This was apparently my Gran's favourite book, and I can see why she liked it. It's a beautifully written auto-biography that has a lyrical quality in it's writing. I keep accidentally finding myself a poetic metre in the prose, a rhythm that flows easily in to the reading of it before flowing back out, just as effortlessly. It makes for an incredibly enjoyable read. If I hadn't already known that Laurie Lee was a poet, then I'd have my suspicions even before the very last short paragraph where he reveals that love.
Consciousness begins for Laurie as a toddler in the closing days of the first world war. Living in a small village in the Cotswalds, this book becomes an oft-forgotten tale of country life at that time in England. Aside from the truly beautiful prose, this isn't a romanticised story, but yet certainly has a heavy dose of nostalgic reverie. Through character profiles of family - mother, siblings and uncles, and the broader village - teachers, neighbours, local heroes and villains; we see a life being formed in a way that couldn't happen now in any part of the world. And despite that the nostalgia is infectious and it all seems so familiar.
The book I have, and have had for too long before picking up, has the three auto-biographies that Laurie Lee wrote, and this is just the first. My bookmark rests in it right now, so I'll be sure to return to read the second soon enough.
Finished reading - 04/08/26