At thirty-nine, Liberty Turner, mother of an
illegitimate and nearly grown-up son, and daughter of a
flamboyant father who had never grown up, realised that
she had no talent. Once, in more prosperous times, her
books had been published. Now, as relentless rejections
pulverised her every effort, she faced up to the
whimsical truth that while she was absolutely bursting
with the creative urge, the talent just wasn't
there. But as she began to observe her friends and
neighbours in the village of Tollymead (not quite the
idyllic community that everyone wished it was) she
noticed that there were different kinds of creations.
Evelyn Brooke, her eccentric and idealistic neighbour,
chained herself to condemned oak trees and fought
against polluters of the countryside. The vicar,
resenting his congregation of middle-class - apparently
- well adjusted parishioners, sought longingly for a
real social problem to deal with. Even Nancy Sanderson,
magistrate and secretary of the Women's League, was
eventually to revolt against her life style and create
something of her own. As Liberty stoically continued
her progress through harvest lunches and creative
writing classes, she waited for a rival creation of her
own to emerge, and when Oscar Brooke moved into the
village, she thought perhaps she might have found
it.
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