Miss Buncle's Book

D. E. Stevenson's crowning achievement, in my opinion, is Miss Buncle's Book. This charming story takes place in a small English village in the 1930s, when Barbara Buncle discovers that her income, like much of the world's financial resources, is disappearing. Desperately she tries to think of a way to boost her cash flow--raising chickens?--and finally decides to write a book. And, oh, the book she writes!

The characters are delightful, the story and setting picturesque, and the book-within-a-book a remarkable recurring decimal. If you can find Miss Buncle's Book--and it is difficult these days--and enjoy it, see if you can locate its sequels, Miss Buncle Married and The Two Mrs. Abbotts. Then you'll know how it ends.