"Miss Read's charming Thrush Green series continues with Friends at Thrush Green. There had been general dismay when Miss Watson and Miss Fogerty retired to Barton-on-the-Sea after many years of devoted service teaching the children of Thrush Green, so their visit to see old friends in the village brings great pleasure. The new headmaster, Alan Lester, is cautiously accepted, but rumor is rife about his wife's health."Meanwhile, Farmer Percy Hodge is also the subject of local speculation: Is his strange behavior the result of an infatuation with the young Doreen Lilly? As for affairs at the Lovelocks' house, it is increasingly apparent that Bertha Lovelock is now in her dotage and a new and most unfortunate habit is the cause of considerable embarrassment to the good people of Lulling. All these matters and more are faced by our old friends against the familiar background and changing seasons of the English Cotswolds."One of my favorites of the series, this book dealt with the subject of alcoholism, and the struggle to overcome addiction. Lest you think that Trush Green is now inching toward the modern age, the inhabitants to a man showed sympathy and understanding, and were quite happy and proud when the sufferer returned from treatment sober, and remained so (in spite of nary an AA meeting in sight.)And a charming example of Miss Read's understated humor:"When the first pale rays of spring sunshine emerged ... Seed catalogues were studied, and orders sent for stocking the kitchen and flower gardens, Travel brochures, adorned with sun-bronzed men and maidens with enviable teeth, were browsed over in the homes at Thrush Green. ... Many of these daydreams were shattered by programmes on the television of fractious infants, exhausted mothers and bad-tempered fathers, jammed together in airport lounges for hours on end, awaiting flights which failed to materialize."The brochures were thrown away. What was wrong with dear old Ilfracombe anyway?"
Darker than many of Miss Read's books, dealing as it does with alcoholism and senility. Of course everything turns out all right, but there are some pretty serious moments.
