The story takes place not long after the last book, though it was written several years later and seems to have a contemporary setting. Battles are waging at Thrush Green. Albert Piggot, unable/unwilling to work as hard after his surgery, has a complaint about the churchyard. It's too much for him to keep up and looks like an eyesore. The good Rector and Harold Shoosmith agree and come up with a plan to renovate the churchyard based on one they liked in another town. This plan meets with opposition from some of the church council members. It could take years and money to come to a conclusion and Rev. Henstock doesn't like conflict. He's also waging a battle with the drafts in his house. He doesn't mind them but for dear Dimity's sake, he wishes he could provide a more comfortable home, but how to do it on so little salary? Battle is waging at the Tullivers too. Frank wants to send young Jeremy to boarding school but Phil thinks he should attend Paul's day school for a time until he's older and more adjusted to the changes in his life. There's a battle waging in the schoolhouse too. Miss Fogarty has never looked forward to retirement more than this term. A new, young, modern teacher had come to take the younger junior class and Miss Watson takes the new teacher's side against her old friend. It's a long term and something has to change. Dotty Harmer is left a car by her late brother and everyone is shocked. No one can remember her driving - at least not for the last 50 years! Dotty insists she has had her license since she was 17 and kept it up. She won't be swayed and persists in driving (at 30 miles an hour). When a boy on a bicycle runs into her and has to go in the hospital, Dotty is summoned to court. She maintains an outward calm but is inwardly worried. What will the outcome of the trial be? This is another slow moving entry in the series. The hook comes almost halfway through the book and it wasn't enough to keep me interested. The other battles didn't interest me at all. I disagreed with the plan for the churchyard and I agreed with Phil about Jeremy's schooling. The teacher plot was already done in her Fairacre series and it bored me in that series and still here, though this one was better. There is one death in the story that made me sad. This story doesn't contain a romance or love story at all. I missed it and felt that it made the first two books better. Modern life intrudes again a bit, yet some of the old biddies are straight out of Cranford. Miss Fogarty even wears a spencer in winter! I think this story would be best appreciated by older ladies who can relate better to the characters.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Thrush Green books. But they do get a bit wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey. The first Thrush Green book, published in 1959, dates fairly precisely to 1954, and approximately to the 1950s. This book is set firmly in the 1970s (Dotty is prosecuted under the RTA 1972) but only about five years have passed (judging by Paul Young's age).Now, I can cope with this; authors of series do it reasonably regularly. Where it really does my head in is in a couple of books' time when Harold is mulling over the many years he has lived in Thrush Green, which again (by my reckoning) amount to five, rather than the twenty or so he is contemplating. Of course, in real time it has indeed been about 20 years ...I think it's probably only a problem if you're doing what I'm doing, which is reading them all back to back. It doesn't matter. They are wonderful books.
Do You like book Battles At Thrush Green (1976)?
I absolutely love the Miss Read books. I have been concentrating on the Thrush Green series though I have read a couple of the Fairacres ones. These are charming stories of life in a small village in England in the 1940's. I fell in love with the characters, and a few are characters. Nothing earth shattering happens but the common every day problems and happenstance of life in a community of friends and acquaintances.In "Battles" the village divides about whether to clean up the cemetery, a mother and step-father spar over sending her child to boarding school and other small but important problems tha arise in Thrush Green. I esp. like listening to the books read by Gwen Watford. I actually, listen just before going to bed at night because it is such a comforting and restful way to end the day.
—Debi
I really enjoy reading Miss Read's books when I'm feeling a bit down. This concerns several minor spats in a Cotswald village. The vicar wants to refurbish the graveyard, and some of his parishioners object. A couple is in conflict about the education of their young son; a widow copes with her loss and loneliness, and - most seriously - an elderly lady, a strong-willed character, gets into an accident when she begins driving again. These books are naturals for fans of Alexander McCall Smith. The covers may look dated, but Miss Read's human warmth, keen eye, and way with words are refreshing. Nothing earth-shatteringly dramatic here, but as comforting as a cup of tea on a chilly day.
—Mary
I continue to enjoy this lovely, quiet series set in an idyllic village in the Cotswolds of England. I say "quiet," but perhaps I should not use that word for this particular Thrush Green book considering it contains "Battles" in its title. The book is true to its name; a number of the inhabitants find themselves locked in quarrels and entanglements of varying degrees of seriousness. Miss Read portrays these battles with both sympathy and humor, which makes for a delightful read. It is not my favorite Thrush Green book to date, but it is a good one.
—Stephanie
