I didn't find this a comfortable read. Whereas some books make you feel as though you are sitting in front of a warm fire all wrapped up in a blanket, this is more like sitting in a cold outbuilding where you can never gather in any warmth. The review from The Times on the front states: ' This book demands to be savoured ' but right from the start I wasn't sure if I even wanted to read it. It's set in the 1930s when many areas were plunged into poverty due to pit closures and the world-wide depression, and the British Government was setting up schemes to try and kick-start the economy and give people from deprived areas some form of employment. One of the schemes was set up by the Land Settlement Association that bought up farmland across Britain and then trained specially selected families how to work the land and make a profit. The book tells the story of Lettie and Tommy who have come down from the north to take up a tiny piece of land in Essex. They mo...