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Our little new Kodak came, Father has given us it. Flora came to work at the post office in Grayshott because they needed a trained telegraph operator, which she was by that time.
Flora tells us that the previous operator had resigned, and the remaining assistant was not yet qualified to operate the machine. The assistant's name, according to Flora, was Alma Stedman. Flora describes her as 'a pretty, blue-eyed, sweet-natured girl of eighteen whose home was in the village. Was Flora's recollection of Annie accurate?
Who better to ask than Annie's daughters who still live locally. And they are happy to confirm that their mother was exactly the character Flora describes. Who else does she write about? Well, her employer the postmaster for one, whom she refers to as Mr Hertford.
His real name was Walter Chapman, but he had been born in Hertfordshire, so perhaps that's why she chose this pseudonym for him.
Flora tells us of several melodramatic events relating to him, ending in him murdering his wife shortly after Flora left the village. I've met people who've read this in Heatherley and assumed it to be a touch of dramatic licence on Flora's part, but sadly it was all too true. Walter Chapman did indeed stab his wife Emily to death on the morning of Monday 29th July At his subsequent trial he was found guilty but insane, and sent to Broadmoor for the rest of his life. We can probably assume that many of the other pieces of information which Flora gives us concerning him were also true, including his firing a revolver just outside her bedroom one night.
She moved in with a family to whom she gives the surname Parkhurst. As with nearly all the people she mentions, we can be fairly certain this wasn't their real name. Perhaps when the details of the census are released early in , I'll have more luck.
She says they 'belonged to an obscure dissenting sect which had no meeting place nearer than that in a market town seven miles distant. The house they lived in was described by Flora as a house which had been 'built by a speculating builder with the idea of attracting a superior type of purchaser or tenant; but as it had a very small garden and was closely neighboured by a group of poor cottages, he had for some time been unable either to sell or let it.
It had then been let to two working-class families, one occupying the rooms on one side of the house and the other those on the other side, and with one of these [that's the Parkhursts] it had been agreed that Laura should rent their front room upstairs. It was a fair sized room with two windows, one of them with a view of the heath with, in the distance, the long wavy line of blue hills she had seen on the day she reached Heatherley'.
If anyone can tell me where that house might be, do let me know. I imagine it still exists, though without the view of hills and heather now. Some of her other contacts are easier to discover. These eminent gentlemen came down to Flora's post office in Grayshott to send off their telegrams by wire. Remember this was an era before the telephone had come into general use, and much of the business we would now do on the phone was then done over the telegraph.
Imagine Flora's thoughts when she suddenly found herself face to face with the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle, probably the most famous author of the day. She describes how 'scarcely a day passed without his bursting like a breeze into the post office, almost filling it with his fine presence and the deep tones of his jovial voice.
As he went through the village he had a kindly greeting for all, rich and poor, known and unknown alike. He was probably the most popular man in the neighbourhood. He had moved to the area, like so many others, to take advantage of the supposed health-giving properties of the air. In his case, it was his wife's health that was the cause for concern, since she had contracted tuberculosis.
There is much humor to be found in the writing. It is of the good natured variety. At the same time, the humor is a subtle and intelligent comment on the foibles of man. The prose captures the words, the sayings and the dialect of the country people. What is delivered is not ever the dry words of a textbook.
Descriptions of landscapes make you ache to be there. I like this book very much. Its factual content is interesting. Its witty humor puts a smile on your face. The slower pace of life as it is described is relaxing. The prose mirrors an appreciation of nature, and finally, people and relationships are drawn with honesty. A fairy tale is not delivered; what is drawn is reality. I have been told you get a completely wrong impression of what lies in store if you watch the TV show first.
Karen Cass narrates all the audiobooks of the trilogy. Her narration is marvelous. The tempo and the pacing are perfect. She wonderfully captures how the villagers spoke. Five stars for the narration. Lark Rise 4 stars 2. Over to Candleford 4 tars 3. Candleford Green 4 stars Feb 03, Mela rated it really liked it Shelves: historical-fiction-to-learn-history , british-literature , historical-fiction , historical-period-longth-century , open-library , series.
This one had a proper storyline. At least in comparing two previous two. More in the review of the whole trilogy. Jan 16, Orinoco Womble tidy bag and all rated it liked it Shelves: social-realism.
The final volume is much like the other two, disjointed ramblings on village life that toward the end start repeating themselves. There's the tiniest hint of a storyline but it comes to nothing.
I'm beginning to think I was confusing this book with Cranford , though that's quite a stretch. I obviously hadn't read any of this before.
Did she write it in after the books took off? Or was it a real "fortune" that she still didn't understand? I noticed that while Laura in childhood is simply "different" because she's a bookworm and quiet observer, by Vol 3 she has somehow acquired a rather snobbish attitude toward all those around her, both above and below her on the social scale. She doesn't seem to like anybody much. We are told that she was at Candleford for "years", but the narration feels like a few months.
Perhaps if there had been some progression of events it would have helped. Vol 1 mentions a royal Jubilee as witnessed by the children of Lark Rise, and here again with have Victoria's diamond Jubilee--are they meant to be the same event, ten years later?
Twenty-five years have assuredly not passed. The "trilogy" itself consists of over pages, and that's a lot for no storyline at all. Jun 01, Manuel Alfonseca rated it liked it. Third part of the famous trilogy Lark Rise to Candleford , where the author tells her reminiscences about her years working in the Post Office at Candleford Green. The TV series based on this work starts here, although they included anecdotes taken from the first two parts. This book is definitely the best in the trilogy.
It has the most narrative feel, and the characters, especially Laura, are developed and relatable. If you read the trilogy because you loved the show, Lark Rise to Candleford, know that they are very different. The books are source material for an original story with mostly original characters; but both are equally enjoyable when taken as their own entity.
I loved this series and it went to quick! Mar 11, Nicky rated it really liked it Shelves: history , non-fiction , classics.
Candleford Green follows "Laura" to the small village of Candleford Green, to her job in the post office, working under Dorcas Lane. Like the others of the trilogy, it has a lot of detail of everyday life, and the people Laura meets during her work. I don't think I enjoyed it as much as the first and second book -- maybe because it's much of the same, and because the world the first two books are nostalgic for is changing, with the introduction of the bicycle, and drawers instead of layers of pe Candleford Green follows "Laura" to the small village of Candleford Green, to her job in the post office, working under Dorcas Lane.
I don't think I enjoyed it as much as the first and second book -- maybe because it's much of the same, and because the world the first two books are nostalgic for is changing, with the introduction of the bicycle, and drawers instead of layers of petticoats It's still charming and worth a read. Modern bicycles had begun to replace the penny-farthing and once a youth was caught trespassing in Sir Timothy's spinney. On such occasions, the Candleford folk would sigh, "Such is Life" and return to the kitchen to make some nice quince jelly.
Laura would often find that the greatest excitements came in threes. This last incident caused Laura much distress, until Miss Lane reminded her that such were the heady dramas around which Sunday night television schedules were based. Yet she too was changing. The pace of life in Candleford Green no longer left her quite as breathless as it once had. Some days she could even manage without a nap and then she longed to escape the gossamer threads that bound her. Yet the threads that tied her to a life of boredom were more enduring than gossamer.
They were spun from cherished memories of endless repeat fees.
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