Granny's Village

"The village of Thornton-in-Craven, set in the Yorkshire hills, is outwardly very much the same as it was in 1882 when my Granny was born in a stone cottage by the Post Office."

I am in awe of this book. I'm returning to it for the third reread in the 6 or 7 years since I discovered it. I picked it up in a charity shop, not knowing what to expect, but thinking it was worth the 50p punt. My gamble paid off - it is one of the best local/family histories I have ever read.

The book is essentially a semi-fictionalised account of village life in Thornton-in-Craven at the beginning of the last century, based on the memories of the author's grandmother. The author starts off in the 'present day', introducing his grandmother as she is now (or was at the time of writing, the mid 1970s), living in the house she was brought up in, with her father's workshop closed up but much as he left it at the end of the yard. Then suddenly, we're swept back in time to the same place almost a century earlier with her father in residence in his workshop as the village wheelwright. It is a detailed, vivid and compelling story, an important record of the lives of ordinary Yorkshire folk and generally a great read.

The book seems to have received considerable acclaim when it was published in 1977 - the back jacket states it was serialised on BBC Radio 4 and there are review quotes from the Times Literary Supplement, the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian. Yet I can't find anything much about it online, nor any recent information about the author, which is a shame because I'd love to know more.

Just started my re-read & will probably be posting more about it.