"A remarkable book written with such dazzling verbal imagery and such relish in all the sensations of being alive that it is magically contagious."--New York Times

A beloved English classic--more than six million copies sold worldwide--that celebrates a bygone world and the author's own unforgettable journey from the wonder of childhood to the awkward agonies of adolescence.

Laurie Lee was born in 1914 in Gloucestershire, then a remote corner of England. Abandoned by her husband, Lee's adoring mother becomes the center of his world as she struggles to raise a family on her own. "I was perfectly content," Lee writes, "and tumbled through the hand-to-mouth days, patched or dressed-up, scolded, admired, swept off my feet in sudden passions of kisses, or dumped forgotten among the unwashed pots."

As his childhood passes, very unexpectedly one day, the center of Lee's world shifts when he meets someone very special...

"I turned to look at Rosie. She was yellow and dusty with buttercups and seemed to be purring in the gloom; her hair was rich as a wild bee's nest and her eyes were full of stings. I did not know what to do about her, nor did I know what not to do. She looked smooth and precious, a thing of unplumbable mysteries, and perilous as quicksand."

Throughout, Lee illuminates an era without electricity or telephones, an England on the cusp of the modern era, the cadence of village and family life, with a poignant lyricism that has captivated readers since it was first published in 1959.

This Nonpareil edition includes a new introduction by award-winning author Simon Winchester.