Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village Book

"A seductively rural county, SuffoIk is a flat, rich-­soiled region on the North Sea coast, beautifully wooded, magnificently churched, and embel­lished with handsome small towns.... Ronald Blythe's portrayal of the SuffoIk scene is powerful. He lovingly draws apart the curtains of leg-end and landscape, revealing the inner, almost clandestine, spirit of the village behind.... His book consists of a series of direct-speech mon­ologues, delivered by forty-nine SuffoIk residents, and interpretatively linked by the author, himself a SuffoIk man. The effect is one of astonishing immediacy: it is as if those country people have looked up for a moment from their plow, lawnmower or kitchen sink, and are talk­ing directly (and disturbingly frankly) to the reader....This is a brilliant and extraordinary book which raises disquieting second thoughts when the poetry has faded - as Mr. Blythe says, it is like a strange journey through a familiar land! James Morris, New York Times Book ReviewRead More