In the final book of the series that began with The Darling Buds of May, the fun-loving Pop Larkin finds himself confined to bed following a mild heart attack–caused by a little too much of what he fancied. Ma battles with the doctors as she attempts to find the adequate cure, but it turns out that a seductive nurse is all he needs. Pa’s spirits truly recover themselves when he is forced to defend his home from the ministry’s railway plans.

This concludes the tales of H. E. Bates’s Larkin family, a winsome gallery of characters who live as many of us would like to live if only we had the guts and nerve to flout the conventions.