Pastoral Books for Spring

Pastoral Books for Spring. March 1, 2025. Fresh air flows from an door opening out back reviving the soul with fresh new life. It is invigorating to breathe in the land, water, and sunshine so deeply after a season tucked in our homes. The world is reborn and new. There is magic in exchange of new breath from the resurrecting plants. The slowly warming soil lets them know they need to wake and green tendrils slowly emerge from the ground and greet the world. They will live a whole life in a few short months before they are gone again. The dance is the same, but it is never tiring to watch from season to season.

The mood inspires choosing the right books for Spring. So, I have selected some that are quite appropriate for those who love to observe God’s beautiful world around and ponder it. These pretty narratives of English pastoral landscapes inspire the minds of many and show that beauty chasers have always existed and will continue to. These books were written at a time when the Industrial Age was rapidly changing the world and are a testimony to days gone by. Many can relate to the nostalgic hankering on some level as the age of technology continues to rush on at a mad pace. Some quiet corner of the mind likes to look back and reflect on more peaceful things.

These books have lovely pictures and sketches which made them well-worth purchasing in my opinion. One of my favorite places to get used books is at Thrift Books. Their prices are wonderful, and they have a free book program for buying a certain number of books! But if you want to look first before buying links are provided below for reading them for free.

Pastoral Books for Spring

Lark Rise to Candleford Trilogy by Flora Thompson. Flora Thompson gives us a beautifully descriptive look at hamlet life in the late 19th century English countryside through the eyes of a girl named Laura. Laura is representative of Flora herself in the daily interactions with other people as well as her eventual move to Candleford when she receives an opportunity to work in the post office. The trilogy is made up of small daily occurrences and descriptions of various life moments for the lower class. It’s not quite a story and not quite a social history, but not quite a memoir either. It is something of a hybrid of the three. This is a gentle classic of a different time as it was disappearing before their eyes. Free to read here.

Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. This book is exactly what is says it is: the diary of an Edwardian Lady of the countryside. Pastoral anglophiles and naturalists will enjoy this replica book with its descriptions and sketches of flora and fauna in the English countryside. Free to read with free account here.

Our Village by Mary Russell Mitford. This lovely classic is well worth reading again and again as well as being a pretty book to own. If you enjoyed descriptive writing with no central plot along with English cottages and gardens, then this will suit you. Mary takes us on a journey through her village taking care to describe the pretty scenery along the way such as the flower-filled gardens and the cottage homes. We get to meet the villagers such as the quirky physic and his outrageous herbal cures. The books reads a bit like Larkrise to Candleford with its style and content and you can read this lovely illustrated version for free here.

Still Glides the Stream by Flora Thompson. Flora Thompson delivers another work similar to Lark Rise but with a fictional character this time. Charity Finch is a former teacher who returns to her village in the years following WW 2 in this nostalgic narrative of villages days past. Free to read here.

Have a beautiful day!