There's such a disconnect in my mind between the atmosphere of these books and their actual setting. They feel like depictions of the 1950s or 60s. But this one is actually set in 1992. Crazy. But it does make sentences like the following one more relatable: "She departed to the kitchen, leaving Charles to watch a television programme about inter-planetary warfare which might have appealed to prep-school boys, Dimity supposed, but which she deplored."
It messes with my mental picture of Thrush Green to be told that some of its inhabitants are into Star Trek: The Next Generation (or something similar). :)

A few other gems of writing:
Mr. Jones, who rather fancied himself as a medical man, a sort of hedge-doctor, told the assembled company that you could blast gallstones into dust with a few shots of laser rays, but you had to be careful that they didn't damage the red corpuscles.
Blinded with such sophisticated knowledge the company dropped the subject of gall bladders and their treatment, but all agreed that Mrs. Bailey 'would have to watch it' when she came out of hospital.
'If she ever does,' said Albert lugubriously. He liked to have the last word.
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A toddler was sitting on the grass beside a young girl. Winnie recognized them as part of the large Cooke family, noted in the district for fecundity and a distaste for orthodox matrimony.
(Elegantly worded sarcasm tends to amuse me.) ( )

Celebrations At Thrush Green by Miss Read is the 11th book in her Thrush Green series and I guess it was bound to happen but this volume was rather a dud. Usually I sink into her tales of small village life with a sigh of enjoyment and continues on through to the end of the book. This time, although it was nice to catch up with some of my favourite characters, the story never drew me in.

The village is preparing to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their school and it has also come to light that their is another centennial to celebrate, that it was also a hundred years since Thrush Green’s most distinguished son, Nathaniel Patten has opened his African mission. A number of years ago a statue of Nathaniel was erected in the village green to celebrate this man, but some felt that this would be a good opportunity to once again recognize this dedicated man.

For me, the story centered too much on Nathaniel and his past deeds. I would rather have read more about the plans that the school master was making for the school’s celebrations. I also felt that the story was so concentrated on this one event that the author’s usual details about the seasons and nature were lacking. There is one more book left in the series for me to read, and I hope that the author reverts to her former style and gives Thrush Green the send off it deserves. ( )

The village school in Thrush Green is approaching its centenary, and plans for a celebration are underway. Meanwhile, village resident Harold Shoosmith is thrilled to learn of newly discovered letters written by Nathaniel Patten, Thrush Green's most distinguished son, who had gone to Africa as a missionary in the Victorian era. Harold had lived near the African village where Nathaniel Patten had founded a church, a school, and a medical center, and where he was remembered as a hero. Harold retired to Thrush Green because of its connection with Nathaniel Patten, and he reintroduced its current residents to the dedicated missionary who had left there for Africa 100 years ago. School and church decided to combine forces and have a joint celebration of both centenaries. The book describes the year of planning culminating in the centenary celebration.

This book is somewhat disappointing compared with other books by this author. It focuses too much on the planning and not enough on the reason for the celebration. There were some side stories, like Winnie Bailey's illness, that detracted from the focus on the event planning, which already suffered from being divided between the school and the Victorian missionary. The narrator of the audio version is good, but not good enough to distract most listeners from the dullness of the story. ( )

This is a very short book that focuses on two big events, the 100th anniversary of the school and the 100th anniversary of the Thrush Green local hero, Nathaniel Patten. Of all the Miss Read books, this is my least favorite, mostly because so few of my favorite characters made an appearance. ( )

Ex-lib. SDL ( )