Ring of Bells

I mentioned on a previous posting about my" favorite books" or books that mean something to me.

So here is number two.

The Ring of Bells by Barbara Whitnell. published 1983

This book is a non fiction and is just a saga about a pub/inn in Oxfordshire UK and the young girl who goes to live there and about her life . It is just escapism and a gentle read. Ring of Bells was a common name for a inn in UK in 1800's.

" In 1871 Jenny Fitzgerald arrives as a child at The Ring of Bells, it was a simple country inn. Seventy years and three generations later the Inn has become the flagship of a thriving business. This is the story of Jenny's life and her livelihood, her marriage toRoger Leyton and her role as a business woman, mother and grandmother, the First World War and the Depression and, above all, the mainstay of her existance."

This book means so much to me, for when we were living in France in 1984 I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, at the time thinking straight was not on the cards and reading was a way of dealing with things, I had already purchased and read this book and decided to read it over again while in the Clinic.

It was also read by Eric while he waited at the clinic during the operation, as it was the only English reading matter available.

A few years later we actually named our Canal Barge after the book but that is another story.