Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

Originally published in 1932, Cold Comfort Farm is a very amusing parody of the rather doom-laden novels of rural life in England, such as those by D.H. Lawrence, Thomas Hardy or the Brontë sisters.

Flora Poste is nineteen years old and has just been orphaned. Rather than find a way to make a living she decides to live with relatives in Sussex - the bizarre Starkadders. She is a very sensible young woman and sets about sorting out all their problems in a thoroughly modern way.

You can borrow this book from Wagga City Library.

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

I have seen this book on lots of top ten or top one hundred lists so was very keen to read it. It was published in 1930 and is, therefore, a story about the type of childhood that isn't possible now. Obviously we would never call a little girl "Titty" these days but what really struck me was the freedom given these children. Our children seem to be watched every minute and don't spend hours unsupervised, let alone days.

Swallows and Amazons is set in the Lake District in England, in 1929. Four siblings sail a little boat called Swallow and two sisters sail Amazon and together they have wild adventures. It is a delightful, fanciful story, somehow nostalgic even though my own childhood was very different.

You can find this book in the Junior Fiction section of Wagga City Library but it can be enjoyed by people of all ages.