A Month in the Country traces the slow revival of the primeval rhythms of life so cruelly disorientated by the Great War.

The uncovering of the past, archaeological and mural was all quite in tune with what needed to happen for the two men who found themselves there for the summer. Perhaps it only seems that way when enough years have passed for harsh reality to have been hidden beneath several layers of whitewash. James Lloyd Carr, born 1912, attended the village school at Carlton Miniott in the North Riding and Castleford Secondary School. A Month in the Country' is so beautiful and involving that as I was reading it I kept measuring what was left and regretting that there wasn't more.As the summer draws to a close, Birkin completes his restoration, and his time in Oxgodby comes to an end. I do know what you mean about the tendency to fade though – what remains most strongly is the atmosphere and mood, the feelings it evoked at the time of reading.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. One last caveat for anyone that may need it: this novel has a romantic sub-plot, but this is not Madame Bovary--take this however you want, for me it was another feature that I am grateful for, but I know some people will get disappointed because of that. When he arrives in Oxgodby, Birkin knows very well life is not all ease and intimacy, long summer days with "winter always loitering around the corner. There’s a touch of romance in the air, an element of mystery in the story behind the painting, and a gradual renewal of sorts for Birkin – a sense of restoration, both creatively and emotionally.Carr's blessedly small tale of lost love is also a small hymn about art and the compensating joy of the artist, both in giving and receiving.

The proffered kindnesses from the Stationmaster (Chapel) to Birkin right from when he stepped off the train but also the coolness and distance the Rector (of the Church) showed in contrast. I enjoyed this, especially the writing and the slow uncovering of the wall painting, and all the seemingly knowledgeable information Carr provides about medieval church art. Birkin soon fits into the remote village's slow-paced life, and over the course of a summer uncovering a painting, begins losing his trauma-induced stammer and tics. This sort of book is an ideal find, a secret joy that sustains you through many reading duds and radiates its warmth outwards for a long time after the final page is reached.We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. At the same time, Charles Moon - a fellow damaged survivor of the war - has been asked to locate the grave of a village ancestor.