"My God, its full of books"

I have previously read Melissa Harrison's non fiction nature books (I loved The stubborn light of things), but this is the first of her novels that I have tried. Just like her non fiction work, this is beautifully written, with a deep understanding of the natural world, and with a wonderful empathetic humanity. It is tells the story of an English village over the course of six months, told through the linked narrative voices of the villagers (each chapter through the viewpoint of a different person). Clare, a woman who has lived all her life in the village is dying, but the village too is passing away in so many ways - everything is interconnected.

A competant re-imagining of the famous Pendle witch trials. A short and undemanding read. Perhaps lacking a little in depth, and the introduction of William Shakespeare as a character was not needed, but enjoyable overall.

An interesting overview of the periods of country living of three key female writers of the first part of the twentieth century - Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann. Sylvia Townsend Warner is a favourite writer of mine, and what largely attracted me to this volume, though it was great to also learn more about Woolf and Lehmann (the latter of whom I knew very little about). Enjoyable and informative.