A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr was published in 1980 and was shortlisted for the Booker prize, and I can see why, it’s a good read with some really lovely writing. It’s also a very quick read, just a novella really.

It’s 1920, a searing hot summer and Tom Birkin has been given the job of removing centuries of layers of whitewash from a wall in a 12th century church in Oxgodby, a small village in Yorkshire. The whitewash is covering a medieval mural. It’s something he’s well qualified to do as he learned the technique when he was at art college.

He had a particularly rough time during World War 1 as a radio operator, stuck out in no-man’s land on his own, and he ended up with shell shock which is still hanging on in the shape of a facial tic. Will the village environment help his nerves heal?

While Tom is spending his time up scaffolding in the church there’s another wartime survivor called Moon camping in a field outside. He’s an archeologist and has been given the job of searching for the grave of an ancient knight. They recognise that they’ve shared many of the same experiences, they’re both badly damaged but the villagers are a friendly lot and Tom becomes an important part of the community albeit temporarily. It’s an experience that he’s looking back on fondly in his old age.

In 1987 this book was made into a film starring Colin Firth and Kenneth Branagh. Have any of you seen it?

J.L. Carr died in 1994 you can read his obituary here.