific writer for children now largely forgotten and ripe for rediscovery. Bird also places this story in its wider contexts: the British countryside narrative from Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows onwards; and children’s publishing in post-war Britain at a time when traditional rural life symbolised everything the country had fought to preserve. I enjoyed this one far more than I'd expected to, it’s a quiet, unsentimental but charming piece carefully presented by publisher Handheld Classics.
Thanks to Edelweiss Plus and publisher Handheld Press for an arc.
Rating: 3.5
Thanks to Edelweiss Plus and publisher Handheld Press for an arc.
Rating: 3.5
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February 28, 2022My thanks to Handheld Classics and Edelweiss for a review copy of this book.
Malcolm Saville is another from the list of authors whom I was aware of but had never read. I only had a vague idea that he wrote adventure stories for children. But on seeing my friend Alwynne's review of this book on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), I found to my surprise that he wrote on nature centric themes as well, which I love reading; so this sounded a book right up my alley. (In fact I also discovered from the wonderful introduction by Hazel Sheeky Bird that Saville's adventure books have a mystery element on the lines of Enid Blyton which made me interested to explore them as well. Like Blyton his books were somewhat ignored by critics and reviewers despite being popular with his readers.) In fact, this book too reminded me of Blyton's nature writing and one of her books I recently read, The Caravan Family.
Jane’s Country Year is fairly simple by way of plot; actually there isn’t as such a plot but a context for our story. Jane, who is 10, has been seriously ill and to convalesce the doctor has advised she spend a year in the country. So she is sent off by her parents from their town home to the farm of her Uncle William and Aunt Kate. The book essentially traces the year she spends on the farm taking in and becoming part of activities on the farm, enjoying the fresh air, and more so the nature around her—birds, animals, plants and flowers. She soon befriends Richard Herrick who is the rector’s son and at 12 slightly older than her. Richard is very knowledgeable about birds and exploring the country with him, she too begins to observe birds as keenly. Alongside from Susan, Richard's younger sister, she learns about flowers. Besides their adventures and expeditions in the country we also get a look into farm life, the constant and different activities involved and also special occasions and celebrations like birthdays, the harvest festival and the village fair. Jane is soon so much a part of this life that she finds it hard to think she must return. Each of the chapters in the book traces the events of a month.
This was an absolutely wonderful read for me—gentle and full of charm. I had thought of the Caravan Family when I started this book since that involved some adventures on a farm and glimpses of farm life, and this was like it, only with far more ‘meat', in terms of the detail it goes into and also in the fact that it covers every season.
Saville gives us in a sense a proper look into farm life, always busy and full of activity and hard work yet one that brings with it much satisfaction. With Jane we get to see different activities from harvesting to hay making, the horses being shoed and sheep sheared among other things. But with it, she has also every chance to explore the countryside, see different birds, observe their nests and other habits; she also helps Richard in putting together a nest map. She starts a book to collect pressed flowers of all kinds. Saville really shows us nature at different times of the year, from changes in weather to the appearance and nests of different birds, flowers blooming and berries ripening and of course, parallel developments on the farm. And as Jane starts to go to school, she also makes friends who turn out rather lovely as well. These with the events in the village—festivals and occasions—is an idyllic picture of country life with its clean and healthy environment and natural beauty all around— a world like Miss Read's which one wants to live in. On her first morning on the farm, Jane feels uncharacteristically hungry smelling the bacon frying and the fresh bread toasting. With this she is almost instantly drawn into country life and with her so are we.
But Saville is not painting any false idyll—in fact, like Miss Read, he doesn’t gloss over the less savoury aspects—whether it is rats and rabbits having to be killed to protect the crop or stoats with their prey, or a cat getting at a bird or even sheep not being that comfortable when sheared. Then poor Jane must also grapple with her growing love for the country and the fact that she must eventually return home.
This was a really lovely read which I enjoyed every moment of, and with some nice illustrations complementing the text (I didn’t quite catch whether these were the original illustrations).
4.5 stars
Malcolm Saville is another from the list of authors whom I was aware of but had never read. I only had a vague idea that he wrote adventure stories for children. But on seeing my friend Alwynne's review of this book on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), I found to my surprise that he wrote on nature centric themes as well, which I love reading; so this sounded a book right up my alley. (In fact I also discovered from the wonderful introduction by Hazel Sheeky Bird that Saville's adventure books have a mystery element on the lines of Enid Blyton which made me interested to explore them as well. Like Blyton his books were somewhat ignored by critics and reviewers despite being popular with his readers.) In fact, this book too reminded me of Blyton's nature writing and one of her books I recently read, The Caravan Family.
Jane’s Country Year is fairly simple by way of plot; actually there isn’t as such a plot but a context for our story. Jane, who is 10, has been seriously ill and to convalesce the doctor has advised she spend a year in the country. So she is sent off by her parents from their town home to the farm of her Uncle William and Aunt Kate. The book essentially traces the year she spends on the farm taking in and becoming part of activities on the farm, enjoying the fresh air, and more so the nature around her—birds, animals, plants and flowers. She soon befriends Richard Herrick who is the rector’s son and at 12 slightly older than her. Richard is very knowledgeable about birds and exploring the country with him, she too begins to observe birds as keenly. Alongside from Susan, Richard's younger sister, she learns about flowers. Besides their adventures and expeditions in the country we also get a look into farm life, the constant and different activities involved and also special occasions and celebrations like birthdays, the harvest festival and the village fair. Jane is soon so much a part of this life that she finds it hard to think she must return. Each of the chapters in the book traces the events of a month.
This was an absolutely wonderful read for me—gentle and full of charm. I had thought of the Caravan Family when I started this book since that involved some adventures on a farm and glimpses of farm life, and this was like it, only with far more ‘meat', in terms of the detail it goes into and also in the fact that it covers every season.
Saville gives us in a sense a proper look into farm life, always busy and full of activity and hard work yet one that brings with it much satisfaction. With Jane we get to see different activities from harvesting to hay making, the horses being shoed and sheep sheared among other things. But with it, she has also every chance to explore the countryside, see different birds, observe their nests and other habits; she also helps Richard in putting together a nest map. She starts a book to collect pressed flowers of all kinds. Saville really shows us nature at different times of the year, from changes in weather to the appearance and nests of different birds, flowers blooming and berries ripening and of course, parallel developments on the farm. And as Jane starts to go to school, she also makes friends who turn out rather lovely as well. These with the events in the village—festivals and occasions—is an idyllic picture of country life with its clean and healthy environment and natural beauty all around— a world like Miss Read's which one wants to live in. On her first morning on the farm, Jane feels uncharacteristically hungry smelling the bacon frying and the fresh bread toasting. With this she is almost instantly drawn into country life and with her so are we.
But Saville is not painting any false idyll—in fact, like Miss Read, he doesn’t gloss over the less savoury aspects—whether it is rats and rabbits having to be killed to protect the crop or stoats with their prey, or a cat getting at a bird or even sheep not being that comfortable when sheared. Then poor Jane must also grapple with her growing love for the country and the fact that she must eventually return home.
This was a really lovely read which I enjoyed every moment of, and with some nice illustrations complementing the text (I didn’t quite catch whether these were the original illustrations).
4.5 stars
March 20, 2022
This was a lovely read. The book is split into 12 chapters with a chapter for each month, which kept the plot moving along at a good pace. It’s so fun to see Jane transform from an invalid into a robust young girl steeped in the wonder of the countryside. She spends a year with her aunt and uncle at Moor End Farm in the Shropshire countryside to recover her health. I felt like I was discovering the birds and flowers and trees and farm work alongside her. She befriends the farm workers and the local rector and his family and they are her guides to country life. I love the traditional church feast days celebrated in the book too, like St. Swithins Day and Lammastide. I love the rhythms of the land that are tied to celebrations in the church. Oh, to live like that now!
There are some good old childhood escapades in here too. I just wish Saville was more descriptive about food. I so love to read the details of a good English tea. 😆 All in all, a lovely, fun, soothing read that reminds me to be attentive to the rhythm of the natural world around me.
There are some good old childhood escapades in here too. I just wish Saville was more descriptive about food. I so love to read the details of a good English tea. 😆 All in all, a lovely, fun, soothing read that reminds me to be attentive to the rhythm of the natural world around me.
January 13, 2022
Handheld Press has built a deserved reputation for publishing new editions of forgotten fiction and books by lost authors. Jane’s Country Year is no exception being the first new edition of the book since it was first published in 1946.
As with all books in the Handheld Classics series, it has a fascinating introduction, in this case by Hazel Sheeky Bird of the University of Newcastle. As well as providing background information about Malcolm Saville and his other works, Hazel Sheeky Bird explores some of the themes of the book and puts it into historical context. She notes the book’s ‘unsentimental attitude to the natural world’ and its place in what has been described as ‘didactic fiction’, in other words fiction intended to educate as well as entertain. The book also contains useful notes by Handheld’s founder and commissioning editor, Kate Macdonald, in which she explains some terms in the book that may be unfamiliar to modern readers. My favourites were ‘warm knickers’ and ‘licked his pencil’.
From the moment Jane arrives at Moor End, the farm owned by her Uncle William and Aunt Kate, she notices the differences between town and country life: the lack of traffic noise, the unimpeded view from her bedroom window, the sound of bird song and the daily rhythm of farming life. As time goes by she learns more about animal husbandry and how food is produced. As she discovers, the operation of Moor End Farm still relies largely on manual labour, horse-drawn ploughs and basic farm machinery. The changing seasons are marked by tasks in the farming calendar – sowing, threshing, harvesting – with Jane enthusiastically joining in some of these tasks.
She is also introduced to the fauna and flora of the countryside surrounding the farm by Robert, the son of the rector of the local church. Together, the friends explore the woods, fields and country lanes spotting birds, insects, butterflies and woodland animals as well as identifying the wildflowers that grow in the fields and hedgerows. Jane recounts some of these finds in the touching ‘Moor End’ letters she writes to her parents.
The author clearly has a passion for the natural world and a desire to pass on that enthusiasm to his readers. There are some wonderfully lyrical descriptions of the countryside and nature. ‘Her uncle’s cornfields blazed with scarlet poppies and a handsome lime tree in the rectory garden sang with the music of myriads of bees seeking the honey of the little flowers.’
The healing power of nature and the outdoors is another theme. Jane arrives at Moor End a pale, sickly child but a spring and summer spent out in the open air, as well as Aunt Kate’s simple but hearty meals and an abundant supply of tea, restores her to health, so much so that her parents hardly recognise her when they pay a visit. One can perhaps sympathize with her mother’s over-protectiveness towards Jane having nursed her through a serious illness, however, I’m sure I’m not the only reader to give a little cheer as Jane takes part in a race at the Bank Holiday fair on the village green.
The book has beautiful full colour illustrations by Bernard Bowerman reproduced from the original edition. I think they would make a wonderful calendar.
In her introduction, Hazel Sheeky Bird notes, ‘Like many authors of genre fiction, Saville has always occupied an uneasy position – beloved by his readers, but frequently criticised by those who were not his intended audience’. Although written for younger readers, I believe Jane’s Country Year will appeal to anyone interested in rural life in the 1940s, the countryside or the natural world. It also ties in with present days concerns about the environment, sustainability and the preservation of the countryside. As Uncle William remarks at one point, ‘And so you see Janey how ’tis that everything that came from the soil goes back into it at last’. I thought it was utterly charming.
As with all books in the Handheld Classics series, it has a fascinating introduction, in this case by Hazel Sheeky Bird of the University of Newcastle. As well as providing background information about Malcolm Saville and his other works, Hazel Sheeky Bird explores some of the themes of the book and puts it into historical context. She notes the book’s ‘unsentimental attitude to the natural world’ and its place in what has been described as ‘didactic fiction’, in other words fiction intended to educate as well as entertain. The book also contains useful notes by Handheld’s founder and commissioning editor, Kate Macdonald, in which she explains some terms in the book that may be unfamiliar to modern readers. My favourites were ‘warm knickers’ and ‘licked his pencil’.
From the moment Jane arrives at Moor End, the farm owned by her Uncle William and Aunt Kate, she notices the differences between town and country life: the lack of traffic noise, the unimpeded view from her bedroom window, the sound of bird song and the daily rhythm of farming life. As time goes by she learns more about animal husbandry and how food is produced. As she discovers, the operation of Moor End Farm still relies largely on manual labour, horse-drawn ploughs and basic farm machinery. The changing seasons are marked by tasks in the farming calendar – sowing, threshing, harvesting – with Jane enthusiastically joining in some of these tasks.
She is also introduced to the fauna and flora of the countryside surrounding the farm by Robert, the son of the rector of the local church. Together, the friends explore the woods, fields and country lanes spotting birds, insects, butterflies and woodland animals as well as identifying the wildflowers that grow in the fields and hedgerows. Jane recounts some of these finds in the touching ‘Moor End’ letters she writes to her parents.
The author clearly has a passion for the natural world and a desire to pass on that enthusiasm to his readers. There are some wonderfully lyrical descriptions of the countryside and nature. ‘Her uncle’s cornfields blazed with scarlet poppies and a handsome lime tree in the rectory garden sang with the music of myriads of bees seeking the honey of the little flowers.’
The healing power of nature and the outdoors is another theme. Jane arrives at Moor End a pale, sickly child but a spring and summer spent out in the open air, as well as Aunt Kate’s simple but hearty meals and an abundant supply of tea, restores her to health, so much so that her parents hardly recognise her when they pay a visit. One can perhaps sympathize with her mother’s over-protectiveness towards Jane having nursed her through a serious illness, however, I’m sure I’m not the only reader to give a little cheer as Jane takes part in a race at the Bank Holiday fair on the village green.
The book has beautiful full colour illustrations by Bernard Bowerman reproduced from the original edition. I think they would make a wonderful calendar.
In her introduction, Hazel Sheeky Bird notes, ‘Like many authors of genre fiction, Saville has always occupied an uneasy position – beloved by his readers, but frequently criticised by those who were not his intended audience’. Although written for younger readers, I believe Jane’s Country Year will appeal to anyone interested in rural life in the 1940s, the countryside or the natural world. It also ties in with present days concerns about the environment, sustainability and the preservation of the countryside. As Uncle William remarks at one point, ‘And so you see Janey how ’tis that everything that came from the soil goes back into it at last’. I thought it was utterly charming.
January 3, 2023
Here the grass was long and sweet too and she lay down at full length in it and closed her eyes. The sun beat down comfortingly on her brown cheeks and showed pink through her eyelids. In the grasses waving above her head the grasshoppers chirped and leaped and the air was full of a strange and mysterious humming. 'It would be easy to believe in fairies now', Jane thought. 'It's as if they're all singing. It's only when you're really still that you can hear them.'
Jane's Country Year is a sweet children's classic about Jane, a 10-year-old girl who is sent to the countryside to live with her aunt and uncle to recover her health after being ill for a long time. For a year, month by month, she explores what it's like to live on a farm and learns more about nature and how it changes with the seasons. I love when books talk about nature a lot, and every time an unfamiliar name of a bird or plant shows up, I like to look it up and learn a bit about it. Through this book, I encountered the nightjar bird for the first time and then also found out about the great eared nightjar - I highly recommend looking up pictures of this one, if you don't know what it looks like. It's possibly the cutest bird I've ever seen.
Jane's Country Year is a sweet children's classic about Jane, a 10-year-old girl who is sent to the countryside to live with her aunt and uncle to recover her health after being ill for a long time. For a year, month by month, she explores what it's like to live on a farm and learns more about nature and how it changes with the seasons. I love when books talk about nature a lot, and every time an unfamiliar name of a bird or plant shows up, I like to look it up and learn a bit about it. Through this book, I encountered the nightjar bird for the first time and then also found out about the great eared nightjar - I highly recommend looking up pictures of this one, if you don't know what it looks like. It's possibly the cutest bird I've ever seen.
November 28, 2021
4.5🌟 A wonderful monthly adventure! I enjoyed this book so much! This story is so sweet and the characters truly become friends the longer you read it. I loved how much I learned from this seasonal book, not only from the charming illustrations, but from all of the information about the natural world shared for each month of the year. The end paper maps at the front and back of the book are truly lovely, too. Highly recommended to both young and old alike! (P.S. The December chapter is one of my favorites!)
February 11, 2022
Jane is sent to her uncle's farm in the English countryside to recover after a difficult and long illness. She spends a year there, getting to know her loving aunt and uncle, their farm, as well as friendly neighbours, and the beauty of the ever-changing natural world around her.
The book’s introduction by Hazel Sheeky Bird is fascinating, providing context for this book’s place in 1920s-1950s British children’s literature, as well as this book’s particular type of story: a child is sent to the countryside, usually for safety, and who then has adventures.
“Jane’s Country Year” certainly almost fits that outline, though author Malcolm Seville also dealt with the emotional impact of Jane’s time away from her parents, a taste of how much work was required to farm at that time in Britain, and finally, hopefully instilling some appreciation for the natural world through all the discussions Jane and local kid Richard have about the birds and small animals commonly found surrounding Jane’s uncle’s farm.
Jane is refreshingly curious and kind, and Saville presents an idyllic year spent by the young girl recovering, but also gaining a great appreciation for the countryside.
It’s a quiet, compassionate book (except for the one bigoted statement about Roma) and and was a soothing book to read.
Thank you to Edelweiss and to the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for my review.
The book’s introduction by Hazel Sheeky Bird is fascinating, providing context for this book’s place in 1920s-1950s British children’s literature, as well as this book’s particular type of story: a child is sent to the countryside, usually for safety, and who then has adventures.
“Jane’s Country Year” certainly almost fits that outline, though author Malcolm Seville also dealt with the emotional impact of Jane’s time away from her parents, a taste of how much work was required to farm at that time in Britain, and finally, hopefully instilling some appreciation for the natural world through all the discussions Jane and local kid Richard have about the birds and small animals commonly found surrounding Jane’s uncle’s farm.
Jane is refreshingly curious and kind, and Saville presents an idyllic year spent by the young girl recovering, but also gaining a great appreciation for the countryside.
It’s a quiet, compassionate book (except for the one bigoted statement about Roma) and and was a soothing book to read.
Thank you to Edelweiss and to the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for my review.
April 12, 2021
This is the story of Jane, a London girl around the age of 10, who is sent to live with relatives for a year in the country after a debilitating illness. Having never experienced the clean air and atmosphere of the country, her eyes are opened to all that life on a farm had to offer. While there, she made friends with farmhands and neighbors alike. Her friends taught her about the flora and fauna around her. I hardly read a page or more before I was introduced to a new to me plant or animal. The book is set up in chronological order and the reader is taken on a journey through the seasons with her. While this book has a subtle plot, it really reads more like a naturalist's diary. This is a charming view into a postwar rural England. The illustrations are lovely.
May 13, 2022
I can see from other ratings and reviews that I am swimming against the tide here, but I was deeply disappointed with this book. In fact, I felt the victim of a con trick…The book is not marketed as a children’s book, just as a ‘classic novel’. Voluminous notes on the back cover, and a whopping great price for a paperback, give the general indication that the book is a mainstream novel. “An outstanding novel of rural living and British farming by a master storyteller” is what persuaded me to buy it from the adult fiction section of Waterstones.
It is a beautifully produced quality publication with delightful illustrations, and, most of the time, a pleasant enough read, but any idea that this is a lost ‘classic’, as argued in the introduction by Hazel Sheeky Bird, a research associate of the University of Newcastle, is absurd. Firstly, it is completely devoid of any plot, it is simply a nature/ country diary for a year and no attempt is made to fill in any back story, probably because it makes no sense. For example, the farmer Jane is staying with is her uncle, but neither of her London dwelling parents show any indication of a rural background. And, as parents and uncle are young, where are the grandparents? Saville surely knew as well as anyone how farming families work. Secondly, it is stereotypically middle class in its’ outlook, barely different from the guff that Enid Blyton churned out: the farmer and his wife are incredibly hard working, the farm worker living next door is resentful of being told what to do, Jane’s friends are the Rector’s children who occasionally bring along other ‘poor’ children because they feel sorry for them, Jane uses the word ‘darling’ over much etc etc. Thirdly, the brief reference to gypsies is shockingly racist, and the children’s treatment of an old lady they call a witch, despite her showing nothing but kindness towards them, amplifies the arrogance of poor little rich kids that I remember from my own childhood.
The book, despite all its’ failings, is full of well written descriptions of nature, from the flowers, trees and animals to the seasons and the weather. Saville also wrote purely factual nature books for children, maybe he should have stuck to that.
And, by the way, the publishers’ blurb that accompanies the book on Goodreads is factually incorrect. They claim this is the first edition since 1946, whilst Goodreads itself lists a childrens’ paperback edition of 1974!
It is a beautifully produced quality publication with delightful illustrations, and, most of the time, a pleasant enough read, but any idea that this is a lost ‘classic’, as argued in the introduction by Hazel Sheeky Bird, a research associate of the University of Newcastle, is absurd. Firstly, it is completely devoid of any plot, it is simply a nature/ country diary for a year and no attempt is made to fill in any back story, probably because it makes no sense. For example, the farmer Jane is staying with is her uncle, but neither of her London dwelling parents show any indication of a rural background. And, as parents and uncle are young, where are the grandparents? Saville surely knew as well as anyone how farming families work. Secondly, it is stereotypically middle class in its’ outlook, barely different from the guff that Enid Blyton churned out: the farmer and his wife are incredibly hard working, the farm worker living next door is resentful of being told what to do, Jane’s friends are the Rector’s children who occasionally bring along other ‘poor’ children because they feel sorry for them, Jane uses the word ‘darling’ over much etc etc. Thirdly, the brief reference to gypsies is shockingly racist, and the children’s treatment of an old lady they call a witch, despite her showing nothing but kindness towards them, amplifies the arrogance of poor little rich kids that I remember from my own childhood.
The book, despite all its’ failings, is full of well written descriptions of nature, from the flowers, trees and animals to the seasons and the weather. Saville also wrote purely factual nature books for children, maybe he should have stuck to that.
And, by the way, the publishers’ blurb that accompanies the book on Goodreads is factually incorrect. They claim this is the first edition since 1946, whilst Goodreads itself lists a childrens’ paperback edition of 1974!
December 15, 2023
Real Rating: 4.5* of five
Rating: 4.5* of five
The Publisher Says: The first edition since 1946, with full colour illustrations throughout.
'At last she reached the brow of the hill ... now the country opened out below her and she looked down into a wide and lovely valley ... Still patched with snow the little fields spread like a carpet below her and here and there a farmhouse with barns and golden ricks was clearly seen. Across the plain ran, straight as a ruler, a railway line and she saw a toy train puffing and crawling across the picture.'
Malcolm Saville's classic novel is about eleven-year old Jane's discovery of nature and country life during a year spent convalescing on her uncle's farm, after having been dangerously ill in post-war London. This deeply-felt novel was written while Saville was extending his range as a writer, alongside his very successful Lone Pine adventure series, and nature anthologies for children. Inspired by the experiences of Saville's own god-daughter, this marvellous novel is full of the wonder of discovery, as well the happiness of regaining health, making friends, and learning to love the natural world. The novel is also a record of rural England eighty years ago, written by one of the great twentieth century English nature writers.
The Introduction is written by Hazel Sheeky Bird of the University of Newcastle. The illustrations by Bernard Bowerman have been reproduced from the first edition.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: A quiet, gentle read for your tween-years reader. Beautiful reprint edition of a very prolific author for children's post-WWII novel. It follows Jane, a young girl recuperating from a serious illness at her aunt and uncle's farm in rural England. The framing device is, I know you'll know from the off, an excuse to write an elegy for the rural life that generations of people around the world were abandoning in increasing numbers as the world adjusted to new realities.
The text is, of course, not telling you this directly. It's a very sweet, very detailed love-letter to a vanishing time as it faded away. The reason it is interesting to read now is the world is rediscovering a need, once amply fulfilled, to recognize and relate our lives to the rhythms of the natural world. We do our descendants a service by giving them books of this sort. The way that urban outsider Jane comes to understand and treasure this world and its beauties and cycles is edifying without feeling condescending.
A kid today will read this with a sense of shock, I think, that this was ever a way of life that millions followed. It is clearly written and, while there are people winking in it, they are doing so from adult to child, so it's revoltingly condescending but not unexpected. The kind of folk who lived this life at that distant time:
...would have done the w-verb without thinking a thing of it. *shudder* The good old days, they were rotten.
The Introduction by Hazel Sheeky Bird is a wondeful overview of Saville's extended career as a writer for tweens and teens. It makes the book suitable for adults nostalgic for an earlier way of life by contextualizing it in its social milieu. I guess most of the people I'd gift it to, those between 11 and 14, will skip past that essay. If you were old enough to remember the Coronation, or the Rosenberg case, this book with Introduction will very likely hit every last nostalgia bump on your noggin.
Gifted to yourself or a younger reader, one who is beginning to wonder about the natural world around them, this novel of self-discovery, and family love, and the cycle of the seasons embedding them all, will hit a high note for #Booksgiving.
Rating: 4.5* of five
The Publisher Says: The first edition since 1946, with full colour illustrations throughout.
'At last she reached the brow of the hill ... now the country opened out below her and she looked down into a wide and lovely valley ... Still patched with snow the little fields spread like a carpet below her and here and there a farmhouse with barns and golden ricks was clearly seen. Across the plain ran, straight as a ruler, a railway line and she saw a toy train puffing and crawling across the picture.'
Malcolm Saville's classic novel is about eleven-year old Jane's discovery of nature and country life during a year spent convalescing on her uncle's farm, after having been dangerously ill in post-war London. This deeply-felt novel was written while Saville was extending his range as a writer, alongside his very successful Lone Pine adventure series, and nature anthologies for children. Inspired by the experiences of Saville's own god-daughter, this marvellous novel is full of the wonder of discovery, as well the happiness of regaining health, making friends, and learning to love the natural world. The novel is also a record of rural England eighty years ago, written by one of the great twentieth century English nature writers.
The Introduction is written by Hazel Sheeky Bird of the University of Newcastle. The illustrations by Bernard Bowerman have been reproduced from the first edition.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: A quiet, gentle read for your tween-years reader. Beautiful reprint edition of a very prolific author for children's post-WWII novel. It follows Jane, a young girl recuperating from a serious illness at her aunt and uncle's farm in rural England. The framing device is, I know you'll know from the off, an excuse to write an elegy for the rural life that generations of people around the world were abandoning in increasing numbers as the world adjusted to new realities.
The text is, of course, not telling you this directly. It's a very sweet, very detailed love-letter to a vanishing time as it faded away. The reason it is interesting to read now is the world is rediscovering a need, once amply fulfilled, to recognize and relate our lives to the rhythms of the natural world. We do our descendants a service by giving them books of this sort. The way that urban outsider Jane comes to understand and treasure this world and its beauties and cycles is edifying without feeling condescending.
A kid today will read this with a sense of shock, I think, that this was ever a way of life that millions followed. It is clearly written and, while there are people winking in it, they are doing so from adult to child, so it's revoltingly condescending but not unexpected. The kind of folk who lived this life at that distant time:
...would have done the w-verb without thinking a thing of it. *shudder* The good old days, they were rotten.
The Introduction by Hazel Sheeky Bird is a wondeful overview of Saville's extended career as a writer for tweens and teens. It makes the book suitable for adults nostalgic for an earlier way of life by contextualizing it in its social milieu. I guess most of the people I'd gift it to, those between 11 and 14, will skip past that essay. If you were old enough to remember the Coronation, or the Rosenberg case, this book with Introduction will very likely hit every last nostalgia bump on your noggin.
Gifted to yourself or a younger reader, one who is beginning to wonder about the natural world around them, this novel of self-discovery, and family love, and the cycle of the seasons embedding them all, will hit a high note for #Booksgiving.
July 17, 2023
A good read. It was written for children in the 1940s. This is one of those books that have gone out of print, but happily Handheld Press re-issued it in 2021. My only critique is that I got tired in some spots about learning about yet another flower and what it looked like and what was its name. There were no pictures of the flowers and so it was hard for me after coming across so many descriptions of flowers to visualize them. But it was a nature book so what am I complaining about?! It’s like me complaining about a cookbook because it had too many recipes in it! 🤪 🤨
Synopsis (from Introduction written by Hazel Sheeky Bird):
• Jane’s Country Year is a perfect example of the many children’s books about the British countryside that were published in the first half of the 20th century. It begins with a key trope of children’s books from the 1930s: a train journey. Following a long illness, we meet 11-year-old Jane who is put on a train in London by her parents and travels alone to Shropshire, to stay with her Aunt Kate and Uncle William on their farm to regain her health. Supported by friendly well-wishers, including the local rector, Mr. Herrick, and his son Richard, George the stockman and Frank the shepherd, Jane, and the reader, are gently initiated into the ways of the countryside. Equally concerned with husbandry, rural life and heritage as well as nature observation, for many ‘Jane’s Country Year is the best of Malcom Saville’s many children books.
• The book is divided into twelve chapters, one for each month of the year, and each chapter allows the reader to follow Jane’s experiences through her eyes.
This book reminds me of one or two books I have read in recent years. Maybe I am getting their story lines mixed up. I seem to remember that in Clair Keegan’s ‘Foster’ (2007), the girl left her parents to stay for an extended duration of time with foster parents who lived in the country.
Then there was another book that seemed to have a theme of a girl being sent to stay with her relatives in the country and by the time she was supposed to go back she did not want to (she enjoyed being with her relatives so much). But I can’t remember the name of that novel. (One day later....) I remember it now...Doreen by Barbara Noble, about a young girl in World War Two in England being evacuated to the countryside to a nice but childless couple. I gave that book 5 stars. I loved Noble’s books.
Reviews:
• https://fromfirstpagetolast.com/2022/...
• https://bookbound.blog/2022/01/30/boo...
• https://potpourri2015.wordpress.com/2...
• https://shinynewbooks.co.uk/janes-cou...
Synopsis (from Introduction written by Hazel Sheeky Bird):
• Jane’s Country Year is a perfect example of the many children’s books about the British countryside that were published in the first half of the 20th century. It begins with a key trope of children’s books from the 1930s: a train journey. Following a long illness, we meet 11-year-old Jane who is put on a train in London by her parents and travels alone to Shropshire, to stay with her Aunt Kate and Uncle William on their farm to regain her health. Supported by friendly well-wishers, including the local rector, Mr. Herrick, and his son Richard, George the stockman and Frank the shepherd, Jane, and the reader, are gently initiated into the ways of the countryside. Equally concerned with husbandry, rural life and heritage as well as nature observation, for many ‘Jane’s Country Year is the best of Malcom Saville’s many children books.
• The book is divided into twelve chapters, one for each month of the year, and each chapter allows the reader to follow Jane’s experiences through her eyes.
This book reminds me of one or two books I have read in recent years. Maybe I am getting their story lines mixed up. I seem to remember that in Clair Keegan’s ‘Foster’ (2007), the girl left her parents to stay for an extended duration of time with foster parents who lived in the country.
Then there was another book that seemed to have a theme of a girl being sent to stay with her relatives in the country and by the time she was supposed to go back she did not want to (she enjoyed being with her relatives so much). But I can’t remember the name of that novel. (One day later....) I remember it now...Doreen by Barbara Noble, about a young girl in World War Two in England being evacuated to the countryside to a nice but childless couple. I gave that book 5 stars. I loved Noble’s books.
Reviews:
• https://fromfirstpagetolast.com/2022/...
• https://bookbound.blog/2022/01/30/boo...
• https://potpourri2015.wordpress.com/2...
• https://shinynewbooks.co.uk/janes-cou...
April 11, 2022
Mlle Alice, pouvez-vous nous raconter votre rencontre avec Jane's Country Year ?
"Je surveille les publications de ce petit éditeur indépendant depuis quelques temps parce que beaucoup sont extrêmement tentantes. Celle-ci avait l'air charmante et c'est finalement Handheld Press qui a eu la gentillesse de me l'envoyer. Je les remercie et je suis ravie de découvrir un éditeur anglais qui s'intéresse de près à ses lecteurs français."
Dites-nous en un peu plus sur son histoire...
"Après quelques mois au lit, à se remettre difficilement, le médecin est formel, ce qu'il faut à Jane, c'est une année complète à respirer le bon air de la campagne. C'est ainsi qu'elle se retrouve en route pour la ferme de son oncle et de sa tante qu'elle connaît à peine..."
Mais que s'est-il exactement passé entre vous ?
"C'est une lecture très douce, centrée essentiellement sur la découverte de la nature, des fleurs, des oiseaux, des saisons, pour la petite citadine de dix ans. L'action se déroule de janvier à décembre, ponctuée de quelques lettres de Jane à ses parents et je pense qu'il faut prendre le temps de savourer ce récit, il ne faut pas se presser, c'est ce que l'on apprend dans une ferme. Ce texte, comme la nature, ne se laisse pas brusquer. Et c'est un réel plaisir que de vivre chacune de ses aventures avec Janey et ses nouveaux amis. Il n'y a pas de drames, d'enfants turbulents et de parents cruels, il n'y a que la simplicité de la vie au grand air et le plaisir de courir à travers champs. Et en même temps, ce n'est pas naïf. J'aime ses romans qui s'adressent aux enfants sans leur mentir. Enfin, j'ai éprouvé une grande tendresse pour l'oncle et la tante, à la fois si pudiques et si aimants."
Et comment cela s'est-il fini ?
"J'ai bien failli verser une larme et j'aurais vraiment voulu avoir un épilogue, en savoir plus, mais j'ai déjà été ravie d'avoir le privilège de faire ce bout de chemin en compagnie de Janey, à Moor End."
http://booksaremywonderland.hautetfor...
"Je surveille les publications de ce petit éditeur indépendant depuis quelques temps parce que beaucoup sont extrêmement tentantes. Celle-ci avait l'air charmante et c'est finalement Handheld Press qui a eu la gentillesse de me l'envoyer. Je les remercie et je suis ravie de découvrir un éditeur anglais qui s'intéresse de près à ses lecteurs français."
Dites-nous en un peu plus sur son histoire...
"Après quelques mois au lit, à se remettre difficilement, le médecin est formel, ce qu'il faut à Jane, c'est une année complète à respirer le bon air de la campagne. C'est ainsi qu'elle se retrouve en route pour la ferme de son oncle et de sa tante qu'elle connaît à peine..."
Mais que s'est-il exactement passé entre vous ?
"C'est une lecture très douce, centrée essentiellement sur la découverte de la nature, des fleurs, des oiseaux, des saisons, pour la petite citadine de dix ans. L'action se déroule de janvier à décembre, ponctuée de quelques lettres de Jane à ses parents et je pense qu'il faut prendre le temps de savourer ce récit, il ne faut pas se presser, c'est ce que l'on apprend dans une ferme. Ce texte, comme la nature, ne se laisse pas brusquer. Et c'est un réel plaisir que de vivre chacune de ses aventures avec Janey et ses nouveaux amis. Il n'y a pas de drames, d'enfants turbulents et de parents cruels, il n'y a que la simplicité de la vie au grand air et le plaisir de courir à travers champs. Et en même temps, ce n'est pas naïf. J'aime ses romans qui s'adressent aux enfants sans leur mentir. Enfin, j'ai éprouvé une grande tendresse pour l'oncle et la tante, à la fois si pudiques et si aimants."
Et comment cela s'est-il fini ?
"J'ai bien failli verser une larme et j'aurais vraiment voulu avoir un épilogue, en savoir plus, mais j'ai déjà été ravie d'avoir le privilège de faire ce bout de chemin en compagnie de Janey, à Moor End."
http://booksaremywonderland.hautetfor...
January 24, 2024
As someone born in 1959 with a love of the countryside, this book was an utter delight. The story follows a young girl called Jane, sent to live in the English countryside with her aunt and uncle for a year to recover from an illness. Her childhood home is in a town and the countryside is new to her. The book chronicles her year of exploration and discovery with 12 chapters, one for each month of the year. A delight and a reminder how much life has changed since the early 1950s. I love the way that nearly every chapter starts with Jane waking up in her bed and describing what she feels and what she hears. My edition by Handheld Press has an excellent introduction which provides the context for why the book was written in this style and its main audience.
March 19, 2022
This little cozy book is a treasure! Originally written in 1946, it has been reprinted by Handheld Press. I took my time savoring it, reading it a chapter per day.
Jane is sent to her Aunt and Uncle's farm in the country to recover from a long illness. There she discovers the joys of being connected to the rhythms of the farm, getting to be a part of village life, and learning about the natural world around her. This is a gentle book, divided into monthly chapters. It reminded me a lot of one of my other favorite authors, Miss Read.
Jane is sent to her Aunt and Uncle's farm in the country to recover from a long illness. There she discovers the joys of being connected to the rhythms of the farm, getting to be a part of village life, and learning about the natural world around her. This is a gentle book, divided into monthly chapters. It reminded me a lot of one of my other favorite authors, Miss Read.
Read
December 10, 2022Lovely gentle story, taking Jane and the reader through a year in the country. Some interesting views on Jane's town-based parents and their adjustment to their now healthy daughter and country life. I read a recent edition from Handheld Books, and would have liked an appendix with illustrations of the plants and birds mentioned in the story, so I could see how many I could identify in today's countryside
December 26, 2022
Thoroughly satisfying encounter with the English countryside and farm life, through the eyes of Janie, sent to her aunt and uncle's farm to recuperate after an illness. Excellent, clear descriptions and explanations, all mixed into an engaging narrative. I have the Handheld Press edition, which I highly recommend.
October 19, 2022
Uno de mis libros favoritos este año. Ideal para los amantes de las novelas cozy y de las lecturas ambientadas en la campiña inglesa, es una novela cálida y acogedora.
May 5, 2023
This was a great read, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The month by month chapters and all the nature writing is so soothing and comforting.
May 14, 2024
A sweet little tale of its time.
December 1, 2024
Loved this so much! In a sense it reminded me my own childhood. Beautifully written and authentic, full of wonders of nature, friendship and countryside, written by a person that knows rural life.
January 6, 2025
Sweet and old-fashioned
April 7, 2021
I have fond memories of reading this as a child. I suspect it was a Christmas present placed in a pillowcase at the end of my bed by Father Christmas, a ploy to keep me occupied on Christmas morning before the main present opening under the Christmas tree after lunch. In any case, this was the sort of book I loved; not just educational, but a story too. In this case about a girl who goes to live on a farm for a year where she learns country lore and the names of plants and animals. Even better, the book has black and white sketches of many of them plus drawings of the farm and surrounding area. Wonderful! I’m leaving it on TBR to remind me to read it again.
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