Rating: 
Summary: A Bed and Breakfast Delight
Review: This is a delightful book -- an offbeat story line, illuminated by beautiful writing, excellent characterizations, and an intriguing denouement. A World War I vet travels to a small English village in the 1920's to restore an old painting on a church ceiling. You might think there wasn't much of a story here, but the interweaving of a half dozen lives, and the lives of more than few dear departed, frame the several months of intricate and skilled restoration of the painting contrasted with a kindred soul conducting a search for a particular grave. These concurrent activities lead to the eventual unravelling of who those mysterious faces in the painting are and how they relate to who is buried in the church yard. Carr very deftly creates a picture of his characters and their quirks - the painter's facial tic, a souvenir of being an infantry runner in no man's land (enough to give anyone a tic!)-is described in a manner such that you can practically see his eye twitch. And the inner thoughts, urges, and dreams of the preacher's wife, locked in what would, to most people, seem a hopeless, dreary marriage are opened to our view. But the crowning glory of the book is just its sparkling, gorgeous prose throughout. I found this book at a bed and breakfast. I had finished only about a third of it by the time we left, so I immediately tracked down a copy (it's part of the New York Times Classic series). It includes a fascinating narrative by a contemporary British writer who vied with Carr for a writing prize (and won!), and a short history of Carr's career, outlining an enterprising talent who did many things other than write.
Rating:
Summary: Realistic, low-key, authentic, moving
Review: This is a gem - a quiet and realistic recounting of a summer spent uncovering a mural and a life. This is a novel in which nothing extraordinary happens, but full lifes interact moving people closer (or father) from themselves, friendships, loves and human understanding. The narrator is a disfigured veteran of World War I. His wife has left him; his employer retired making this his first job as a self-employed professional. His life is contrasted with that of another veteran hired to find an ancient grave. The friendship of the veterans is the first step in reconnecting to the world. Along the way, a vicar and his wife, the family of the stationmaster, an organist, a dying girl all make their way into and effect the narrator's life. The author's writing style fits perfectly with the story, creating a literary gem worthy of your attention.
Rating:
Summary: Realistic, low-key, authentic, moving
Review: This is a gem - a quiet and realistic recounting of a summer spent uncovering a mural and a life. This is a novel in which nothing extraordinary happens, but full lifes interact moving people closer (or father) from themselves, friendships, loves and human understanding. The narrator is a disfigured veteran of World War I. His wife has left him; his employer retired making this his first job as a self-employed professional. His life is contrasted with that of another veteran hired to find an ancient grave. The friendship of the veterans is the first step in reconnecting to the world. Along the way, a vicar and his wife, the family of the stationmaster, an organist, a dying girl all make their way into and effect the narrator's life. The author's writing style fits perfectly with the story, creating a literary gem worthy of your attention.
Rating: 
Summary: A somewhat peculiar book
Review: This is a very well written, if peculiar little book. I did not find it so engrossing as some of your other reviewers, nor so fulfilling.
Rating:
Summary: Just read it
Review: This is the only book that I have ever owned which I wore out reading it. I am now on my second edition and each year I read it and I never lose the feeling of that summmer in the English countryside.
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece
Review: This wonderful book proves that a great book can be short. I have read the book many times, often in an afternoon, and I'm always completely taken into Carr's world. Birkin's uncovering of the mural and his own heart never fails to move me, and the love story is something exquisite and unique. I am very excited that it has been re-issued and hope that many more readers will discover it in future.
Rating:
Summary: Five Stars Plus
Review: You wont read a better piece of fiction in as slim a volume as this one. JL Carr captures and enthralls the reader from the minute Tom Birkin steps off the train until he leaves Oxgodby. I have read most of the NYR Classics like A High Wind in Jamica and Hindoo Holiday, but this work is unique. A wonderful read!
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