All that the villagers of Fairacre know about Miss Quinn, who has moved into the annex of Mrs. Benson's house, is that she works in Caxley. Miss Quinn cherishes her privacy and keeps herself to herself -- even at Christmas, which she likes to spend without fuss or family.
But this Christmas is different. Miss Quinn's plans for her traditional solitary holiday are thrown into a cocked hat, so to speak, when she is called upon to perform a family duty in an emergency.
Although she is annoyed, Miss Quinn rises to the occasion -- and finds more than she bargained for -- including an old flame. In fact, her unexpectedly hectic Christmas gives Miss Quinn a good deal to think about, and has a significant effect upon her attitudes and her life.
With Illustrations by J.S. Goodall
About the Author
Miss Read, or in real life Dora Saint, was a teacher by profession who started writing after the second world war, beginning with light essays written for Punch and other journals. She then wrote on educational and country matters and worked as a scriptwriter for the BBC. Miss Read was married to a schoolmaster for sixty-four years until his death in 2004, and they had one daughter.
Miss Read was awarded an MBE in the 1998 New Year Honours list for her services to literature, She was the author of many immensely popular books, including two autobiographical works, but it was her novels of English rural life for which she was best known. The first of these Village School, was published in 1955, and Miss Read continued to write about the fictional villages of Fairacre and Thrush Green for many years. She lived near Newbury in Berkshire until her death in 2012.
