'Teetotal!' Ma said. 'It's a libel. He'll never live it down. He'll never be able to hold his head up again. Whatever will people think? What's he going to say when anybody asks him to have one?'

'No,' said Dr Conner.

'You'll have to strap him down,' Ma said. 'You'll have to put the handcuffs on.'

And so after a mild heart-attack - caused by rather too much of what you fancy - Pop Larkin finds himself off the booze, off the good food and off the good life generally, much to his own and everyone's else's horror and upset.

And while Ma tries to find ways around 'doctor's orders', young Primrose is finding her own way round a rather flustered - not to say flushed - Mr Candy ...

About the Author
H. E. Bates was born in 1905 in Northamptonshire. He worked as a journalist and clerk on a local newspaper before publishing his first book, The Two Sisters, when he was twenty. In the next fifteen years he acquired a distinguished reputation for his stories about English country life. During the Second World War he was a Squadron Leader in the R.A.F. The Darling Buds of May (1958), the first of the popular Larkin family novels, was followed by A Breath of French Air (1959), When the Green Woods Laugh (1960), Oh! To Be in England (1963) and A Little of What You Fancy (1970). His works have been translated into sixteen languages. H. E. Bates was awarded the C.B.E. in 1973 and died in January 1974.

Reviews
They are absolute comfort books . . . all five titles are being rereleased just in time for summer * The Lady *
Pop is as sexy, genial, generous, and boozy as ever. Ma is a worthy match for him in all these qualities -- The * Times *
As funny as Evelyn Waugh and as enchanting as Laurie Lee's Cider with Rosie. Don't miss it -- - * Herald *
Pop Larkin, Ma and their progeny . . . are essentially English of the rich and ribald England of Chaucer and Shakespeare. A superb and timeless comedy -- - * Scotsman *
A wistful daydream about innocence and happiness -- - * Spectator *
The high mid-summer pomps of tree and flower are evoked with gusto -- - * The Times Literary Supplement *



Book Information
ISBN 9780141029658
Author H. E. Bates
Format Paperback
Page Count 192
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 138g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 12mm