A semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story set in the Cotswolds during and immediately after the First World War.

In 1918, with her husband working in the War office--and subsequently leaving the family--devoted mother Annie Lee takes her stepdaughters and her own children to live in the idyllic Gloucestershire countryside, the youngest being sickly Laurie, known as Loll. Here they witness two feuding matrons, Granny Trill and Granny Wallon, and shelter a young army deserter hiding in the woods until his capture. At school Loll and his classmates are terrorized by their formidable teacher Crabby until hulking Spadge Hopkins literally puts her in her place. Far more important to Loll's schooldays are the captivating Burdock sisters, Jo and Rosie, and as he grows into adolescence and beyond, eventually leaving home to seek his fortune, he samples the delights of cider with Rosie.—don @ minifie-1