H. E. Bates

A Moment in Time

The Purple Plain

THE JACARANDA TREE

Three romantic novellas by a master of English literature.

The Nature of Love Large Print

Colonel Julian

Agnes Miller Parker

Laura Beatty

Breathes life into the changing character of a single woodland year, describing its shifting seasonal moods from one April to the next, and revealing how precious the woods are to the English countryside, not only for plants and animals, but people.

Through the Woods

The earliest of these stories, The Flame, was first published in 1926, having been written a year earlier, when I was twenty; the latest appeared in 1961. The intervening thirty-five years, together with the thirty-five stories I have chosen from that period, therefore give this collection its title, Seven by Five. My aim has been to make the book as widely representative of my work as a short story writer as possible, but I have nevertheless refrained from including any of the war-time stories I wrote under the pseudonym of 'Flying Officer X', any of the stories of Uncle Silas and any novellas, since these all belong, in my view, to quite separate categories. *The title of the British edition.

Best of H. E. Bates

It was only a little over a year ago that I came across H. E. Bates' work; up until then. I had never even heard his name, strange as this may sound. I blush now when I read that he is the author of forty or more books, has been translated into a dozen or more languages, and that 'his reputation in America, Australia and New Zealand equals, and in some cases surpasses, that in his own country. Perhaps I would never have heard of him had I not been laid up with chills and fever in the Hotel Formentor, Mallorca, where I was quartered during the Formentor Conference. Having nothing to read I asked a friend to go to the bookstore in the lobby and select something light, gay, amusing for me. My friend returned with a copy of A Breath of French Air. He said nothing about knowing the author until some days later when I told him how much I had enjoyed the book. A little later, at some airport, I picked up The Darling Buds of May and Fair Stood the Wind for France. The last named impressed me deeply and made me wonder why I had never heard of the author. It struck me as being the only good novel I had read about World War II...

Peter Conradi

Kent, the "Garden of England," provides the rustic setting for these poignant stories from the creator of The Darling Buds of May. Graham Greene liked to compare H. E. Bates with Chekhov, greatest of short story writers, thinking Bates the best writer of short stories of his generation and time. This new collection, selected by Bates’ grandson, shows why.

Love in a Wych Elm and Other Stories

First published under the pseudonym of Flying Officer X, H.E. Bates’ heroic stories of the exploits of British pilots during WWII created a sensation when they appeared in 1942.

The Complete Stories of Flying Officer 'X'

How Sleep the Brave

The arrival of a French guest heralds christenings and chaos for the Larkin clan in this comic classic by the author of The Darling Buds of May. When Mademoiselle Dupont, the hotel manager from the Larkins’ frightful French holiday, announces she is coming over to be Oscar’s godmother at his christening, Pop and Ma reveal none of their children are baptized. Mariette and Charley are already planning to christen their little Blenheim, but now all seven Larkin children will be joining him. Not that Pop and Ma would turn down a reason to partake of some champagne or Dragon’s Blood . . . But their plan is far from blessed. The second eldest Larkin, Primrose, is infatuated with the handsome young vicar, who already has his hands full dealing with the hell-raising Larkin twins. Of course, that is only the beginning of the Larkins’ troubles, and it will take more than holy water to get them out of this mess. Praise for the Pop Larkin Chronicles “Pop Larkin, Ma and their progeny . . . are essentially English of the rich and ribald England of Chaucer and Shakespeare. A superb and timeless comedy.” —The Scotsman “Like Wodehouse’s Jeeves, Bates’ Larkins must continue in their own delightful milieu—in this case the Kentish countryside.” —The New York Times

Oh! To Be in England

“The” Darling Buds of May

In war-torn Burma, 1943, an RAF plane is forced to crash-land. On board are three men: Carrington, the young navigator: Blore, a flabby and frigntened officer: and Forrester, a pilot embittered by his young wife's death in the Blitz. Miles from anywhere in the heat of the Burmese wilderness, their only hope is to walk towards the sound of the distant guns.

Purple Plain

C. F. Tunnicliffe

A beautifully written and wonderfully evocative volume offering descriptive imagery of rural England; the countryside and its people.

In the Heart of the Country

Thirty years after The Darling Buds of May became one of the most popular comedy-dramas in ITV history, H.E. Bates's novel is back in a brand new adaptation starring Bradley Walsh and Joanna Scanlan 'The warmth and affection that H. E. Bates has generated through his books is so uplifting' Bradley Walsh ________ 'Home looks nice. Allus does though, don't it? Perfick' One pleasant May evening, Pop and Ma Larkin and their six children - sated on fish, chips and ice cream - return to the rustic charms of their Kent farm. Waiting for them is a young man: Mr Cedric Charlton, an upstanding inspector of taxes, come to discover why they haven't paid any. Yet as junk-dealer Pop patiently explains: nothing's ever that simple at the Larkins'. Mariette takes a shine to 'Charley' - as Pop calls him - and before long the family have introduced the uncomplaining inspector to the delights of country living: the lusty scents of wild flowers, the pleasures of a bottle of Dragon's Blood, cold cream dribbled over a bowl of strawberries and the sweet song of nightingales. Will Cedric come to his senses? Or will he beat a hasty retreat to the office? ________ 'A pulsing comedy of country manners. A five-alarm blaze of a book. Just about perfick' TIME 'A gently, anarchic wish-fulfilling daydream' THE TIMES 'What better comfort could there be from all we have endured this year than the rolling laughter and outsize hugs of Ma and Pop? It's going to be an honour to help bring The Larkins to the nation's devices!' Joanna Scanlan on her casting as Ma

Inspiration for the new ITV drama The Larkins starring Bradley Walsh

The Darling Buds of May

This is a new release of the original 1944 edition.

H. E. Bates

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