AUTUMN LEAVES & GOLDEN DAYS

DAVID EDELSTEN

THE DOVECOTE PRESS
2011

First edition.
Few writers evoke the pleasures and pitfalls of modern life in the English countryside as successfully as David Edelsten. The pieces that make up Autumn Leaves & Golden Days were originally published in Dorset Life, The Dorset Magazine, but are far too good not to deserve hard covers and a wider readership.

Part of their pleasure is that David is never afraid of sharpening his pen on his pet hates -an excess of signs, litter, and the dreaded 'elf-n-safety' - but any irritations are more than counterbalanced by a deep affection for and knowledge of Dorset that will surely win new recruits to the ranks of his many admirers.

Diana, David's long-suffering wife, is rarely absent. Nor are his beloved horses - Dandy, Bella, Delphie, Ollie - on whose backs whilst out riding David meets the farmers and countrymen who give rural Dorset its character, and help preserve its traditions. David's talent lies in his ability to weave together the two strands that have shaped his life - his childhood as the son of a much-loved country doctor, and his own career as commanding officer of the 13th/18th Royal Hussars - into a series of beautifully observed vignettes that capture the richness of a life well-lived - be it a duck with its brood or lunch with the Queen.

Modest, gently humorous, occasionally moving, Autumn Leaves & Golden Days is blessed by an ability to find something new and unexpected to say about the everyday events that make up all our lives. It is also charmingly illustrated by Becky Unwin.

24 x 16 cm. 108 pp.

Very good condition. Dust jacket faded on the spine, edges age toned.