British Author Dora Saint dies at age 98

LONDON -- Dora Saint, a prolific and gentle chronicler of English village life who wrote under the pen name Miss Read, died April 7 at age 98 at her home in Great Shefford.

In 28 novels between 1955 and 1996, Saint wrote of the small conflicts and quiet excitements of life in the fictional villages of Fairacre and Thrush Green.

The first book, "Village School," drew on her experiences of village life and teaching. A review in The Times said events in that book were small "but observed with an exactitude, animation, and sense of comedy that recall a Brueghel painting of village folk."

Saint believed that "happiness is the result of an attitude of mind." "I believe you can build it out of small things, out of hearing someone calling across a garden, a robin in a hedge, a cat in the woodshed," she once said.

"Village School" was reprinted in 2005 with "Village Diary" and "Storm in the Village."

Her books found audiences worldwide, and for decades, Miss Read books were among the most-borrowed at British libraries. -- AP