Jean Smith

Roary Revisited: a Rural Childhood Jean Smith

This is an account of a rural childhood in North Devon at the end of the Second World War. It is recounted with humour, irony and a little pathos. Though the family was poor by today's standards, they were rich in humour and the pleasures of a truly rural, simplistic way of life. An overcrowded thatched cottage (that nearly caught fire one Guy Fawkes night) didn't deter the Plymouth relatives from periodically descending upon them. You will get to know each family member, they were all so different. This is a delightfully perceptive view of the period, the countryside and the country characters who lived in and around the vicinity of Roary and Molland village. You will not be alone in wanting to go and get a feel of the place, even though there is nothing to be seen of the house now, although the well is visible still. This is a book you will want to read and re-read from time to time, everybody can relate to it in some form or other.