A Horseman Riding By - Book 1 - Long Summer Day by RF Delderfield
I read this when I was a teenager and re-discovered it during my recent house move. Written in the 1960s and set in the early years of the 20th Century, I found myself noticing more than just the story. Delderfeld paints a world rapidly changing and does it through the eyes of a man who would, quite honestly, prefer that it stayed the same.
The writing style is a bit loose and even rambly at times, but it suits the slower pace of the story. I think an editor today would demand some heavy pruning, and the story would be lesser for it.
Delderfield's strength, in this and other books of his I have read, is his ability to create a cast of diverse and fascinating, but still real, characters. I remember loving Ikey Palfrey, and all these years later, I was still charmed by his down-to-earth acceptance of where life took him.
I intend to try to track down Books 2 and 3, although my memory is that they aren't as good as Book 1. However, whether I actually get time to read them is another matter altogether!
