Comfort Reads: Miss Read, James Herriot, and Sarah Addison Allen

 Sometimes I just need a good book that soothes the spirit while being entertaining and well written.  Here are three authors who fit the bill for me: 

Miss Read: “Miss Read” was the pen name of Doris Jessie Saint. Her books are set in quaint English villages after World War II and follow the everyday lives of her characters.  I am especially fond of the ones set in Fairacre and center around the teacher, Miss Read.  She works with elementary school children, sometimes including the “infants,” which I take to be kindergarteners in a sort of two room school.   It’s not all sweetness and light; there are problems and challenges, some of which may not be easily resolved.  Some of the characters have annoying habits, but they’re real: we all know people like them, and the characters are fully developed. That’s the key: I want to know what happens to them or even just to visit with them for awhile.  Miss Read herself is compassionate and kind, but she can also be rather tart.  She’s not to be bamboozled.  The books do not have to be read in order.  The Miss Read ones are also known as the Fairacre books, after the name of the village, while the others are set in Thrush Green.

James Herriot: I remember laughing almost constantly when I first read these tales of a young veterinarian in Yorkshire, dealing with sometimes suspicious locals, a mercurial boss in Siegfried Farnon, and a host of animals.  All Creatures Great and Small was the start of a marvelous series for me, with characters I loved. Some of the stories move back and forth in time, but are generally in the period from the late 1930s and 1940s. Based on the experiences of Alf Wight, the books introduced me to the Dales. There’s humor, romance, mysterious ailments, and a marvelous setting, beautifully described.  There have been two television series based (sometimes very loosely) on the books, but the books are the best, in my biased opinion. (Note: the titles in the series vary quite a lot; some of the titles are from the UK publication while others are U.S.  Some of the U.S. titles actually contain more than one book from the UK publication.)

Sarah Addison Allen: With one exception, all her books are standalones.  The settings are always in the American South, usually one of the Carolinas and food is an important part of the story.  There’s also some touches of magic, but the books’ real strength is in characters and relationships.  They’re whimsical in a very good way.  My favorite characters include an apple tree, a white alligator, an invisible bird, and a little old lady who has a compulsion to give strange items to people because she knows they will need them. I love them all, but my favorite is probably Garden Spells.  Although my first favorite was The Girl Who Chased the Moon.  A new favorite is Other Birds.  You get the idea.  I'll end up listing them all if I'm not careful!  All the books have warmth and hopeful endings.  Sometimes you just need that.

List by Jeanne