In the Metfield of the 1930s you could do all of your shopping without leaving the village, have a choice of pubs and 'spend happy evenings helping to dig potatoes and listening to the old boys.' If this sounds too idyllic to be true, Evelyn Whiting's charming memoir of growing up in this Suffolk community is quick to remind us that making a living from the land was hard and tedious work in those days. There was no electricity and water came from the sky, or from the pond. In this fascinating little book, Evelyn's recollection is sharp and her narrative voice is clear. As readers we draw near - perhaps, as it were, by the fire in the Red Lion or the Old Duke William - to hear her retell her stories of the Metfield characters she remembers so well, and recall a way of life that most of us have never known.