This is a reissue of a Bates classic. Betrayed by her lover, Bella Ford sets out on a journey to find him and exact her revenge. Instead, however, her arduous search brings her to the home of the Wainwright family: the pious and good-natured Wainwright, his tough and uncompromising wife, their daughter, Nell and their three very different sons, sensitive Matty, quick-tempered Con and sedate Jedd. Slowly, and in their individual ways the Wainrights restore Bella’s trust and, sharing the hardships and pleasure of their lives, she again finds happiness and love. Then, at the traditional Feast of July, the past comes crashing back into Bella’s life, and with it, violent and terrible tragedy. First published in 1954, this timeless love story demonstrates Bates’ richly lyrical prose and his literary relationship with the English countryside. Reissued by Methuen along with The Jacaranda Tree and The Purple Plain and to coincide with the republication in one volume of Bates’s acclaimed autobiographies - The Vanished World , The Blossoming World and World in Ripeness .