The real life identity of the Rosie immortalised in the book’s title has always been an intrigue. Under the surface of countryside idyll, the dark, hard-edged undercurrents of the book continue to have a popular appeal. The book had a long gestation period, and a difficult composition process, but eventually became the break-out hit of Lee’s literary career. Nevertheless, these intoxicating and poetic descriptions of youth capture the essence of a life lived one hundred years ago, an aspect of the book which has made readers treasure it in the generations since. Family friends and local historians will testify that Lee was not always strictly faithful to the literal truth in the book, blending fact with fiction in his wistful elegy to a disappeared rural world. a marvellous morning freshness.Explore Cider with Rosie with an exclusive video and activities.Ĭider with Rosie, Laurie Lee’s memoir of growing up after the First World War, is set in the tiny Cotswold village of Slad. 'Remains as fresh and full of joy and gratitude for youth and its sensations as when it first appeared. ''An enchanting book, an exquisite farewell, not only to childhood, and boyhood,īut also to an England that has vanished.' 'One of the great writers of the twentieth century.' Cider with Rosie became an instant bestseller when it was published in 1959, selling over six million copies in the UK alone, and continues to be read all over the world. The sophisticated adult author's retrospective commentary on events is endearingly juxtaposed with that of the innocent, spotty youth, permanently prone to tears and self-absorption.

She looked smooth and precious, a thing of unplumbable mysteries, and perilous as quicksand. I did not know what to do about her, nor did I know what not to do. She was yellow and dusty with buttercups and seemed to be purring in the gloom her hair was rich as a wild bee's nest and her eyes were full of stings. The center of his world, that is, until he meets someone very special. Abandoned by her husband, Laurie's adoring mother becomes the center of his world as she struggles to raise a family on her own. Cider with Rosie is the classic memoir of growing up in a remote Gloucestershire village, a world that Laurie Lee makes tangibly real even as it's now in a distant past.

The wonderfully charming and poignant memoir of youth in a rural English village-and a fatherless family-set against the backdrop of the Great War.

Author of cider with rosie