For the month of September, the Salford Angels WI book club read The Darling Buds of May by H.E. Bates. Set in the 1950’s, this short story forms the first chapter of the adventures of the Larkin family, who live in their own little bubble of rural Kent. Mr Charlton, an unassuming (and very timid) tax inspector gets the surprise of his life when visiting Pa Larking to question his lack of tax payments and finds himself fully submerged in the country life.

Although our readers enjoyed the escapism of the story, they were disappointed as they didn’t feel that it had aged well and wasn’t the classic that they expected (although they felt that seeing the series had added to this as most had seen it and were unable to visualise the characters in any other way, but perhaps this is one of the perils of seeing a film or series before reading the book.) Many expected the book to be longer; not thinking that much happened, but this again was because the TV series was based on the whole series of books and not just the first.

Some found it easy to get into, while others found it hard. The characters were depicted as rich and not paying taxes and some readers found the cast of characters a bit annoying, particularly Mr Charlton who is put across as very ‘weedy.’ Some were disappointed that the family didn’t get their comeuppance (perhaps getting into trouble with the tax people.) Some even found the reprise of ‘Perfik’ annoying.

Despite this, it was found by all to be a light hearted read, full of escapism. It is definitely a ‘book to cheer’, especially in the descriptions of the meals. There was certainly no worries about cholesterol in the 1950’s when the novel was written and is set. Bates is a master of painting an image with words, he describes the countryside surrounding the family’s home, the calling of the birds and colours of the season in a way that it vivid and beautiful. His descriptions delight the senses, even if only in the imagination.

The Angels book club has awarded The Darling Buds of May with 7.5/10.