Release Date: Sep 1st, 2009
Review:
The tiny community of Land between the Lakes is not an ordinary community. This municipality is not only the home of the ordinary shops, houses, and all of the regular buildings that make up a community. Its also the home of a very active and smart animal population. These animals are not your ordinary animals too. They have professions, friendships, and lives like humans do. If may come as no surprise that this particular village is the home of Beatrice Potter. If you're thinking that Beatrice herself made the animals this way I’d hate to say you're quite wrong. They were living happy and productive lives before Beatrice ever bought “Hill Top Farm” many years ago. The reason I mention them is because this story takes place during a conundrum for both the animals and humans of the community. You see the Applebeck footpath has been closed off. The reason for this closure being that the owner of Applebeck farm is in the belief that the ramblers are the ones that burned his haystack down and he wishes to keep them off his land. It’s up to both the animals and human community of “Land between the Lakes” to figure out just who did.
This story surprised me. I was quite ready to like it since it started Beatrice Potter. I was just not quite ready to love it. You see this book had everything a lover of animals and Beatrice Potter could ever want. You have the cute and witty animals, a touch of the life of Miss. Potter, and a rather charming mystery. It also had a nice flow. The narrative of the story was like watching the old 1966 “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree” film. You have a narrator outlining whats going on in the story and bringing you to different places in the community. You then get to read the character parts in between. It was like being a fly on the wall. Susan Wittig Albert was also quite good in explaining “the times” as you might say it. You have explanations on the courtship habits and general beliefs of the time. You also get an insight into the lives of women on the verge of suffrage. The funny thing I have to mention about that is that the animals were a bit keener of giving female animals equalization than the humans at the time. Not to say there wasn't animals who believed that a female wasn't as smart as a male. Professor Owl is an example of that. The thing that I really liked about the book thought was that besides the talking animals you could really see the book happening. Its always the sign of a good author when you can read a fiction book and see it as entirely non-fiction. This is because Susan kept in the spirit of the early twentieth century. Nothing terribly out of the ordinary happened and the people in the book had concerns that those living in 1910 would have. If it wasn't stated at the beginning of the book that the entire story is fiction you can really see Beatrice Potter, Mr. Hellis, and the rest of the community try to figure out who burned down the Applebeck farms haystack. Therefore I have to give the book the high honor of a perfect ten in rating. Anyone who loves Beatrice Potter or just a good turn of the century county mystery will love this book as well.
Rating: 5 bunnies. Absolutely perfect. ^^
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