The Pop Larkin Chronicles : The Darling Buds of May, A Breath of French Air, When the Green Woods Laugh, Oh! To Be in England, A Little of What You Fancy

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Looking back, thirty years later, and I think of those times fondly and maybe a little bit sadly; so I am predisposed to think well of this book. Heart warming without being mawkish, Bates will remind you of the simple but wonderful pleasure of walking through the English countryside.

The way the author decide that he must describe every 2 pages the body of women (Ma and Mariette particularly) was really off putting.Setting the style for the series, the book ends with a grand celebration, and the announcement of the wedding of Charlie and Mariette.

Bates was a great lover of the countryside and its people and this is exemplified in two volumes of essays entitled Through the Woods and Down the River. They moved to the village of Little Chart in Kent and bought an old granary and this together with an acre of garden they converted into a home. In her handsome big black eyes the cloudless blue May sky was reflected, making them dance as she threw out the splendid bank of her bosom, quivering under its salmon jumper. Instead, it's those people who are concerned with appearances and respectability who are the objects of fun, from the tweed-clad spinster, to the local squire concerned with keeping his tumbling pile to the white-collar office clerk. That said, my oft-spoken test of a good book – do I care about the characters after the last page is turned?It was impossible to describe what the full soft lips of Mariette had felt like against his own except that it was, perhaps, like having them brushed by the skin of a warm firm plum, in full ripeness, for the first time. Bates,essentially a lover of the countryside, was born in Rushden, Northamptonshire in 1905 and enjoyed walking around the countryside, often the inspiration for many of his stories.

I read Bates’ ‘ Love For Lydia‘ last year and was not especially entranced by either the writing or the whole raison d’etre of the story. Before he knows where he is, he is investigating the 'strawberry lark' and numerous other delights that include the fair Mariette. Inevitably, Cedric, who is turned into a proper Charley by Pop Larkin, learns to "use his loaf" and proposes to Mariette, learns to enjoy life and begins to view the tax office much as any right-thinking person on the planet would. Now known as “Charley,” our hapless hero floats along on a stream of unstinting alcohol and unending feasts. What he doesn’t know is that oldest daughter Mariette is in a bit of trouble and he might be just the man to help.Eccentric and good-humoured throughout, the story is really homage to the best of what it means to be English in the early 1950s, as the effects of the Second World War faded but before the advance of technology really began. Well known by the popular TV series starring David Jason and Catherine Zeta-Jones, The Darling Buds of May is the quintessential feel-good country romp. Not surprisingly, these highly successful novels inspired television series that were immensely popular.

It was adapted for stage and produced at the Saville Theatre, London, starring Elspeth March and Peter Jones.I'm not sure if I should be surprised that the young Catherine Zeta Jones could have had such a powerful effect on me at that age but, regardless, my other overpowering impression of it, looking back, is one of a nostalgic yearning for an England that never was. Just like tax inspector Cedric Charlton, you’ll find yourself drawn into the orbit of Pop and Ma Larkin and their six children – indomitably cheery hedonists, the lot of them. I don't know how to describe this book - it's a small, perfectly round pastry - a profiterole if you will - of a book.