Wednesday 23 April 2014

Scott, Mary "A Change from Mutton"

Scott, Mary "A Change from Mutton" - 1964 

I'm still rereading Mary Scott's stories about Susan and Larry, the farmer wives from New Zealand. This is book number four from the series of eight.

In this story, Susan welcomes an older daughter or a younger sister, her niece is coming to stay with them and brings a lot of turmoil to the back blocks. Also, a supermarket opens and the friends are worried that the little shop around the corner will suffer. But it wouldn't be a Mary Scott story if everything wouldn't find a happy ending in the end.

As all her stories, this one is also both funny as well as nice. A read to make you feel good.

This is the fourth book in the series. And this is the list of all of them:
"Breakfast at Six" - 1953
"Dinner Doesn’t Matter" - 1957
"Tea and Biscuits" - 1961
"A Change from Mutton" - 1964
"Turkey at Twelve" - 1968
"Shepherd’s Pie" - 1972
"Strangers for Tea" - 1975
"Board, but no Breakfast" - 1978

Unfortunately, they are out of print and only available second hand. I have heard in the meantime, that you can buy some of them as ebooks, i.a. "A Change from Mutton"

From the back cover: 
 
"A new supermarket opens up in opposition to Miss Adam's general store where the farmers' wives have always shopped. Susan and Larry, and their husbands, Paul & Sam, know and love Miss Adams but still they cannot help by be tempted by the supermarket's array of frozen beef and sausages on busy days, and by its sponge cakes on days when 'Ladies a Plate' is the accepted social form. But do they give in to this temptation ......"

2 comments:

  1. Believe it or not, I've never heard of these books even though they're set in NZ. Will have to get one out from the library! Cheers from CArole's Chatter

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  2. Oh, I believe you, Carole, I don't know many New Zealanders but I have yet to meet someone who says "Mary Scott, I have read all her books!" or at least acknowledge they yeard of her. In her biographie "Days that have been" she explains that a German publisher was interested in her works and that she was so surprised that people on the other side of the world loved her books. I know a lot of Germans who used to read her, including me.

    I hope you will find some of her books. If it is one of her series, start with the first one, any of her others, it doesn't really matter where you begin. I have included a list about her books in my post about Mary Scott writes about New Zeland

    Have a good weekend,
    Marianne

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