Out Of The Valley: Another Year At Wormingford

Out of the Valley is a rural journal kept by Ronald Blythe during the last three years of the twentieth century. Following the old triple calendar of rural life - the church year, the farming year and his own personal year - it follows on from his now celebrated Word from Wormingford. But here, a village record moves further into the personal life of a writer who is a 'working' part of the small community to which he has belonged for so many years. From this dual perspective of intimacy and distance, a lyrical interpretation of the English countryside in our time is revealed. Out of the Valley reveals his understanding of what happens in small communities which, in spite of sharing today's leisure pursuits and developments, still manage to contain within them the strengths and weaknesses which have held them together over the generations. The observations are sharp, the writing eloquent and memorable, confirming Blythe's reputation as a unique village voice.