Amaryllis at the Fair | Richard Jefferies

Introduction by Carolyn Clarke (softback)

Amaryllis at the Fair was first published in 1887 – the year of the author’s premature death from tuberculosis. There is a strong auto-biographical element portrayed in the scenes of country life set at Richard Jefferies’ birth-place and home at Coate – a small dairy farm in north Wiltshire. The characters in the book are, in part, portraits of himself, his family or acquaintances.

The story begins with young Amaryllis excited at finding the first daffodil in bloom in the garden of Coombe Oaks farm. She interrupts her father, busy planting his favourite potatoes , “forty-folds”, to admire the flower. She enthuses: “Only think, to open in all this wind, and so cold-isn’t it beautiful? It’s much more beautiful than the flowers that come in the summer.