Miss Buncle's Book

My Disclaimer:I purchased a copy of this book at the current price. I am voluntarily providing an honest review in which all opinions are fully my own. I am not being compensated in any way.~ Judi E. Easley for Blue Cat Review What it's about...Miss Barbara Buncle is a spinster living with her once-nanny-then maid, now maid-housekeeper-cook Dorcas in Silverstream. Finances are a bit slim and even though most of her village neighbors consider her a woman of rather slim intelligence, Miss Buncle comes up with a creative way of making some money to help out the budget. It's a secret. Dorcas is sworn to keep it, but she has to know about it because she's the provider of strong coffee for Miss Buncle. You see, Miss Buncle is writing a book and she does her writing at night. She doesn't have a lot of imagination, so she writes what she knows. More to the point, she writes who she knows. And therein lies the trouble. When Miss Buncle's book is accepted and printed, the village of Silverstream is in an uproar over who this "John Smith" could be who knows them all so well... Technical Tidbits...The cover is an absolute stunner. This is why I bought the book in the first place! I saw that cover and loved the style, the colors, the artwork. The whole thing appealed to me and drew me in immediately. The storyline is wonderful and absolutely original as far as I know. I've never read one quite like it. I'm sure there are about a dozen of you who can name a book with this same storyline right now, but I've never run into one before. The characters are the book. D. E. Stevenson wrote this book about Miss Buncle writing a book about her fellow villagers, so it's all about its characters. Each character is introduced and then we learn more and more about them from their fellow villagers and from their own actions and statements. It's incredible! The pace is variable and right on the ball. There are times when you feel like you're just strolling through the village and then there are times you feel you have just run the length of the village twice without stopping. But then there are times to take tea and sit and listen to the gossip - that's called doing research for the next book. And there are times to get the packers here and gone and the sign on the fence - that's called leaving town before the hanging committee comes calling. The tension is unstoppable once it starts to build. At first, it's just a spinster fussing over her finances. But once the book hits the shelves, it's a whole lot more than fussing. And this is where you STOP if you don't want to see any SPOILERS... The good, the bad, and the ugly...and how much it lit up my life... ✰✰✰✰✰ May I please give this book more stars? I want to decorate it all over with stars! I immediately bought the next book to read. I wish it wasn't coming on to Christmas so I could read it right away! I may have to squeeze it in on a weekend when it's quiet and I can find some extra reading time. I'm really hoping the whole series is like this. Written back in the early 30s, I didn't expect this at all. But why? Did I expect poor quality writing? I certainly shouldn't have. If anything, I probably should have expected a higher standard. And that's what is in this book. The writing is lovely! No missed words or extra words or incorrect usage. The style is solid and so well-done, it's a real pleasure to read. I read everything in e-book these days, I'm sure you've heard me remark. But this one makes me want to have it in hardcover.This was a really fun read because of the word association Miss Buncle used to change names when she wrote her book. But the poor dear was always worried that she would be found out or wanting to confess or take credit. And when those idiot villagers under Mrs. Featherstone-Hogg actually kidnapped the twins and held them for the ransom of Sarah's signature because they had decided she had written the book, she was ready to shout it from the pulpit in the church! Poor Sarah and poor Barbara. But Barbara couldn't even make Sarah believe her at that point. People really didn't give her enough credit. Even her only real friend, Sarah.Some of the villagers were absolute horrors. Like that Vivian Greensleeves. She dumped Henry Carter because she decided the new vicar wore expensive clothing and must be well off. So she starts working on him to bring him to heel. In the meantime, unbeknownst to anyone but Mr. Hathaway's (new vicar) uncle, the new vicar has turned over all his wealth and earthly goods to his Uncle Mike for the term of one year to see if he can live on the minute stipend he will be earning in Silverstream. He is, in essence, poor for one year. When Vivian finds out he's poor, she dumps him. Lucky for him that Sally has recently started taking lessons from him. They find they have so much in common that they are curious about. They choose the topics and Mr. Hathaway gets them books to study from. And towards the end, there is a faint sound of wedding bells in the background. Lucky Sally! She's such a smart and sensible girl. Barbara was quite fond of her.Some of Miss Buncle's word association that I so liked and that was probably what made people start paying attention...Silverstream became Copperfield ... Mrs. Featherstone-Hogg became Mrs. Horsley Downs ... Mrs. Carter into Mrs. Farmer ... Dr. Walker into Dr. Rider... Colonel Weatherhead became Major Waterfoot ... Dorothea Bold was Mrs. Mildmay ... Mr. Fortnum was Mr. Mason ... Miss King was Miss Earle and Miss Pretty became Miss Darling. Perhaps had Barbara used a bit more imagination her neighbors might not have realized the people's names had been changed. They may not have gone looking any further. But the names are so obvious for some of them that when you add characteristics and quirks that are just like them, people are bound to notice.Well, when the hanging committee came knocking on the door, Miss Buncle was nowhere to be found and her house was on the market. No one had any idea who the Mrs. Abbott was who was handling the sale for her.Highly Recommended

Miss Buncle has lost her investments like many of her British countrymen in the rough financial times of circa 1934. She is overdrawn at the bank, forced to wear old shabby dull clothes that make her look mousy and boring. She has no marketable skills but desperately needs a source of income to pay the bills. Her maid/housekeeper/cook, Dorcas, is pinching pennies in every way but the situation is getting bad. What can she do?She decides the only solution would be to write a book, but the problem is she has no imagination. She can't just think up anything to write about so she must write about what she knows. And the only thing she knows about is life in her little town. So she writes about the common lives of the people she has known all her life and disguises the characters by giving them different names, but not always THAT different. She uses the pen name of John Smith--after all, she is a very simple person and can only think of a simple name. She submits the book to the first publisher listed in the London phone book and he loves the book. It is such a simple book it was either written by an idiot or a satirical genius.Unfortunately for Miss Buncle not everyone in her little town enjoys her little book. Especially those who recognize themselves and are not pleased with the "wicked lies" Mr. John Smith has written about them. Of course, the things they read are not lies at all, it is only the truth that they don't want to see in themselves. They band together to sue Mr. Smith for liable, or have him buggy whipped, or run out of town, or something that will punish him for these lies. And they invite Miss Buncle to their planning teas because she is in the book too.The book has an astonishing effect on the people of the town as well on Miss Buncle herself. Who knew the truth could lead to so many problems and terrific solutions.***Spoiler Ahead***I was enjoying the book tremendously (it makes one's brain think in terms like that) so I checked to see if the author had written any other books. The author had such a clear grasp on the life and style of the 1930's rural England I thought she must have done a lot of research to get everything so right. It was a bit of a let-down to find it had been written in the 1930's and was being republished. Duh! Well, even though my balloon popped it was still a great story. I enjoyed that it had no foul language, no perverted sex scenes, everyone was careful about their manners and speech--so refreshing. LOL Wouldn't it be nice to live in a world like that? And even people who had financial struggles had cooks, housemaids, gardeners--what a life.

This was a good, light hearted, easy to read book. Enjoyed the characters in the book and enjoyed the outcomes for the books characters.

Miss Buncle's finances are a mess. And she must find some way to make money. Making money by writing books isn't easy, but Buncle delivers a bestseller. The people of the village know they are being lampooned, but do not know the author is Buncle. I loved the book.

Though this was a pretty fun summer read. Like How you got to see everyone's perspective and found it cute how sometimes people will gossip about others and not realize who they are talking to might be who they are talking about. It was a pretty neat story and I enjoyed learning about the characters. what would happen to the people you know if they were wrote about. what would their reaction be and what things would you encourage them to do, would they run off and get married? find a new boyfriend? could have been written about yesterday not 50+ years ago.

Dies ist ein Buch einer zu ihrer Zeit (erste Hälfte des vorigen Jahrhunderts) sehr erfolgreichen Schriftstellerin, die über lange Jahre nicht mehr gedruckt wurde und deren Bücher nur zu saftigen Sammlerpreisen antiquarisch zu bekommen waren. Mit diesem Buch ist die Autorin, übrigens eine Großnichte des Stevenson, der die Schatzinsel geschrieben hat, offenbar wieder in das Bewusstsein der Leser gerückt worden, denn inzwischen gibt es wieder eine ganze Reihe von neu aufgelegten Büchern von D.E.Stevenson. Dies ist ein unbedingter Verdienst des Verlages.Ich hätte nie gedacht, dass mir das Buch gefallen würde und habe es nur gelesen, weil mein Mann davon so sehr angetan war. Es ist einfach entzückend.Eine junge Frau (oder auch ein spätes Mädchen) lebt zusammen mit ihrer früheren Nanny als Haushälterin beschaulich in einem englischen Dorf von Ihrem ererbten Geld. Als dieses auf Grund der Wirtschaftskrise wertlos wird, schreibt sie um Geld zu verdienen einen Roman. Tatsächlich schildert sie die Ereignisse und Einwohner ihres Dorfes und zwar so gut, dass alle ihr Dorf und ihre Nachbarn sofort erkennen, aber natürlich sich selbst nicht, denn so klar haben sie sich selbst noch nie gesehen. Der Roman wird ein Riesenerfolg und das Dorfgespräch. Die ebenso liebevolle, wie scharf beobachtende Darstellung der Einwohner und ihres Verhaltens ist ein absoluter Genuss, ganz besonders für anglophile Leser. Das Buch hat so viel Spaß gemacht, dass ich mich im Anschluss an die Lektüre noch eine ganze Weile leichter und beschwingter gefühlt habe. Ich kann dieses Buch nur empfehlen, insbesondere auch solchen Lesern, die wie ich zunächst skeptisch sind und glauben, das sei nichts für sie.

Miss Buncle, pour pallier a des difficultés financières, a l'idée d'écrire un livre. Manquant d'imagination, elle s'inspire de son village et de ses habitants, dressant d'eux des portraits sans concession. A sa grande surprise, le livre est publié - mais très vite les villageois s'indignent et s'interrogent sur l'identité de l'auteur.C'est un livre tout à fait charmant que ce 'Miss Buncle's Book'. Le ton est léger, un brin naïf, avec de subtiles touches d'humour. On ne rit pas, mais on sourit. L'excès de bons sentiments peut paraître démodé de nos jours, mais le livre n'en est pas moins divertissant, et le lecteur suit avec intérêt la vie bouleversée de ce village.

First published in 1934 this book has stood the test of time. Barbara Buncle has seen her income diminish to the extent that she can hardly survive without doing something drastic to increase her income or decrease her expenditure.Almost to take her mind off her situation she writes a book about the inhabitants of the fictional Copperfield. She sends it off to a publisher who immediately recognises a best seller when he sees one. Written under the pseudonym of John Smith the book sells like hot cakes - especially to her fellow residents of Silverstream - the inspiration for Copperfield.What happens when Barbara's friends and neighbours recognise themselves all too well and decide to try and find out who exactly the author is makes an amusing read. I found myself chuckling at the way people reacted to the book and the ways they tried to plot and plan to expose the author. The book is well written and the characters are marvellously well drawn.If you enjoy authors such as Barbara Pym, Elizabeth Taylor and Angela Thirkell then you will almost certainly enjoy D E Stevenson.