I thought this would be a behind-the-scenes look at where exactly "Miss Read" got her inspiration for the Thrush Green books. There is only a very minimal amount about her own experiences and writing process. Most of the book is actually excerpts from the Thrush Green novels, as she recaps who the characters are and what happens to them. So...just read the actual books, I guess! ( )

The World of Thrush Green by Miss Read is a delightful combination of excerpts from her first 10 books about the rural area of Thrush Green and a true life background to how and why she chose to write about this particular area. The book is dedicated to John S. Goodall, whose wonderful illustrations have enhanced all of her Thrush Green books, and indeed, give this book an added depth as well.

Dora Saint who writes under the name of Miss Read, lived in a small Oxfordshire village called Wood Green near Witney from 1940 to 1945, and this location was her inspiration for Thrush Green. She turned to Jane Austen’s advice to her niece, “You are now collecting your People delightfully, getting them exactly into such a spot as is the delight of my life, three or four Families in a Country Village is the very thing to work on.” The first book was published in 1959 and she admits she drew freely from her own experiences and many of her character’s traits were taken from people she knew in Wood Green.

Over the course of 10 books she has managed to inspire and engage her readers in these absorbing, lightly quaint, timeless chronicles and The World of Thrush Green allows her readers to look over her shoulder at how she developed both the lovely setting and filled it with her beloved characters. This is a wonderful companion read to the Thrush Green series. ( )