A Countryman's Lot, book review

I don't normally read very much at all, but just lately I seem to have made some interesting choices from the library. Also winter is the time for reading anyway, the best place to be is snuggled up with a book, wrapped up and warm. I have taken to reading first thing in the morning. I go downstairs to put the kettle on, come back up and see to my ablutions and brush my teeth, then pop back down and make a mug of steaming hot coffee. Pure bliss as I crawl back into bed and read for an hour or so. A lovely way to start the day.

This is a cracking good read, it was entertaining with plenty of laughs, and it's easy reading. This is the first time I have had a large print book, I always thought they were for people with either a visual impairment, or elderly people with failing sight. I found it so much easier to read. If I glanced away from the book at any time I was able to quickly get back to where I was, rather than getting totally lost in a sea of tiny print and reading the same bit twice untill I eventually found where I had left off. The book didn't make my arms ache either as I was able to hold it further away from my face, so much more comfortable.

I've copied the blurb on the back of the book, cheating I know but it saves me writing an outline of the story. Max and Vicki buy a place at Ramsthwaite, a village that is not listed in my map book, so I assume this is a made up name.

There are a lot of funny characters in the story, Fiery Frank and Little Petal, Apple Tom, Rabbit Joe, Fatty Batty, and Thievin Jack the butcher, to name a few. There are snippets of a Yorkshire dialect splattered throughout, which help to bring the stories alive. Some of it you have to say out loud, as it looks really strange in print. 'Yon little fella, he's supping out of a pittle pot' is, The little man over there is drinking out of a potty. 'The buggers had necked some stuff', means they had eaten a lot.

The stories of unusual finds during house clearances, was a hoot, they found a load of pornography in the house of an elderly gentleman who had passed away. Maybe not so much a gentleman after all, ha ha.

The story of the ducks escaping, and their attempts to capture them made me laugh, especially the bit when they were in the reeds in the river and Baz decided to sail out to them in an old bath tub, with disasterous consequences. He fell in and managed to lose his clothing, emerging from the water totally naked.

I had better not tell you any more, in case you want to read it, but the whole book is light hearted and funny. There are two other books in the trilogy, The Luck of a Countryman, and A Countryman's Lot. I will keep my eyes open for them. The author now lives in Leyburn in North Yorkshire, one of my favourite places. For lovers of the Yorkshire Dales this book is a cracking read.
Toodle pip.