Wednesday 20 January 2016

Read in 2016 - 2: Up With The Larks

Back in the summer, my mother-in-law gave me a pile of books to take home with me, as is her habit when I come visiting. This one, "Up with the Larks" by Tessa Hainsworth, is the first of a series of three books about a woman who starts over as a postwoman in Cornwall.



Tessa (the author) works for The Body Shop. Her London-based life is extremely busy and rather high profile. Her husband and two children matter a lot to her, but there never seem to be enough hours to a day and days to a week to see as much of them as she wants to.

After a particularly relaxing holiday in Cornwall (not their first one there), the family decide to up sticks and move there permanently, to finally live the life they dream of, with plenty of time and space for every family member, and without the day-to-day stress and pressures of life in the big city.

As tends to happen with the best plans, this one doesn't exactly work out the way they imagine: The house needs a lot of work, and much more money than anticipated. Work is scarce in this beautiful region, and soon Tessa's husband finds himself doing two or three part-time jobs just to be able to pay the bills.
Tessa's search for a suitable job is not successful. Eventually, as a last resort, she applies for the job of postwoman - and nobody is more surprised than herself when she actually gets it.

She starts at the hardest imaginable time: November, the weeks leading up to Christmas. But maybe that sink or swim approach is the secret: After some initial (and rather funny - for the reader, at least) difficulties, she really takes to the job, and the book ends with happiness all around.

I liked this true story, told by the main protagonist herself. The language is fine; nothing over the top, but no vulgarities, either. The book is neatly divided into a chapter for each month of the family's first year in Cornwall.
We meet the family, their friends from London who come visiting, their new neighbours and colleagues and Tessa's customers on her post rounds. People, places, the weather and Tessa's moods are described well without being verbose.
What Tessa and those she writes about experience ranges from the funny to the serious, from silly to dramatic - just how real life is.

My next two reads will be books I borrowed from my sister, but I am looking forward to returning to more of Tessa's adventures.

18 comments:

  1. I love reading books about other folks' adventures, so it sounds like this one would fit the bill. Trying to catch up on my reading right now and I have a never ending TBR pile I but can't make myself give them away without at least trying them, but I believe this should go in my mental TBR stack. I think my sisters would enjoy them, too.

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    1. My TBR pile does not seem to get any smaller, either, but I think if that ever were the case, I'd start to panic slightly :-)

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  2. This sounds really interesting. I always think it must be a gamble, moving somewhere where you spent a holiday, as real life in that place is never going to be the same as your holiday. But good on them for making the move. x

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    1. Oh yes, living and working all year round in a place you've previously known only from holidays is very different, and I guess everyone who's done that has come across totally unexpected problems. Tessa and her family certainly did! But they did well in the end.

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  3. Never heard of this. I always like books about peoples' real life experiences, though.

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    1. Me too, Jenny. There were one or two instants in the book when I though they'd been rather naive, in spite of all their thinking things through and making plans - they just didn't expect how things worked out in the end.

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  4. Thank you for bringing this book to our attention . . . it sounds rather delightful and that it is a true story just adds to its appeal, to me, at least. I think I'll look for it. Hopefully it can be found here in the States too. We shall see. Thanks again!

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  5. Gotta love the Internet! Still don't know if these can be found in the States, but I did find a wonderful link where one can view a short video of the author talking about her life in Cornwall, in situ: http://www.upwiththelarks.co.uk/

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    1. Yes, it's the author's own website; I watched the video, too, when preparing my review.
      I've also read that the Corwnall Tourist Board uses these books to attract visitors, and articles about Tessa and her actor husband have appeared in several newspapers and magazines and on websites about Cornwall.

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  6. This sounds like a lot of fun! I hope I can find a copy.

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    1. It shouldn't be a problem, I am pretty sure these are available "everywhere" :-)

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  7. This sounds like a good read, and all the more intriguing because it's true. I have been doing a lot of reading lately (maybe I'm avoiding writing!) but I've discovered Lisa Jewell and read two of hers back to back: The Girls and The Third Wife. Now I'm reading Jenny Eclair's book, Moving, which is looking good so far. There is nothing better than finding a book that you don't want to put down.

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    1. I've read your review of The Girls on your blog, Maggie. The name Lisa Jewell sounds familiar; I was almost sure I've read something from her, but checking on my blog (where ALL the books I read get a review sooner or later) shows nothing.
      Jenny Eclair? What a lovely surname!

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  8. I was able to buy a copy for a penny plus S&H and notice there are two sequels. I usually like this sort of story, so am hopeful!

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    1. That sounds like a bargain :-)
      Yes, I wrote in my review (first paragraph): "This one [...] is the first of a series of three books". I now realize it should have been "...first IN a series", right?

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  9. I was so pleased to find out this is a true story! I will look into it. Thanks. Do you know the Derek Tangye books? He and his wife left the London life for Cornwall to grow flowers. And it was way back before many people did such a thing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Tangye

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    1. No, I have never heard of Derek Tangyue. Thank you for the recommendation!

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