{"product_id":"2026200016049-secondhand-when-the-green-woods-laugh","title":"When The Green Woods Laugh","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good\u003cbr\u003eMarkings: Fair - Rubbed edges and bumping on spine and corners\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFew writers captured the rhythms of English rural life with the warmth and comic precision of H. E. Bates, and When the Green Woods Laugh stands as one of his most beloved achievements. This delightful novel reunites readers with the irrepressible Larkin family — the larger-than-life Pop Larkin, his cheerful wife Ma, and their brood of exuberant children — as they barrel through the English countryside with infectious good humour, an appetite for life's pleasures, and a magnificent disregard for convention. At the heart of the story is a sparkling summer that brings new characters, fresh comedic complications, and the kind of sun-drenched pastoral bliss that Bates rendered like no other.\n\nBates, celebrated for his masterly short stories and his ability to distil the essence of the English character, here channels his gifts into a comic novel of rare warmth and vitality. The Larkin chronicles — of which this is a central instalment — argue persuasively that joy, generosity, and an uncomplicated love of life are virtues in their own right, however much polite society may disagree. Written with a light, deft touch and an eye for the absurd, the novel illustrates Bates's enduring genius for making the ordinary shimmer with possibility. For anyone who has yet to meet the Larkins, this is a gloriously inviting place to begin.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49342780997851,"sku":"2026200016049-SECONDHAND","price":12.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/2b430e42-837f-4880-88b0-bbed1364a638.png?v=1790049448","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200016049-secondhand-when-the-green-woods-laugh","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}