The book traces a few months in the life of a picturesque, quintessentially English village with its roots in the Middle Ages. On the surface idyllic, the author strips bare its underlying tensions, prejudices, rivalries, tragedies, successes and failures. Set in the early l920s on the threshold of social change, some village inhabitants still bear the scars, physical or emotional, of the Great War. The old, impoverished gentry, with their time-honoured ideals of duty and paternalism, are challenged by the arrival in their midst of a rich, retired manufacturer whose well-intentioned but inappropriate aspirations threaten the way of life of the whole village. This Little World is a rural saga which follows the activities and relationships of a variety of characters, and includes several budding romances. All takes place under the scrutiny of old Miss Loach, the self-appointed guardian of village morals. Add to this some lyrical descriptions of the Worcestershire countryside and one has a skilfully woven, thoroughly readable and delightful book.
Used availability for Francis Brett Young's This Little World