She was wearing red shoes! With silver heels!
Elisabeth Devine causes quite a stir on her arrival in the village. No one can understand why the head of a big inner city school would want to come to sleepy little Barton-in-the-Dale, to a primary with more problems than school dinners.
And that’s not even counting the challenges the mysterious Elisabeth herself will face: a bitter former head teacher, a grumpy caretaker and a duplicitous chair of governors, to name but a few.
Then there’s the gossip. After all, a woman who would wear red shoes to an interview is obviously capable of anything . . .
Warm, funny and poignant, Gervase Phinn’s first novel for adults creates a fictional world that’s as real as can be. It will delight all his fans, and win him many more.
Elisabeth Devine causes quite a stir on her arrival in the village. No one can understand why the head of a big inner city school would want to come to sleepy little Barton-in-the-Dale, to a primary with more problems than school dinners.
And that’s not even counting the challenges the mysterious Elisabeth herself will face: a bitter former head teacher, a grumpy caretaker and a duplicitous chair of governors, to name but a few.
Then there’s the gossip. After all, a woman who would wear red shoes to an interview is obviously capable of anything . . .
Warm, funny and poignant, Gervase Phinn’s first novel for adults creates a fictional world that’s as real as can be. It will delight all his fans, and win him many more.
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Reviews
Praise for Out of the Woods but not Over the Hill:
A worthy successor to James Herriott, and every bit as endearing.
For those of us of a certain age, Out of the Woods but not Over the Hill is a wonderfully cheering title. When Gervase Phinn receives his peerage for services to good-heartedness, this will be the motto on his coat of arms: "Ex silvis sed non supra montem."... This entertaining and moving homework earns a good few merit marks. Gervase Phinn is not going downhill yet, by a long chalk on a blackboard
PRAISE FOR GERVASE PHINN:
A worthy successor to James Herriott, and every bit as endearing.
When Gervase Phinn receives his peerage for services to good-heartedness, this will be the motto on his coat of arms: "Ex silvis sed non supra montem." . . . This entertaining and moving homework earns a good few merit marks. Gervase Phinn is not going downhill yet, by a long chalk on a blackboard.
Good old-fashioned yarn-spinning
This heartwarming tale makes ideal holiday reading
As Yorkshire's favourite school inspector turns to fiction you can enjoy memorable characters and turns of phrase.
Written with all the humour and warmth one has come to expect from this master storyteller.
Packed with delightful and authentic characters, juicy gossip, precarious romance and good old-fashioned village drama, this is a warm-hearted and hilarious account of a struggling school in a small community
