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A Month in the Country

A Month in the Country

Summary

'Tender and elegant' Guardian
'Unlike anything else in modern English literature' D.J. Taylor, Spectator


A damaged survivor of the First World War, Tom Birkin finds refuge in the quiet village church of Oxgodby where he is to spend the summer uncovering a huge medieval wall-painting. Immersed in the peace and beauty of the countryside and the unchanging rhythms of village life he experiences a sense of renewal and belief in the future. Now an old man, Birkin looks back on the idyllic summer of 1920, remembering a vanished place of blissful calm, untouched by change, a precious moment he has carried with him through the disappointments of the years. Adapted into a film starring Colin Firth, Natasha Richardson and Kenneth Branagh, A Month in the Country traces the slow revival of the primeval rhythms of life so cruelly disorientated by the Great War.

With an introduction by Penelope Fitzgerald



Reviews

  • The book I keep coming back to, it's one of the best books I've ever read. I've never met anyone who didn't love it.
    Richard Osman

About the author

J L Carr

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