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All Among the Barley
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
From the author of Costa-shortlisted and Baileys-longlisted At Hawthorn Time comes a major new novel. Set on a farm in Suffolk just before the Second World War, it introduces a girl on the cusp of adulthood Fourteen-year-old Edie Mather lives with her family at Wych Farm, where the shadow of the Great War still hangs over a community impoverished by the Great Depression. Glamorous outsider Constance FitzAllen arrives from London, determined to make a record of fading rural traditions and beliefs, and to persuade Edie's family to return to the old ways rather than embrace modernity. She brings with her new political and social ideas - some far more dangerous than others. For Edie, who has just finished school and must soon decide what to do with her life, Connie appears to be a godsend. But there is more to the older woman than meets the eye. As harvest time approaches and the pressures mount on the entire Mather family, Edie must decide whose version of reality to trust, and how best to save herself from disaster. A masterful evocation of the rhythms of the natural world and pastoral life, All Among the Barley is also a powerful and timely novel about influence, the lessons of history and the dangers of nostalgia.
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review
rachaich
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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Mehso-so

The third novel I've read by her and I didn't find it as flowing as her other two.
I liked the idea but found it too disjointed in content and thus unbelievable.

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quietlycuriouskate
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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Pickpick

Set on an arable farm in the 1930s, MH's nature-writing is marvellous (as expected!). She got me invested in Edie's coming of age story. I would have loved to see more of Ada's experience and perspective, too. (Constance made my hackles rise from the get-go!). The ending was abrupt and, for me, the epilogue fell flat. In conclusion, I loved it, save for the final 20 pages which fell somewhere between "harrumph!" and "hnnh?".

quietlycuriouskate Do excuse me: I am clearly not at my articulate best today! 😂 9mo
33 likes1 comment
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quietlycuriouskate
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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It's an arable farm. Why to goodness would they be making their own butter and cheese?!

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Mitch
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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#bookmail

Love that books can touch every part of life.... I‘m in need of both a connection to nature and a subtle reminder that life might feel hard at the moment - but some have it a lot worse! 😬

Crazeedi Those look interesting! 4y
AmyG Ha...I have the same pen holder. 4y
Mitch @AmyG My book twin 💕 4y
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AmyG Ha! 😘 4y
vivastory Murder The Bio sounds great! 4y
LeahBergen @vivastory I was just thinking that, too. 4y
65 likes6 comments
review
Centique
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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Pickpick

Just finished this book and I‘m reeling. Here is some of the best, most idyllic, nature writing I‘ve ever read. You could just stretch out and luxuriate in the blissful rural images Harrison creates. But this is more than just a story of a young girl coming of age in a rural community. There is something darker at the heart of this novel and I feel twisted in knots at the end of it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⬇️

Centique A great read if you like a slow paced, descriptive, historical novel - but it‘s definitely not a cosy one. 4y
Reggie This sounds great and on track for your nature reading goal this year. 4y
Centique @Reggie you‘re so right I‘m counting this! But I‘m only up to 4 🤪 I got stuck on a gardening book for ages. 4y
66 likes3 stack adds3 comments
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Hamlet
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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Pickpick

The book portrays in details, tone, & language life on an English farm in the 1930s. 14 year-old Edie works more on the farm just as she‘s becoming aware of her body, finding her voice, & exploring what could be a maternal witch lineage. Enter Connie, a forthright city women writing about the fading rural traditions of England, but with a more insidious agenda lurking in her enthusiasms. Lovingly portrayed but unsentimental, the tale delighted me.

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Lindy
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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September stats: 34 books + 1 abandoned partway. Only reading the best, obviously, because I gave 15 books 5 stars on Goodreads. 😊

silentrequiem Nice!!! 4y
33 likes1 comment
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Lindy
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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The glory of the farm then, just before harvest: acres of gold like bullion, strewn with the sapphires of cornflowers and the garnets of corn poppies and watched over from on high by larks.

Suet624 You create the best posts. I love this picture with the quote. 4y
Lindy @Suet624 Thanks, Sue. My brother‘s dog Mia is in the photo. 4y
andrew61 Melissa Harrison has a podcast out at moment, finishes in oct, called The stubborn light of things, it is a lovely gentle reflection on the Suffolk countryside- id recommend it lindy if you enjoy her writing. 4y
Lindy @andrew61 You are correct. I love her podcast and look forward to it every Monday. 😊 4y
35 likes4 comments
review
Lindy
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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Pickpick

An atmospheric novel set in the British countryside in 1933. Fourteen-year-old Edie Mather will have her life turned upside down when a young woman journalist from London shows up, wanting to document the old ways that are disappearing. Nuanced characterization, a vivid depiction of rural life, and a powerful story. I loved it.

Cathythoughts Sounds good ! Stacked 4y
LeahBergen I‘ve been eyeing this one. 👍🏻 4y
Lindy @LeahBergen I‘m confident that it‘s your kind of novel. 😊 4y
Lindy @Cathythoughts Melissa Harrison pleases me every time. 😊 4y
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Lindy
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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She‘s a waistcoat short of a button, Mary used to say.

(Photo: my friend Jen made a button dress as a COVID project. Shaun Tan fans, take note of her tattoos.)

julesG 😍😍😍 Love the dress and the tattoos. 4y
Cathythoughts No shortage of buttons here 😁❤️ 4y
readordierachel That is fabulous! 4y
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AmyG Love it! 4y
Soubhiville That‘s a really fun dress, but I bet it‘s heavy! 4y
erzascarletbookgasm Wow that‘s a lot of buttons! So colourful! 👍 4y
Lindy @julesG @Cathythoughts @readordierachel @AmyG @Soubhiville @erzascarletbookgasm Jen says the dress is quite heavy and she‘s not sure about where she would wear it. I said it should go on the wall as a work of art. 4y
julesG I'm in favour for on the wall or on a mannequin. 4y
Lindy @julesG Oooh! A mannequin is a great suggestion. I‘ll pass that along to her. 4y
batsy I love how it looks 😍 4y
AmyG She could get one of those dress mannequins and put the dress out for display in her home. It‘s so pretty. Yes @Jules great idea! (edited) 4y
Reggie I don‘t know if you ever follow Rupaul‘s Drag Race, Lindy, but this past season there was this girl, GiGi Goode who had an outfit made out of orange buttons and it was magnificent. 4y
Lindy @Reggie I don‘t watch the show even though my queer niece is a huge fan. I googled images of “Gigi Goode buttons” and oh my! That orange button outfit is something special! 4y
48 likes13 comments
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Lindy
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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She laughed. “Or perhaps it just means you‘re the kind of person who thinks too hard about things.”
I straightened up for a moment & tried to fasten my hair better, away from the perspiration on the back of my neck.
“I don‘t know how to stop, though.”
“Stop what?”
“Thinking too hard. I don‘t know how else to be.” I was surprised to feel my eyes swim with sudden tears.
“Oh Edie, you don‘t need to be any different at all, don‘t you know that?”

Cathythoughts ❤️ 4y
35 likes1 comment
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Lindy
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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I read The Midnight Folk & spent my days pretending to be Kay Harker & embarking on imaginary adventures involving knights, smugglers & highwaymen, Rollicum Bitem Lightfoot the fox & a coven of witches so terrifying I eventually wrapped the book in a feed-sack & buried it under the dung-heap in case they should burst from its pages & carry me away, so consuming had my enthusiasm become.

LeahBergen I have The Midnight Folk on my shelves. Your graphic has made me want to pick it up. 😂 4y
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shawnmooney
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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LeahBergen I‘ve been eyeing this book (and I‘ll keep on the lookout for how you like it). 4y
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shawnmooney
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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erzascarletbookgasm Book sounds good 👍 5y
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shawnmooney
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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shawnmooney
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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review
Becker
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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Pickpick

Beautifully descriptive, coming of age story that takes place in the English countryside.🌼

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andrew61
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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Pickpick

The story of 14 yr old edie mather and a year on an ehglish farm is a beautifully told story told by a writer who weaves a fascinating tale with (as she did in at hawthorn time) wonderful depictions of the countryside to the extent that i felt that i was wandering in the 1930's fields noticing birds and plants. She then adds a sharp thread with anti semitism and nationalism which is so relevant today. Definitely a highlight of my reading year.

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andrew61
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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#musicalnewyear #feedthebirds
And here was i thinking id skip a challenge and then i happen upon the heroine of my book feeding squashed slugs to a landrail chick.
I loved 'at hawthorn time' by this author with her wonderful writing about the English countryside and this is similarly a lovely read so far - has a feeling of cider with rosie as the plot revolves around a 1930's English farm.

jhod Love this! 6y
andrew61 @jhod yes i noticed you had just read it. Have you read at hawthorn time? 6y
Lindy I loved At Hawthorn Time, and also enjoyed her other books Clay and Rain. Glad to know she has a new one! 6y
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vivastory Sounds delightful 6y
jhod No, this was my first. Definitely want to read her others now! 6y
andrew61 @Lindy i will give those a go - thanks 6y
36 likes7 comments
review
jhod
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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Pickpick

Second book of 2019 and my first five star read
#fivestarread
Set in the 1930s from the viewpoint of 14 year old Edith who thinks she doesn't fit in with the world round her. It's slow moving, full of nature, and seemingly quite innocent but beneath the surface there is a sense of impending doom, and the increasing fear of difference is scarily relevant today.

Tamra This sounds great! 6y
rockpools Yay! 6y
batsy I've had this stacked! Great review; it sounds so intriguing. 6y
139 likes5 stack adds3 comments
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jhod
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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Saturday night craziness!

Am loving this book so far - brilliantly depicting the changes to class, gender, urban vs rural life in the period between the wars.

rockpools I really liked this one, too! 6y
113 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
rockpools
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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Pickpick

I love Melissa Harrison's writing of people-in-their-landscape, and of her books I've read so far, this felt to me the most complete.

It's 1933. Everything is threatening to change for bookish farmgirl Edie. She's 13, her sister's married, and farms across the county are struggling. Into her very small world comes Constance, studying the traditional way of life, arguing politics with the menfolk, writing articles and 'helping out'. 👇

rockpools
As always, Harrison's writing takes us beautifully and deeply into the rural life and landscape, this time of the 1930s. Rather than romanticising, however, the underlying themes portray a darker side, which feels horribly current today. Thank you to #NetGalley for the a copy of the ARC.
6y
Tamra Sounds good! 6y
Cathythoughts The title has me ... beautiful.. 6y
66 likes4 stack adds3 comments
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rockpools
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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One of these days I'll actually get round to reviewing this one. Meanwhile...

Edie grows up seeing the witches marks in the beams above her bed. When ancient charm bottles are found on a neighbouring farm, her mother is the person who is called. And everyone fears/respects her grandmother. What's a girl to think?

#IPutASpellOnYou #octoberxfiles

rockpools *pic from Google 6y
Cinfhen Cool!! I love the images!!! Book sounds good 6y
56 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Mitch
All Among the Barley | Melissa Harrison
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I really like Melissa Harrison - she writes very earthy, rural novels that leave you with being able to smell the land.

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