More Books with a Feel Good Factor ...

A Month in the Country by J L Carr

Back in the summer of 1920, Tom Birkin arrives at a country church in Yorkshire to restore a medieval painting. The Great War has left its mark on him, and his facial twitch and stammer are the result of shell shock. Tom can’t afford lodgings, so Revd Keach, the Vicar, grudgingly allows him to stay up in the belfry. 

An eccentric benefactor has left money for this work - and for the ancient bones of an ancestor to be found and re-interned in the Churchyard. This is a job for ‘Moon’, an archaeologist with his own agenda. Moon wears a tunic with marks where Captain’s pips have been torn off, and has endured his own dark wartime experiences. 

Reaching back through the centuries to medieval times, both men form bonds with the artist and with the military man who trod the path before them.  I felt that the men were expected to tolerate so much throughout war, but this was not reciprocated by the society of the day. Soldiers still return from war ‘shell shocked’.

Kenneth Branagh and Colin Firth in the film adaptation

But the hard times are very understated, and there's healing and humour rather than bitterness. The descriptions of the British Summer and Countryside are heavenly, and there’s a real warmth in Tom’s observations of the Wesleyan family who find a place in their hearts, and their village, for him. He also falls for the beautiful wife of the awkward Revd Keach, which is another tale:

‘We can ask and ask but we can’t have again what once seemed ours for ever — the way things looked, that church alone in the fields, a bed on belfry floor, a remembered voice, a loved face. They’ve gone and you can only wait for the pain to pass.’

This book is only just over a hundred pages long, but there are so many different strands, and it has such depth. It’s beautifully written and inspiring with a real feel good factor. 

Something else that's very inspiring is The Quince Tree Press founded by J L Carr and still run by his family today. Pam