Larkin by name… Larkin by nature… It runs in the family…
Montgomery, the only boy, had been named after the general. Primrose had come in the Spring. Zinnia and Petunia were twins and they were the flowers Ma d most. Victoria, the youngest girl, had been born in plum-time.
Suddenly he couldn’t remember why they had called the eldest Mariette.
A mammoth Ma… A wolfish Pop… And a litter of six pups…
Suddenly here comes a taxman… As the song goes: “Let me tell you how it will be There’s one for you, nineteen for me ‘Cause I’m the taxman…” But here it isn’t the case… For the taxman the visit turns out to be too taxing…
Mr Charlton shut his eyes. This grave mistake made him think that he was on the deck of a sinking ship, in a hurricane. He opened his eyes with great haste and the deck came up at him.
Many curious things start happening simultaneously as well as one after another…
As they crossed from the garden to the big meadow beyond Mariette took Mr Charlton’s hand. In the startled fashion of a young colt he almost jumped as she touched him.
To some gluttony is a deadly sin and to some it’s a pure delight…
What’s bad for the goose is good for the gander.121 s2 comments Maureen 1,559 7,017

As Pop Larkin would say “Perfick”!84 s1 comment Tea Jovanovi?Author 346 books729

Po ovom romanu je snimljena i sjajna serija (pre nekoliko meseci prikazivao ju je HRT) sa sjajnim Dejvidom Džejsonom (Del boj) i Ketrin Zita-Džonsovom... Zdrav britanski humor... Ovo je jedna od "must" knjiga (plus "must" serija)!read-for-pleasure39 s Rebecca3,834 3,163

This was “perfick” reading for the warm May afternoons we’ve been having. It’s the kind of novella you can polish off in a sitting or two, and The Novel Cure prescribes it as a tonic for cynicism. Just tax inspector Cedric Charlton, you’ll find yourself drawn into the orbit of Pop and Ma Larkin and their six children – indomitably cheery hedonists, the lot of them. Mr. Charlton has traveled to the Larkins’ country home in Kent to press upon Pop, a junk dealer, the importance of filling in his tax return, but before long the financial forms are totally forgotten. Now known as “Charley,” our hapless hero floats along on a stream of unstinting alcohol and unending feasts. He helps with the strawberry picking and the preparations for a gymkhana to be hosted on Pop’s field. What he doesn’t know is that oldest daughter Mariette is in a bit of trouble and he might be just the man to help. Ma and Pop are more calculating than they let on (especially considering this came out in 1958), but gosh, you can’t help but love them. Plus Bates writes so evocatively about the British countryside in late spring. I’m generally very wary of sequels; should I try the four further Larkin books?

Favorite passages:

“Over all this a sky as blue as the thrushes’ eggs … spread with unblemished purity. The near fringes of meadows had become, overnight, white with moon-daisies, drifts of summer snow. a cuckoo called and was answered by another, the notes those of tender horns, the birds hidden in oak-trees, among curtains of thickest olive flower.”

“An afternoon of delicious golden content folded its transparent envelope more and more softly about the paradisiacal Larkin world, over the outlying meadow scintillating with its million buttercups and the shady fragrant walnut tree. Pop sighed and remarked how perfick it was.”anglophiles-delight laugh-out-loud novellas ...more33 s Martin327 154

Pop Larkin claims to have no income from his 35 acre farm - yet he is able to provide the best food and drink for his large family.
He welcomes Mr Charlton, a tax inspector into his home and into the arms of his seventeen year old daughter.

Kisses sweeter than wine
‘Oh! Mr Charlton, I’m so happy I think I’ll kiss you too.’

Mariette, to the unconcealed delight and satisfaction of Ma and Pop, bent and kissed Mr Charlton briefly, but with purpose, full on the lips. Mr Charlton recoiled in a crimson cloud, hearing about him trumpets of disaster. Everyone was laughing.

When he came to himself he knew he could never forget that moment. He was trembling all over. It was impossible to describe what the full soft lips of Mariette had felt against his own except that it was, perhaps, having them brushed by the skin of a warm firm plum, in full ripeness, for the first time.

We are able to observe a love story from the parent's view with a background of rich country living.


Enjoy!


humour recently-reviewed17 s 321womble1 reviewRead

Best read in the midst of winter to remind you that golden summers and autumns will indeed come round again. A deep warning though to have your fridge and freezer fully stocked as you will get hungry and find yourself peckish for roast goose and 5 types of potatoes. Having some bottles of your favourite snifter is also advised. Heart warming without being mawkish, Bates will remind you of the simple but wonderful pleasure of walking through the English countryside.15 s Lynda209 123

I have always enjoyed British comedy and The Darling Buds of May was a comedy drama television series that aired for two years from 1991-1993. Set in Kent, where I myself lived for four years, the series followed the life of the Larkin family. It starred David Jason (from 'Only Fools and Horses' fame) as Pop Larkin, and Catherine Zeta-Jones ('The Mask of Zorro') played his eldest daughter Mariette.


Pop Larkin with his family [Source: Willow and Thatch]

The Darling Buds of May is the first book in the Pop Larkin Chronicles, a series of five books that joyfully tell the stories of the Larkins. Their only source of income is through selling scrap, picking strawberries, selling farm animals or returning items they tire of. So how do they afford buying horses, cars, perfumes, fine furniture and holidays abroad? Seems I'm not the only one who wants to know. The tax man is close behind!

First published in 1958, there are aspects of the chronicles that some would undoubtedly term "politically incorrect" in 2021. That said, they do make me giggle, chuckle and grin against my will, and sometimes that is just what the doctor ordered.z-read-202111 s Emma Rose1,151 71

Oh, wow. What a jewel. I don't know how to describe this book - it's a small, perfectly round pastry - a profiterole if you will - of a book. It's delicious, it's filled with gooey laughter and it's small and sharp. At its heart, it's a comedy featuring an eccentric family and it's round and warm and gorgeous and bathing in the sun. I wish I knew more people the characters depicted in the book. The kind that take you in without thinking, feed you more than your stomach can handle, insist you stay for more, fill you with goodness, generosity and hilarious stories and before you know it, that 'hello' is turning into a whole weekend that's the stuff of dreams. The Darling Buds of May is a special book, it made me long for a hedonistic life where my only concern would be to just sit back, and enjoy. I'm in love.cosy11 s Buck612 32

A British sitcom - I'm glad they don't put laugh tracks in audio books. This belongs on the same shelf as P. G. Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster and Jeeves stories, but it's rustic. If the folks from Green Acres and Petticoat Junction lived in England, the Larkins would be their neighbors. The ladies are certainly more lascivious, in an upbeat way, than I usually encounter. The story is a bit risque, in an innocent sort of way. Fun and jocularity.reviewed9 s Exina1,233 401

The Darling Buds of May is the first book of The Pop Larkin Chronicles, introducing the Larkin family from Kent, who enjoys nature, each other's company, food and drink immensely.

An amusing and lovely read.

classics fiction humor-funny10 s Maria ThermannAuthor 8 books13

Frankly, it should be compulsory for every human being on the planet to read The Darling Buds of May at least once in their life time - with the good example of Ma and Pop Larkin glowing cheerfully at the back of their minds a summer's day in Kent, no human being could possibly want to start a war, exploit others for foul gain or deliberately hurt anyone! Which is why this book gets a "perfick" rating with all the stars available in the Goodreads universe.

Plot: Unsuspecting Mr Cedric Charlton, inspector of HM Revenue and Taxes, stumbles unwittingly into the most glorious - and notorious - nest of tax evaders known to gods. As soon as he claps eyes one the beautiful vision that is Mariette Larkin, however, Cedric forgets all about the buff-yellow tax form he came to deliver and falls wholeheartedly for the charm of the Larkins - twins, geese, ducks, goats, donkeys and all. At the beginning we suspect foul play, our sinful minds believe that the naive young man is going to be seduced into a marriage of convenience, for Mariette Larkin suspects she is pregnant by another man. She isn't even sure who the father might be, it certainly isn't Cedric, who has just appeared in the Larkin's ramshackle farmyard to collect taxes.

We soon discover, Ma and Pop Larkin are unconcerned about late 1950s conventions: a baby is simply a wonderful addition to the Larkin paradise on Earth. The Larkins may be little devils when it comes to tax evasion, but they are the kindliest creatures on the planet who'd never force their daughter into a marriage where she'd not be happy with the choice of groom and they couldn't care less about conventions of marriage either. Having produced 6 children without the encumbrance of a marriage certificate, Ma and Pop Larking know they can easily manage a grandchild that comes from "the wrong side of the blanket".

Inevitably, Cedric, who is turned into a proper Charley by Pop Larkin, learns to "use his loaf" and proposes to Mariette, learns to enjoy life and begins to view the tax office much as any right-thinking person on the planet would.

Filled with a wonderful sense of fun and sensuality, the book also introduces us to memorable characters the impoverished Brigadier, sprightly spinster Edith Pilchester and the poor-as-church-mice Miss Barnwells, the effervescent Angela Snow (who is a younger, female version of Pop himself) and the villains of the strawberry field, Poll and Lil Sanders, and the voluptuous temptress of the strawberry basket, Pauline Jackson.

If there are any Goodreads bookworms out there who have, me, experienced the delights of strawberry picking on a hot summer's day, the book will bring a whole strawberry basket full of mixed emotions to your minds.

But who picks fruit these days and are they having nearly as much fun as we chosen few did, the Mariettes and Ma Larkins, the Charlies and tiny Aunt Fans, the multitude of kids who stuffed their gobs with the succulent, juicy strawberries until their lips, tongues and cheeks were as red as the fruit itself - I did some 40 years ago?

Forever bathed in golden sunlight and blessed with the fragrance of gardenia, buttercups and may, not to mention sage and onion and roast geese, and ringing with the laughter of Ma Larkin and Pop's belching, The Darling Buds of May is simply a must-read. Best consumed while lolling about in a spring meadow with Kent's deep blue skies twinkling above and a basket of strawberries by one's side. Perfick, as Pop would say!
9 s Peter777 127

Yes I do have two, different editons and it's because I could not resist those wonderful covers.fiction9 s Bree T2,237 98

Ma and Pop Larkin and their five children – Mariette, Montgomery, Zinnia, Petunia and Primrose are returning home from a lovely outing to get fish and chips and some ice cream. When they arrive home, eldest Mariette notices a strange man in the yard, looking he’s been waiting for them.

That man is Cedric Charlton and he’s from the tax office. It seems that Pop Larkin hasn’t lodged his tax form and Cedric (soon nicknamed ‘Charley’ by the family) is here to sort it out, get the form done and lodged. Pop however, has other ideas, inviting him to stay for tea. When Mariette takes a bit of a shine to him, Ma and Pop are quite happy to encourage a match.

Before he knows it, Charley has been introduced to all things country living in the lifestyle of Pop and Ma Larkin – copious copious copious amounts of food and drink, picking strawberries in the summer sun and hosting a gymkhana complete with fireworks. Although Charley can’t quite figure out what Pop Larkin does (he claims to be a farmer) and how he makes his money, any questions he has are soon brushed away in favour of another Dragon’s Blood or bowl of strawberries and cream.

The Darling Buds of May is a lightning read – weighing in at a tiny 137p. I read it for an online book club that I’ve recently just joined and I have to say, it was not what I was expecting at all. I knew there was a TV adaptation some years ago, although I’ve never seen it. I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting but safe to say, this was not it.

The book is rich with description:

Ma shook all over, laughing a jelly. Little rivers of yellow, brown and pinkish-purple cream where running down over her huge lardy hands. In her handsome big black eyes the cloudless blue May sky was reflected, making them dance as she threw out the splendid bank of her bosom, quivering under its salmon jumper.

In a tiny book, so many words are deeply devoted to the characters and food. The plot in all essence, is rather thin – it basically consists of Pop and the other Larkins distracting Charley every time he wants to talk about tax (usually with food, but often with alcohol or their attractive daughter Mariette) and the whole book reads one 1950?s English country holiday. Picnic baskets, strawberries, whole legs of roasted pork, huge bacon and egg breakfasts, this book is capable of setting off deep cravings you didn’t know existed!

The characters (mostly Pop and Ma, the children aren’t explored much) are fun-loving but also kind-hearted and generous, sending away people that come to visit with food, such as nice cuts of pork from their pig they just slaughtered. They clearly have fun and enjoy life to the full, being involved in many things and engaging their children in the sort of lifestyle that would make most people envious. There’s also an element of the shifty too, as we never find out what Pop does and where his wads of cash come from! One thing was for certain – the second the Larkin’s got home and saw poor Charley standing there in their yard, he never, ever had a chance.

A lovely little surprising gem of a book. There are a couple more in the series and I am looking forward to reading those as well.library-reads7 s Tania862 88

Just perfick.

I have recently been watching repeats of the TV series with David Jason and Catherine Zeta Jones, and wondered why I have never read the books. I decided to remedy this one Sunday afternoon, the little time it takes to read it, barring distractions. I might not want the Larkins as my neighbours, but in the books they are just charming, despite being slightly shifty, very showy, and basically greedy. It won't be long before I get to the next one.humour modern-classic8 s Ivy-Mabel Fling490 37 Read

What did I think? I am not sure. This is the first volume of the Larkin series with a cast of carefree rustics (maybe they are not really rustics, perhaps they are crooks) who do exactly what they want, get their money (in large quantities) from doing nothing (or worse) and, whatever they do, seem to land on their feet. The background is England in the 50s and 60s and there are many echoes of my own distant childhood. Who would to read this book? Someone who is looking for an easy and entertaining read. Either someone who grew up far from this country (and thinks this is English humour or our joie de vivre) or someone who experienced this era and looks back on it with nostalgia and rose-tinted spectacles. Or maybe it is all perfick cynicism!7 s Joaquin Garza582 689

Qué libro tan más feliz. Alegre. Gozoso. Jolly. Mirthful. Merry. Perfickcomedia-británica humor narrativa-y-ficción7 s Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all)2,103 217

I picked this up because I thought it would make a nice cosy bedtime read. Well it does, a bit. At first it reminded me strongly of Frank Capra's BW film, "You Can't Take It With You". The Larkins live what appears at first to be a hand-to-mouth existence on a ramshackle farm, though Pop Larkin is never seen to do any actual farmwork feeding the animals, milking or mucking out. But then he does have five kids, all of whom are expected to pull their weight. In spite of having an extensive property to care for, the Larkins spend most of their time harvesting other people's fruit.

In another sense, their life is very much "hand to mouth": they are always gorging! The book starts with icecreams and crisps all round, then they drive home for tea, then dinner--and Pop and Ma Larkin seem to swill alcohol nonstop without ever being a whit the worse. No wonder Ma is hugely obese--the wonder is, no one else is!

Unfortunately, the metaphorical magic of the Capra film is missing from this book. I grew up around people rather the Larkins (without the nonstop eating and drinking): generous, warmhearted and welcoming, but ( the Larkins and un the Capra family) rather judgemental of people who don't share their lifestyle and values. "Charlie", the taxman who is adopted by the Larkins (very much as in the aforementioned film, which may have served as inspiration for this book, as it came out in 1938 and was hugely popular) comes in for a lot of criticism behind his back for "lack of technique" and "not using his loaf", at least not in the way the Larkin menage thinks intelligence should manifest. I also got the growing feeling that Charlie was being entrapped by all the adult Larkins as husband fodder for Mariette.

The only thing that really grated on me was Pop going around kissing all the women on the mouth with unwarranted "velvety passion"--and this would appear to include his adult daughter. That made me cringe; it was badly out of place.

A frothy read that took only 3 hrs or so. But would I read it again? I doubt it. I really wanted to enjoy it more, and the ending was just--odd. It felt chopped short.good-summer-read life-affirming-cosy light-as-air6 s Matti Karjalainen2,952 60

H.E. Batesin "Oi ihana toukokuu" (Book Studio, 1992) tuli monille meistä tutuksi saman nimisenä televisiosarjana, jonka suosion ansiosta lienee aikanaan julkaistu myös tämä pokkaripainos. Larkinin elämäniloisen perheen ensimmäisestä esiintymisestä maassamme ei kuitenkaan ollut kyse, olihan Otava ehtinyt julkaista kirjan tai ainakin osasia siitä jo vuonna 1959.

Vuoden 1992 pokkaripainokseen on mahdutettu sarjan kolme ensimmäistä pienoisromaania. Etenkin ensimmäinen niistä on varsin viehättävä. Pappa Larkinin mutkaton ja maanläheinen elämänasenne hymyilyttää, ja myös Englannin maaseutua ja Mamman ruokapöytään loihtimia herkkuja kuvataan kaikkia aisteja kutkuttavalla tavalla.

Tarinat toistavat aavistuksen verran toisiaan, ja aivan kuten toisen brittiläisen humoristin P.G. Wodehousen tapauksessa, ne saattavat olla parhaita pienissä erissä annosteltuina.1940-1969 huumori kaunokirjallisuus ...more6 s Stephen Robert Collins607 52

I read this and other 4 in the series back in 1990s when David Jason was Pop. Now once again ITV has done another version with Bradley Walsh fresh from Doctor Who. He has brought new freshness to Pop. H. E Bates wrote these books between 1958 - 1970 he had wonderful ideas of creating village life in post war themes that were comic relief from the dark days of late 1950s
I have read lot of his books over number of years and this classic series it has not aged other books of its type it's the sort of P. G. Woodhouse of the age. A book that you can always read again and again if feeling depressed a laugh a page9 s Whit79 2

A guilty, guilty pleasure.5 s lethe570 112

The perfick book to read during a lovely, summery spell in May.a-adult c-record-correct d-20th-c ...more6 s Michael WiltonAuthor 23 books12

H.E.Bates,essentially a lover of the countryside, was born in Rushden, Northamptonshire in 1905 and enjoyed walking around the countryside, often the inspiration for many of his stories. He was discovered by Edward Garnett, reader for Jonathan Cape, who encouraged him and other up and coming writers of the period, to make the most of his budding talents, resulting in his first book being published at the age of 20. When the war broke out, he was the first writer to be commissioned by the Air Ministry solely as a writer of short stories. He became well known for his realistic wartime epics under the pen name of 'Flying Officer X', to be followed by others - 'How Sleep the Brave', 'Fair Stood the Wind for France' and 'The Purple Plain', starring Gregory Peck.
Other novels followed after the war, but perhaps his most popular creation turned out to be the Larkin family,based on a freewheeling junk trader called Sydney Larkin, whose full name was only spelt out in full when his wife was taking him severely to task. Coming back one evening with Ma and his six children, licking ice creams to discover a stranger in the yard, one Cedric Charlton, who has been sent to enquire why Pop has not completed his tax return. Before he knows where he is, he is investigating the 'strawberry lark' and numerous other delights that include the fair Mariette. 'Perfick', as Sid Larkin would say.humour5 s Marie S.248 6

What a bummer, I was so ready to love this novel but I felt uncomfortable from the beginning. The way the author decide that he must describe every 2 pages the body of women (Ma and Mariette particularly) was really off putting. The only thing Charley s about Mariette is her body, we get it, it's summer she's hot.
But I was coming for a countryside charming yet eccentric family, not to witness H. E. Bates wish fulfillment about women half naked, women cooking for men, women fighting for a man, and men kissing women around just because they want to.bought-in-20185 s Aya215 41

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??????? ??????? ??? :)5 s Abbie59 17

This funny and rollicking book follows the tale of a young office worker who meets the ever buoyant Larkin family on their small farm. Though this comedy was well written there was some light language and sex scenes (though not EXTREMELY detailed) so I would advise discretion with younger readers. A light read.4 s Rosemary2,004 92

A lovely nostalgic read! I enjoyed it so much I had to go and find the first episode of the TV series on YouTube and watch that too.4 s Lee BroderickAuthor 4 books75

Apparently I was around eleven when The Darling Buds of May aired on ITV. I'm not sure if I should be surprised that the young Catherine Zeta Jones could have had such a powerful effect on me at that age but, regardless, my other overpowering impression of it, looking back, is one of a nostalgic yearning for an England that never was. I suspect most people saw the series in that way but it does H.E. Bates a distinct disservice.

Written and published almost exactly ten years after Nineteen Eighty-Four , The Darling Buds Of May is, peculiarly and probably quite unintentionally, more accurately prophetic of modern British Society than that nightmare: here are a family who constantly eat crisps and ice-cream, who leave the television on through all daylight hours, whose parents are unmarried and drink heavily and who think nothing of their teen-aged daughter being single and pregnant. In fact, life is, by and large, 'perfick'.

It is not then, as my imperfect impressions and memories may have led me to believe, a poor-man's Cold Comfort Farm . In the hands of a satirist the Larkins would have been deliciously lampooned - as uncouth, vulgar new-money they're an easy target. They are instead though seen to be overwhelmingly happy with their life and we can't help but and admire them - it's this that creates the false nostalgia impression. Instead, it's those people who are concerned with appearances and respectability who are the objects of fun, from the tweed-clad spinster, to the local squire concerned with keeping his tumbling pile to the white-collar office clerk.

If there's a political message here then (and I understand that debate on that point rages in some circles) then it's one of iconoclasm and individualism and that's something I can wholly get behind.fiction fiction-classics fiction-comic4 s Grant Trevarthen120 2

I watched the BBC TV series of 'The Darling Buds Of May', long before I read the book, but I was captivated by the characters and the Actors & Actresses who brought them to life, and now having read the book I can truly say the casting was right on target.
As the story unfolded I was able to picture the Actors particularly David Jason as Pop Larkin, as he gave a 'perfick' performance as a man who life to the full, and his consumption of the good things in life knew no boundaries. Then of course there was his wife Ma Larkin, who it seemed was always at the stove cooking mountains of food, nothing was too much trouble.
H.E. (Herbert) Bates had a way that I found similar to Enid Blyton's of describing in rich detail the food and drink that was consumed, and the after affects.
Ma and Pop Larkin's eldest daughter Mariette, is a naughty temptress, who already pregnant by persons unknown is trying to lure young Charlton 'Charlie' down the path to fleshly wickedness, and he seems unable to resist. All this wickedness is only hinted at but never seen, which under the circumstances is just as well.

All things considered this is a book that is a perfick experience.4 s Carolyn Fitzpatrick809 27

Stopped reading three chapters in, because the characters were so unappealing that I was getting terribly depressed. The book was written in the 50s and centers upon a family that is poor and rural, and enjoys one another's company, good food, flashy possessions, and the beauty of nature. That is all fine, but they are also constantly eating, buying things they can't afford, refusing to pay taxes, and spiteful about neighbors. The main question of the book is whether the pregnant 17 year old daughter can fool a random tax collector into thinking that he is the father of her baby. People who the show Shameless probably would might this. But while it is well written I don't find characters this selfish to be entertaining. general-fiction4 s Heather239

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