Beneath A Darkening Shadow: The Yorkshire Farm Girl By Diane Allen

The Yorkshire Farm Girl is one of those novels in a genre which has emerged over the years; I have reviewed others previously and there is a growing collection. They are realist, homely family sagas, often with moral undertones about actions having consequences. They usually offer a message about the importance of family and friendship, especially in the face of adversity, and the need to stick together when things get tough. They explore the need for resilience against a backdrop of war, economic depression or social unfairness. It is a formula which works well.

Jenny Holmes is one author whose Ballroom Girls I previously reviewed; Annie Murray’s series centering around The Chocolate Girls in Birmingham is another, as is Elaine Everest who wrote a series of books about The Woolworths Girls. Mary Wood joins the list with, among others, The Jam Factory series. All laudable, all easy to read, reflecting particularly on the lives of women at times when they were meant to know their place and men usually took centre stage. They give us a flavour of bygone years when things may have been simpler in many ways but were certainly not easier. Documents of social history which are accessible to all, they share familiar traits yet all offer something just a little bit different.

Diane Allen is another such author and she bases her books in the wilds of the Yorkshire Dales, reminding us that country folk struggled with the harshness of the everyday as well as the impact of world politics. There is added poignancy because we know how history played out and that the six years following the end of the novel will be all the harder.

Even the postman enjoys a cup of tea at the farmhouse table as he makes his rounds and shares snippets of local gossip

Beginning in 1938 and ending with the outbreak of World War Two, The Yorkshire Farm Girl follows the lives of the Fothergills on their farm on the fells above the village of Dent. Bob Fothergill wants to own his own farm and the odd beer notwithstanding, saves every penny he can, with a view to one day securing his dream. Ivy is his long-suffering wife who, at times, regrets following her young heart when she married the handsome Bob, ignoring her mother’s advice to look for someone who could offer her a bit more comfort. Bob is not the romantic sort and she is, now and then, wistful for what might have been. Sally, their teenage daughter, loves farm life and wants to help her father who finds it hard to hide his disappointment that it is his daughter and not his son who is so keen to follow in his footsteps. At fifteen, Sally is a butterfly emerging and at her first New Year’s ball (well, the dance in the local village hall) meets Edward Riley, a decent reliable young man who contrasts sharply with Jonathan Birbeck, the local lothario who proves to be a disappointment in just about every respect. Sally’s friend, the rather more flighty, Marjorie, is not the only one to learn a tough lesson from Jonathan and the reader is reminded about the harshness of the moral code at the time.

Ivy’s life is hard too, eking out meals from a scrag end of lamb and the bacon from the piglet they rear...

There are all sorts of cameos flavouring this novel: the oily John Blades who realises when it’s time to move on and wreak havoc in distant parts; Annie Mackreth, the kindly old soul who provides an insight into the older generation; Edward Riley, decent, bashful and ultimately, one of ‘our brave lads’; Uncle Stanley who comes every Christmas, and who has an especially soft spot for Ivy, a loyalty to his brother and injuries from the Great War which serve to remind that there is more heartache and pain on the horizon, as another war looms. Even the postman enjoys a cup of tea at the farmhouse table as he makes his rounds and shares snippets of local gossip.

The novel is simply written and the plot is easy to follow. The characters are developed enough to allow the reader to get to know them, form an opinion and have some sympathy. The tough agricultural life is described in some detail and you cannot but feel for the farmers who have to go out in all weathers to merely scratch a living. Ivy’s life is hard too, eking out meals from a scrag end of lamb and the bacon from the piglet they rear and butcher each year, yet she finds her moments of contentment and savours them, as she reflects, from time to time, on what she has got rather than what she hasn’t. Christmas may not be lavish but it can still be fun and filled with family. Sometimes, compromise and understanding edge their way in and life is not quite so bleak as it may appear. Tough love is just that.

If this, like the others, sounds like your cup of tea, settle down with a biscuit and enjoy.

The Yorkshire Farm Girl is published by Pan