Emily Davis by ‘Miss Read’ was first published in 1971 and it’s the last in the Fairacre series by the author. There are eight novels in the series.

Dolly Clare and Emily Davis have been life-long friends since early school-days and after World War 1 when they both found themselves bereft of their fiances their friendship became even stronger. They had both become primary school teachers and had taught in and around the village of Caxley. On retirement Emily had moved into Dolly’s little thatched cottage, and there they had lived very happily for over twenty years until the very peaceful death of Emily.

The news of her death travelled fast, even to far-flung places and it’s evident that many of Emily’s ex-pupils had held her close in their memories. She had helped so many of them over the years and each chapter is the story of how Emily had influenced their futures and had even managed to browbeat a bullying father/husband.

This was a charming comfort read with a lot of rural social history thrown in.