Try Miss Read-she has two series, both set in England...both revolving around the village school headmistress. One is the Thrush Green series, and the other is Fairacre. Use the link to get the order-it is more fun to read them that way.
Also, Angela Thirkell wrote a long series about the fictional English county of Barsetshire, with a large cast of repeating characters. You can also search her on fantasticfiction.co.uk
None are quite as "sweet" as the Mitford series, but all three are enjoyable-what I call "slice of life" stories-no pyrotechnics, just characters and events to which the reader becomes attached.

Here is a link that might be useful: Miss Read Books

Thanks. I found Thirkell dull after a while, but I'll look for the Miss Read books.

karalk, what are the 'Mitford' books please?

I hated the Miss Read books while loving Mitford but I know they are popular. And I don't have any alternatives either! Although The Ladies #1 Detective series has a similar cozy, gentle feel and they're great.

A series of books about a small mountain town in North Carolina. The main character is Father Tim, the rector of the town, and the books follow the lives and interaction of the town-folk. They MUST be read in order. If you give them a try let us know if you like them. Or if you don't!

bumblebees, that is amazing, as have just the opposite opinion: I absolutely hated the Mitford books, considering them too saccharine. Whereas I adore any and all of the "Miss Read" series. I find the latter far more realistic, the characters more complex, and the problems more interesting. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I traveled widely in England, some years ago....I love Dora Saint's portrayal of village life and its often-eccentric characters.

Ok. I just ordered "Village School", hoping I'm on to a good thing! Thanks for the recommendation.

I didn't hate the Mitfords, but I did think they were "sweeter" than the others-which I love. Thirkell is best read in order, though that is hard to do-you watch characters grow from infanthood to marriage-hard not to get attached!

I dislike old maids in general largely because for years I had a great fear of being one. That certainly colored my view of Fairacre. However, I don't identify with the English village the way I do Mitford which is loosely based on Lenoir NC not that far from where I live.

and there are days when I'd like nothing better than to go home and have only myself to suit. the grass....

I love, love Barbara Pym whose books give me the desired and longed-for "English village feeling," *plus so much more!* and strongly affect me by what is unsaid as much as what is said. I realize I sound like a nut to some who can't understand the attraction. Ha.
I've been married for 39 years, but guess I can understand the lack of attraction to reading about spinsters if one fears being one, as someone mentioned earlier. I could go on, but enough said, I guess.....
I recommend trying Pym.

Excuse me. In my zeal for Pym, I forgot to say I find "Mitford" and Miss Read treacly and sappy for my taste, but to each his own!

It's not a series, but Clyde Edgerton's "Walking Across Egypt" has an entertaining cast of loveable, humorous characters that I really enjoyed. I'm a Mitford fan, although I think I liked the earlier books best. I've not read the latest, yet.

I like Pym as well-but she doesn't write a series.

Thanks, Sarah, I ordered "Walking Across Egypt".

I loved "Walking Across Egypt." The sequel "Killer Diller" is cute, too. However, my absolute favorite Clyde Edgerton novel is "Raney". I laughed out loud at that one.

Another good series with lots of quirky characters it "Big Stone Gap" by Adriana Trigiani.

After a great recommendation from my oldest friend who loved the Mitford series, I've started reading the first one "At Home in Mitford" and find it boring & dull so far. Maybe it'll get better as I'm only on Chapter 3 but I doubt if I'll read all the books in the series. Just not my type of book I guess.

Actually, I listened to the Mitford series but found when I read the books, I had little patience with some of the characters and found myself skimming a lot.

I thought I was the only one who didn't care for the Mitford series. I started it and felt I was trapped in Mayberry with Opie and Pa. I like B. Pym and Ladies #1 series. I, also, did not like D. Galbadon.

I am pretty sure they are not very much like actual English village life, but the Lucia and Mapp books by E. F. Benson are a fairly long series, and very funny.

Brenda

karalk - I hope you enjoy "Walking Across Egypt." I really tickled me. Enjoy.

phaedosia - Thanks for the input. I think I'll look up those other Edgerton books.

I'm not a Mitford fan, either, though I made an honest effort after a friend's recommendation. "Trapped in Mayberry" sums it up for me.

Rita Mae Brown's mysteries, involving her pets and taking place in Crozet, VA (near Charlottesville) remind me of the #1 Ladies Detective agency books; I find both series enjoyable.

A friend recommended The Ladies of Covington series as one like the Mitford books-I haven't read them, but fwiw...

Now see ... I don't actually hate the thought of being "trapped in Mayberry." I could stuff myself on Aunt Bea's cooking, and go fishing with Andy and Opie, and have a good laugh at Barney now and then. Golly! Maybe that's why I like Mitford.

Seriously, I think what I like about both the Mitford books and the Mayberry TV show is the goodness of the people and the lack of cynicism. Something we don't see much of in many books and TV shows these days.

How about the Cape Light series by Thomas Kinkade. Has anybody read this book series yet? I've read the first four. Not bad, nice characters and I kind of like that.

is that the painter?

Yes, it's the same person.

Sarah....you are too funny! Such self-realisation! Thats exactly why I like the Mitford books, plus I know nothing bad will happen.
I now have Walking Across Egypt, the #1 Ladies Detective Agency , a Miss Read and a couple of Pyms added to my TBR shelf.
Thanks, everyone!

I found that I liked the Mitford books best when I listened to them. The narrator made them come alive for me.

A friend recommened An Irish Country Dr by Patrick Taylor. I haven't read it myself but am going to look for it. She said she liked it as much as if not better than the Mitford series.

karalk - I hope you like the first two books. I've not read Miss Read or any Pym. Let us know what you think.

I am in the middle of Mortenson's "Three Cups Of Tea" which I am finding engrossing and inspiring.
Next I shall give #1 Ladies Detective Agency a try. Thanks again for all the recommendations!

I usually live over at the decorating forums and had looked before to see if there was a book forum here; guess I didn't look very carefully! I read the Miss Read books about 15 years ago and loved them. I am so happy to see others enjoy them as well. I will have to try the Pym ones too.
Another series I adored was Mapp and Lucia. I think there was a bbc series several years ago, but the books are just crazy addicting. THe author is either Bennet or Benson?
If you try those, Mapp and Lucia , I believe you will thank me.

I have read and enjoyed many of the books mentioned here. I wonder if the James Herriot series, "All Creatures Great and Small", "All Things Bright and Beautiful", etc., might be included in this group? If you don't know of them, they are about a vet's life in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1940's. The stories include life at Skeldale House (the home of the vet where Herriot begins his practice), the local pubs and their patrons, as well as the stories of the villagers and farmers whose animals Herriot cares for. Truly wonderful writing, and a marvelous way to get to the Yorkshires.

Yorkshire is my favourite part of England, even though I'm from East Anglia, so I have always loved the Herriot books. He's so down to earth and very funny.

Guess you Mitford fans know she is coming out with a new book, to be set in Ireland. (The new Victoria magazine has a featured article on this writer).

Well, I read An Irish Country Doctor and the #1 Ladies Detective Agency and they were just what i was looking for.
Now I'm reading Women of the Silk but I'll definitely go back to the #1 Ladies Detective Agency books. I'm hoping they stay interesting and don't all follow a pattern like the James Patterson or others of that kind.

Philip Gulley has a series about Harmony, a small town in Indiana which I have found very enjoyable. I'm also a lover of Mapp and Lucia, Miss Read and really liked the Mitford books until the last couple -- sort of like she has run out of ideas but but wants to keep the money flowing in.

Anyway if you like small town stories, I recommend you give Philip Gulley a try.