I got this softcover at the annual book sale at the Nashua Public Library for another release copy.

I've loved Cold Comfort Farm since I first read it years ago. It's a wonderfully snippy takeoff of rural-England novels full of steaming middens and dripping thatches, and what happens when a plucky young heroine decides to fix things up; a bit like what might happen if Austen's Emma visited some of Thomas Hardy's characters, as illustrated by Edward Gorey {grin}.

The story's set in a not-that-different alternate universe that looks very much like the '20s or '30s, but which occasionally refers to things that did not happen - the "Anglo-Nicaraguan wars of '46", for example. This doesn't have a huge effect on the plot, but does make the reader feel even more off-balance.

If you're a fan of Thomas Hardy and other authors of gloomy/earthy/rural novels, you might find that this book prevents you from ever looking at them the same way again - hopefully in a good way, but do be warned!

There's a very funny film version of the story, relatively faithful to the book and dead-on regarding characters and setting. And the TV Tropes page has some entertaining tidbits about book and film.

[For another taste of the Starkadders, there's a prequel short-story - the title tale in the Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm collection.]

I left this book in the Little Free Library; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in MA here.]

Released for:

** 2025 Oh, the Places We Can Go challenge **

** 2025 Movie challenge. **