'People in Fairacre simply won't stand for their children being uprooted, and carted away in buses like so many - er, so many-' 'Animals ' prompted Mr Roberts helpfully. 'No, no, not animals,' said Mrs Mawne testily. 'Animals don't go in buses! What I mean is, we won't have it. We'll never let Fairacre school close.' She looked round the table. Her face was red, her eyes bright. 'Agreed ' The village of Fairacre is buzzing with rumours of the imminent closure of its two-class school. As fears grow amid mounting conjecture, headmistress Miss Read's future hangs in the balance. And trouble is never far away as village life is further disrupted by tangled matrimonial affairs and a police investigation. The community must rally together to face this new threat

When Miss Read took early retirement, she anticipated days of relaxation and calm. She couldn't have been more wrong! Instead she finds herself as busy and in demand as ever: on holiday in Florence, helping with church and school affairs and offering a kindly ear to her eccentric neighbours. As village life continues as always, Miss Read embarks on a local project and discovers a new talent, opening up an exciting chapter in her life.

In her first book Village School Miss Read gave a picture of the small but detailed world of a typical primary school in a remote country area, a world peopled by the children themselves, Miss Clare the venerable infants teacher, glum Mrs Pringle the cleaner, the vicar and other inhabitants of Fairacre. In Village Diary Miss Read describes the people of Fairacre with the same exactitude, sense of comedy and sharp observation. In addition to those characters familiar to readers of Village School there are newcomers, including dictatorial Amy, an old college friend, Mr Mawne, whom the village sees as a possible husband for the unwilling Miss Read and the earnest new infants teacher. Overshadowing everything, there is the mammoth country pageant in which Fairacre is so sharply and painfully divided...

Charles Henstock, rector of Thrush Green, has difficulty living up to his predecessor when he moves to the parish of Lulling. He faces opposition from the fearsome Mrs Thurgood and her arty daughter, Janet. Everyone in the district seems to be having their share of problems, not least Albert Piggott, who dreads the return of his wife Nelly. Meanwhile Kit Armitage returns to set elderly hearts fluttering. Could there be wedding bells in Thrush Green?

Fairacre is a village of cottages, a church and the school - and at the heart of the school, its head mistress, Miss Read. Through her discerning eye, we meet the villagers of Fairacre and see their trials and tribulations, from the irascible school cleaner Mrs Pringle, to the young school children, with their scraped knees, hopeful faces and inevitable mischief. Miss Read takes us through the school year, beginning with the Christmas term, when the bitterly cold weather challenges the school's ancient heating system, right through to the hot summer day when school is over for another year. Full of Miss Read's unique, acerbic wit and wry observations, Village School is an intriguing glimpse into a forgotten world and has become a true classic.

A nostalgic collection on rural schools, childhood and English country life from the much-loved author of Village School. From organising the school summer fete... 'Because of our inability to recognise our climatic shortcomings from the outset, arrangements for outdoor jollities get completely out of hand'. ...to the sometimes rather odd passions of childhood: 'I collect stones with holes in them'. Miss Read captures the essence of rural life, and in particular of village schools, as only she can. This collection also includes extracts from her letters: 'Michael Joseph wrote after the Observer thing and is throwing out feelers for a book. I shall know if he still feels like it - me too! - after we've met'. It will also include an Introduction on how 'Miss Read' was first created: 'Miss Read was born fully clothed in sensible garments and aged about forty. She was born, in fact, when I was struggling to write my first book and needed a village schoolmistress as the narrator.'

On a blustery March day in the village of Fairacre, Miss Clare sees two strangers, 'pacing slowly, side by side, along the edge of Hundred Acre Field which lay on the other side of Miss Clare's garden hedge...' So begins a story which brings all the villagers of Fairacre together, as they face the prospect of developers who hope to build new houses on the fields adjoining old Mr Miller's farm. Everyone has an opinion - but not everyone is in agreement about the development. Under the watchful gaze of Miss Read, the school teacher, we meet old characters and new, from retired teacher Miss Clare and the surly Mrs Pringle, to the new assistant teacher, Miss Jackson - who brings with her problems of her own...

The arrival of a stranger in the village of Thrush Green stirs up ripples of speculation and interest. Not only does the village find itself paying tribute to this stranger's hero - a missionary born and bred in Thrush Green - but his presence has a dramatic affect on Miss Dimity Dean's romantic prospects… As the story plays out, Miss Read succeeds in portraying village life with all its often unexpected incidents and her unwavering eye for detail beautifully captures the character of a gradually disappearing aspect of rural English life.

'The story of the village goes back a long, long time, and it still goes on. I have listened to my neighbours' accounts of tales long ago, and with what unfailing curiousity I observe the happenings of today!' From an unusual weight-loss recipe in an old notebook - and used with alarming consequences - to the queen of copy-cats who drives her neighbour mad with anger, Over the Gate is a hugely entertaining collection of tales from Fairacre, past and present. Miss Read, the school mistress, continues to attract odd stories and village folklore, and retells them with her characteristic compassion and humour.

Agatha Christie’s ingenious murder mystery thriller, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers.Luke Fitzwilliam could not believe Miss Pinkerton’s wild allegation that a multiple murderer was at work in the quiet English village of Wychwood – or her speculation that the local doctor was next in line.But within hours, Miss Pinkerton had been killed in a hit-and-run car accident. Mere coincidence? Luke was inclined to think so – until he read in The Times of the unexpected demise of Dr Humbleby .

Agatha Christie's ingenious murder mystery thriller, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers. Luke Fitzwilliam could not believe Miss Pinkerton's wild allegation that a multiple murderer was at work in the quiet English village of Wychwood - or her speculation that the local doctor was next in line. But within hours, Miss Pinkerton had been killed in a hit-and-run car accident. Mere coincidence? Luke was inclined to think so - until he read in The Times of the unexpected demise of Dr Humbleby!

Agatha Christie’s ingenious murder mystery thriller, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers.Luke Fitzwilliam could not believe Miss Pinkerton’s wild allegation that a multiple murderer was at work in the quiet English village of Wychwood – or her speculation that the local doctor was next in line.But within hours, Miss Pinkerton had been killed in a hit-and-run car accident. Mere coincidence? Luke was inclined to think so – until he read in The Times of the unexpected demise of Dr Humbleby .

Don't miss this page-turning love story about two strangers learning to read between each others' lines. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry's Beach Reads! Sarah and Max should never have met. She's a shy bookworm who's barely ever left her little village; he's a bad boy actor with the world at his feet. But when Max crosses one line too many, he's faced with community service in Sarah's bookshop. With an unruly theatre group to run and a gorgeous, tattooed stranger under her roof, Sarah's about to discover that real life is more complicated than anything she's ever read in her beloved books… This is a page-turning story about two strangers learning to read between each others' lines.

Les amis de Miss Marple ne s'y attendaient guere... Comment ! La delicieuse vieille demoiselle est un amateur averti de mysteres inexpliques, problemes insolubles et autres morts peu naturelles ? Qui l'eut cru ? Dire qu'on ne la pensait capable que de bavarder et de tricoter ! Et voila que, du fond de son fauteuil, Miss Marple resout les enigmes les plus deconcertantes ! Mais d'ou lui vient ce talent cache ? La paisible Miss Marple n'a jamais quitte son village !... Justement ! Un village est un excellent sujet d'etude, pour qui aime exercer ses facultes de deduction. Et la nature humaine n'est-elle pas partout la meme ?

It's the May Day holiday and a fair has come to the village of Thrush Green. The residents of Thrush Green all have their own views about the fair. For young Paul, just recovered from an illness, it is a joy to be allowed out to play at the fair; for Ruth, who returned to the soothing tranquillity of Thrush Green nursing a broken heart, the fair is a welcome distraction from her own problems. And for Dr Lovell, the fair brings an unexpected new patient. Then there is Mrs Curdle, the long-standing matriarch of the fair. For her, this year's visit to Thrush Green awakens mixed feelings and a difficulty she doesn't want to face... Full of Miss Read's inimitable charm and humour, Thrush Green is a wonderful introduction to this bestselling series.

Miss Read heard about the sale of Tyler's Row from the always well-informed Mrs Pringle - and before long Fairacre is alive with rumours. Why were the present owners selling? Was it true that a football poolswinner was about to buy it? Had Tyler's Row been condemned - or was it to be restored? All rumours are soon laid to rest when Peter and Donna Hale arrive in Fairacre to view Tyler's Row, with plans to knock the middle two cottages into one, and create their own rural haven. But the Hales soon discover that Fairacre is no Utopia but a normal English village, with all the usual troubles...