The Country Child, by Alison Uttley

Alison Uttley's absorbing and brilliantly recalled memoir of early childhood.

Published in 1931, The Country Child is one of English writer Alison Uttley's first books. It's a hard one to categorise. It's considered a memoir, but reads like children's fiction. It describes Uttley's growing up in rather idyllic rural circumstances. There are lush descriptions of flora and fauna, fresh country air and clear moonlit nights. Sometimes the ugly realities of farm life intrude - notably, the slaughtering of animals - but then the narrative returns to its bucolic pleasures. 

The Country Child very much reminded me of the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. A more floral version, if I can put it like that. Wilder's series has a lot more human drama and danger, whereas Uttley's book is ensconced safely in the bosom of a stable farm and community life. Wilder describes life on the frontier, while Uttley's family has spent seemingly generations in the same village.

A book perhaps for literary aficionados - adult lovers of children's fiction. I can't imagine it's target audience, children, reading it. Unless they were particularly smart.