Quince Tree Press Edition - 1980
J.L. Carr captures a moment in time in England’s rural north. The narrator is shell-shocked veteran, Tom Birkin, who tells of his weeks in Oxgodby in 1920 to restore a painting in the local church. The Pastor is a bitter and misunderstood man; his wife is a caged beauty. In a field nearby, another veteran, Charles Moon, digs for the bones of a 500 year-old victim of this village’s ancestors. Tom’s summer in the almost surreal Oxgodby is the tale of restoration of wounded souls, how the answers we seek are so often within our reach, and crafted in English that is a delight to read and re-read. I was reluctant to put this small book down.
J.L. Carr’s A Month In The Country is a quiet masterwork.
Booker Prize shortlist in 1980.
Note: This edition of the novel can be difficult to find. First published in England in 1980, it has appeared in various small press editions since that time. I recommend the illustrated Quince Tree Press edition.