NOW A BRITISH DRAMA FILM AND A MAJOR BBC TELEVISION ADAPTATION.
A preface by Shirley Williams, an introduction by Marion Shaw and an epitaph by Vera Brittain.
‘Rich in humour and worldly insight’ INDEPENDENT
‘The novel undoubtedly remains a fascinating depiction of a time and place’ GUARDIAN
‘Holtby’s personal masterpiece . . . I can’t say enough good things about this book’ SARAH WATERS
When Sarah Burton returns to her hometown as headmistress she is full of ambition, determined to create a great school and to inspire her girls to take all they can from life. But in the aftermath of the First World War, the country is in depression and ideals are hard won. Lydia Holly, the scholarship girl from the shacks, is the most brilliant student Sarah has ever taught, but when her mother’s health fails, her education must be sacrificed.
Robert Carne of Maythorpe Hall stands for everything Sarah despises: his family has farmed the South Riding for generations, their position uncontested. Yet Sarah cannot help being drawn to this proud, haunted – and almost ruined – man.
South Riding is a rich, panoramic novel, bringing vividly to life a rural community on the brink of change.
A preface by Shirley Williams, an introduction by Marion Shaw and an epitaph by Vera Brittain.
‘Rich in humour and worldly insight’ INDEPENDENT
‘The novel undoubtedly remains a fascinating depiction of a time and place’ GUARDIAN
‘Holtby’s personal masterpiece . . . I can’t say enough good things about this book’ SARAH WATERS
When Sarah Burton returns to her hometown as headmistress she is full of ambition, determined to create a great school and to inspire her girls to take all they can from life. But in the aftermath of the First World War, the country is in depression and ideals are hard won. Lydia Holly, the scholarship girl from the shacks, is the most brilliant student Sarah has ever taught, but when her mother’s health fails, her education must be sacrificed.
Robert Carne of Maythorpe Hall stands for everything Sarah despises: his family has farmed the South Riding for generations, their position uncontested. Yet Sarah cannot help being drawn to this proud, haunted – and almost ruined – man.
South Riding is a rich, panoramic novel, bringing vividly to life a rural community on the brink of change.
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Reviews
While the novel undoubtedly remains a fascinating depiction of a time and place, it is more than that. In its portrait of the workings of a community, in its celebration of social spirit, and in Burton's final urging of her girls to serve yet also to challenge and question and strive, it feels both timely and necessary
Holtby's personal masterpiece: a novel that works beautifully on all sorts of levels, capturing the life of a whole community even as it offers us the passions, frustrations and tragedies of individual lives . . . I can't say enough good things about this book
One of my favourite novels: a life-enhancing, twentieth-century masterpiece
The chief interest of the book . . . lies in the panoramic view of the community, with individuals coming out in sharp relief, dramatic and humorous and tragic
A triumph of personality, a testament of its author's undaunted philosophy
Rich in humour and worldly insight . . . this panoramic story of local politics stands as testament not only to Holtby's strong belief in public service
