Sir Humphrey of Batch Hall plus The Famous Cricket Match The Batch Magna Novels Book 2 edition by Peter Maughan Literature Fiction eBooks
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Sir Humphrey of Batch Hall
The Second Novel In The Batch Magna Series By Award-Winning Author Peter Maughan.
The story so far …
In 'The Cuckoos of Batch Magna', the old squire of Batch Magna died, and the life of distant relative Humphrey, an amiable, overweight short-order cook from the Bronx, turned into a movie. One in which he even got the girl - the right girl, in the end.
The road to that end was rocky and fraught, and half the time wasn't going at all in the direction he wanted to go – or thought he wanted to go. Until the end ...
And now, in Sir Humphrey of Batch Hall, they marry. They settle into Batch Hall and look to their the future – a future which threatens to be short lived.
Their finances at this early stage rests, shakily, on the estate’s shooting and fishing, stepping stones to that more secure future. And they come to have cause to hope that they will get there. Until the day a cold wind from the world beyond the hills of their valley visits Batch Magna in the shape of badger baiters discovered in Cutterbach Wood. They are routed, but their defeat entails such disaster that Humphrey and his new wife are driven to the wall, left with no way out but to sell the estate, to sell their future in that place.
And then Miss Wyndham, village spinster and amateur sleuth, rides to the rescue on the 49 bus …
Sir Humphrey of Batch Hall plus The Famous Cricket Match The Batch Magna Novels Book 2 edition by Peter Maughan Literature Fiction eBooks
This is the only Batch Magna book that I've read. It looked a bit silly, and unfortunately I was into another series, so I held off on this until the book in the series turned out really badly. I was sickened by the description of a sadistic serial killer and quit not quite halfway through the book—the purchase of this book was just a big mistake on my part, and I won't go any further in the series. But I couldn't get the book's horror out of my mind, and then found this book just waiting to cheer me up. It was just a perfectly delightful read about some really quirky and funny characters. Not that it is great literature, but it was just what I needed. For instance, there was a really funny chapter where Phinias is talking to Sara, the Estate Manager about how his plans to make some money by offering romantic punting cruises to tourists, went tremendously awry. The interchange was a riot of stern British politeness, as Sarah manages to get the details out of Phinias. However, this was followed by several boring chapters as the actual event is replayed. I wish an editor had left out the unnecessary verbiage, as the original chapter was so well done.Finally, several chapters ended the book by describing a cricket match. Since I'm not British (or Welsh) and had no idea what was going on, this too proved a bit boring. However, when Sir Humphrey was finally enjoined to play with the Batch Magna team, even a non-Cricket person such as myself understood the riotously funny developments.
So while this wasn't a book I want to continue with, it was just a perfect book for lifting me out of the doldrums. Very glad I had it!
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Sir Humphrey of Batch Hall plus The Famous Cricket Match The Batch Magna Novels Book 2 edition by Peter Maughan Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
Peter Maughan gives readers a special treat with SIR HUMPHREY OF BATCH HALL -- plus The Famous Cricket Match.
Where do you love to read? Wherever it is takes this book with you and indulge in pure pleasure.
Humphrey Strange (American) takes over his inheritance and marries Hon. Clementine Wroxley, but this doesn't mean that all pass into Never-Never-Land. The estate is broke, jobs are few, developers wait in the wings to seize the property, batters hunt for badgers, and the gang is all there to add their own oars to troubled waters.
There is a difference between cricket and baseball until Sir Humphrey goes to bat in THE FAMOUS CRICKET MATCH, just a little story to smile about and love.
Thanks, Peter looking forward to the next installment.
Nash Black, author of CARDS OF DEATH.
Reading this book was like sitting down for a nice long chat with an old friend. I loved reading the Welsh village descriptions; it felt like coming home. Sir Humphrey, fondly known as Humph, starts his married life with Clem and is settled into Batch Hall.
All is not peace and quiet though; there are some mysterious poisonings, a theft and some more money troubles. I couldn't put this book down because I wanted to know what happened.
All the old regulars are back, The Commander, Pliny (his wife), Phineas Cook, Miss Wyndham, etc. And of course, we can't forget the delightful Sir Humphrey.
Not only do you get a nice look into the continuing village life, but you also learn about cricket. I am fascinated by this game ever since I saw it on my English Detective Series shows (like Midsomer Murders).
As I started reading about the cricket match, I was thinking, "This is similar to the American baseball game." And, low and behold, Humph and Phin have this very same conversation!
I eagerly await the next installment of the Batch Magna crew!
Having read "The Cuckoos of Batch Magna" earlier this year, I thought the sequel would have a job coming up to the very high standard already set. Well, I was pleasantly surprised right from the start. Despite the time interval, it was like I had never left the magical world of Batch Magna with its charmingly quirky characters and the sunny, lazy days of an endless summer. The action takes up just where the previous book left off and the tone, pacing and particular flavour are exactly the same, which is, in itself, a rare accomplishment. If anything, Peter Maughan has become even more confirmed in his unique style, mastering the material so fully that reading these delightful stories feels like sitting in a riverside pub, listening to a friend tell the tale. To give a rough idea of the style, I could mention All Creatures Great and Small, Buds of May, To the Manor Born and such, but it would really do the Batch Magna books an injustice because Maughan paints with a much finer brush and a richer palette, bringing to life a large number of deliciously amusing characters that immediately feel like people we know, or would want to know.
The narrative begins on the morning of the wedding day of Sir Humphrey ("call me Humph") and the Honourable Clementine Wroxley (Clem to her many friends). The unpredictable summer weather has brought rain, or as we are told much more pictorially, "a sudden high downpour off the mountains, crossing the border like an invasion, swept in on Welsh winds." However, in true Marches fashion, the sun reasserts itself just in time and a wonderful day is had by all. A seemingly insignificant event after the ceremony, common to so many other weddings, will play a pivotal role toward the end of the narrative, but for now we are plunged into a bucolic scene of such charm that I found myself remembering with fondness the closest I ever came to partaking of such an event, Badminton Horse Trials 1994.
Having followed the motley crew of Batch Magna's regulars through two full books (plus, as a most welcome unexpected extra to this one, the seven chapters of a separate story called, The Famous Cricket Match), I still have trouble deciding who is my favourite. They are all so appealingly human, so foible-ridden and likeable, that it really doesn't matter. I just love hearing about them and sharing their adventures, big or small, happy or sad. There is a plenty of action and plot twists, and a bit more stark realism in this sequel, which showcases the author's deft touch in illuminating human nature in all its fascinating nuances. Add to this his particular talent for bringing magic to the commonplace and cloaking in wonder seasonal changes that too often go unnoticed and you have a complete work which satisfies on so many levels.
It takes a sure hand to make a debauched character like Phineas Cook the loveable scoundrel we all hope will eventually mend his ways - but not too much. Or the discovery that his son, Daniel, is not quite the studious, reliable youngster he first appeared, something to cheer about. And who else could make a glass eye so intriguing, and the lamentable excesses of those who rashly overindulge in pints of Sheepsnout so amazingly funny?
I find it difficult to describe what makes this so enjoyable, but if you liked the first book, or even the excerpt available in the "Look Inside", you will most definitely love this whole book because it is solidly built and full of gentle humour and lyrical observation of country life in that magical never-never dimension between land and river, England and Wales, reality and wishful thinking. The sign of excellent writing for me is that I, as indifferent to sport as anyone of my gender and completely ignorant of the rudiments of the game, actually found The Famous Cricket Match gripping and sat up reading to the end well after my usual bedtime. These are books that I could easily see myself reading again. I can hardly wait for the next instalment.
This is the only Batch Magna book that I've read. It looked a bit silly, and unfortunately I was into another series, so I held off on this until the book in the series turned out really badly. I was sickened by the description of a sadistic serial killer and quit not quite halfway through the book—the purchase of this book was just a big mistake on my part, and I won't go any further in the series. But I couldn't get the book's horror out of my mind, and then found this book just waiting to cheer me up. It was just a perfectly delightful read about some really quirky and funny characters. Not that it is great literature, but it was just what I needed. For instance, there was a really funny chapter where Phinias is talking to Sara, the Estate Manager about how his plans to make some money by offering romantic punting cruises to tourists, went tremendously awry. The interchange was a riot of stern British politeness, as Sarah manages to get the details out of Phinias. However, this was followed by several boring chapters as the actual event is replayed. I wish an editor had left out the unnecessary verbiage, as the original chapter was so well done.
Finally, several chapters ended the book by describing a cricket match. Since I'm not British (or Welsh) and had no idea what was going on, this too proved a bit boring. However, when Sir Humphrey was finally enjoined to play with the Batch Magna team, even a non-Cricket person such as myself understood the riotously funny developments.
So while this wasn't a book I want to continue with, it was just a perfect book for lifting me out of the doldrums. Very glad I had it!
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