Fresh, lyrical and full of enchantment, the nature writing of H. E. Bates is alive with the joys of his beloved English countryside, from his hometown in Northamptonshire to the orchards of Kent. Bringing together a rich variety of the essays he wrote over half a century from 1924 to 1973, Why I Live in the Country is an invitation to slow down, breathe in and look to the land for the wonders we might find there.
From the first inklings of spring to the deep silence of midwinter, these essays move through the seasons of English rural life in a collection that celebrates the beauty in every hedgerow, field and tree.
'He was without an equal in England within the kind of story he had made his own and stood in the direct line of succession of . . . George Eliot, Hardy and D. H. Lawrence' The Times
'[He had] the gift of putting the English countryside down on paper' Guardian
