All Creatures Great and Small
Oh dear heavens, a cow is having a difficult birth! A cat's sick! The local lord's thorough bred has skinned its knee! To live in a world where these are your most worrisome worries is to live in the world of James Herriot, the pen name of the real-life mid-20th century country vet of the Yorkshire Dales in northern England. Loosely based on his experiences, these delightful tales ("drama cozies" I call them) take place in an idyllic setting: The Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors...
Muker in Swaledale
Addingham, west of Harrogate
The Cleveland Way near Wainstones
The story begins with Herriot, a newly graduated vet, arriving at the home and veterinarian practice of Siegfried Farnon and his aloof, fun-loving brother Tristan, two eccentric fellows who provide a good deal of comic relief.
It's the 1930s and, although war is on the horizon, this first book in the series focuses on the not-so-tumultuous time prior, when the worst that could happen is that a farmer's flock of sheep contracts a contagious disease. Certainly a serious problem for the farmer, but in general the tension for these anecdotal stories, all cobbled together into one loose narrative, is on the light side...unless you're an animal lover, in which case you will feel your heart ripped out and replenished again and again.
Recent ads here on Goodreads for this book (must've been re-released?) have caused me to reflect again upon these books, and the tv version based on them, which I've enjoyed so very much over the years. I've come to realize that although the stars of the show are the vets and their animal patients, if you look deeper into this seeming bit of fluff, you'll find it's the Yorkshire folk who are the soul that truly breathes life into Herriot's writing. The people's connection to the land and their utter reliance upon their animals continual bonds the reader to the All Creatures... books.
These stories will satisfy lovers of animals, animal husbandry, pre-WWII veterinarian practice (an industry in flux at the time), the English countryside and Yorkshire life specifically, as well as those looking for a light taste of pastoral humor. I liken reading Herriot to watching painter Bob "Happy Little Trees" Ross in action. It's soothing stuff.
PS: I enjoyed looking through pics of the Dales and Moors for this review so much that I'm going to add more. Let's call this the...
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Upper Swaledale
23 Kirkgate, Thirsk (Home and practice of James Herriot)
Middleham Castle, home of King Richard III
Goatland Railroad Station (used in the first Harry Potter movie)
Whitby Abbey overlooking the bay (Dracula's temporary abode)