'I'm looking for two really trustworthy rabbits and six sensible clear-speaking frogs '

Young Anna Lacey has spent most of her life on a farm in Essex. But her first teaching position carries her to an unattractive, newly constructed suburb where she has to adjust to cramped lodgings, a skinflint landlady, overcrowded classrooms, and eccentric colleagues ('a rum lot'). She must also adapt some of her idealistic theories of teaching to the realities of her energetic, exuberant pupils.

Fans of Miss Read's much-loved Thrush Green and Fairacre novels will be delighted with this tale of a young woman's first year of teaching, and perhaps also surprised by its sharp, funny portrayals of the foibles of human nature. Anna experiences some disappointments and uncertainties, but her practicality, determination and sense of humour see her through.

This new edition of Fresh from the Country features an introduction by Jill Saint, the author's daughter.

'A delightful book full of accurate detail about school life, the children who are taught and the people who teach.' Daily Telegraph