Bøker av Ronald Blythe

'All the charm, wonder, eccentricity and vigour of country life is here in these pages, and told with such engaging directness, detail and colour. To immerse yourself in this East Anglian year is be reminded of why we love and value the rhythms and realities of rural life. Bliss' STEPHEN FRY'A capacious work that contains multitudes . . . a work to amble through, seasonally, relishing the vivid dashes of colour and the precision and delicacy of the descriptions' THE SPECTATOR'England's greatest living country writer' INDEPENDENTRonald Blythe lives at the end of an overgrown farm track deep in the rolling countryside of the Stour Valley, on the border between Suffolk and Essex. His home is Bottengoms Farm, a sturdy yeoman's house once owned by the artist John Nash. From here, Blythe has spent almost half a century observing the slow turn of the agricultural year, the church year, and village life in a series of rich, lyrical rural diaries.Beginning with the arrival of snow on New Year's Day and ending with Christmas carols sung in the village church, Next to Nature invites us to witness a simple life richly lived. With gentle wit and keen observation Blythe meditates on his life and faith, on literature, art and history, and on our place in the landscape.It is a celebration of one of our greatest living writers, and an unforgettable ode to the English countryside.

Ronald Blythe asks people from all walks of life to reflect in their own words on what it is like to be old. The result is a fascinating and moving series of confidences which we are privileged to share.

Sees Ronald Blythe observe the progress of one whole calendar year in the river valley where he has lived and worked among artists, writers, farmers and, increasingly, commuters.

This collection of words spoken by Ronald Blythe in the churches he served as Reader in the Church of England follow various paths into old and new liturgies, literature and the local countryside. Blythe's prose is full of quiet wit, keen observation and sober reflection.

An illustrated collection of the author's regular weekly column on the back page of the "Church Times", where, with a poet's eye, he observes the comings and goings of the rural world he sees from his ancient farmhouse in Constable country.

This colourful, perceptive portrayal of English country life reverberates with the voices of the village inhabitants, from the reminiscences of survivors of the Great War evoking days gone by, to the concerns of a younger generation of farm-workers and the fascinating and personal recollections of, among others, the local schoolteacher, doctor, blacksmith, saddler, district nurse and magistrate. Providing insights into farming, education, welfare, class, religion and death, Akenfield forms a unique document of a way of life that has, in many ways, disappeared.

Ronald Blythe has spent his life among the artists and writers of his native Suffolk. His books, especially the bestselling "Akenfield", have given East Anglia a distinctive literary voice. This book accompanies Ronald through the lanes of Constable country, and observe him in his study following his early morning writing routine.

These reflections weave together literature, poetry, biography, botany, nature and scripture to offer incisive comment on contemporary life. Resonating with the pattern of the natural and litugical year, it provides a commentary on experiencing the sacred day to day.

At the Yeoman's House centres on Bottoengoms Farm, East Anglia. The celebrated authour of Akenfield explores the building inhabited by 20th century artist John Nash. It is part of the landscape loved by Constable. Inside Bottengoms there are telling handprints and footprints everywhere, and this is their tale. A tale told by a true countryman.

Features a collection of sixty "Word From Wormingford" columns from the back page of the "Church Times", published in the autumn of 2006. This work presents mini essays that reflect the natural landscape, the changing seasons, village life, art, poetry, the stories that ancient churches tell.