The Common Years

During the ten years she lived at the edge of Putney Common Jilly Cooper walked daily on this expanse of green.
For most of the time she lived there she kept a diary, noting the effects of the changing seasons and writing about her encounters with dogs and humans. The book is a distillation of those diaries: an affectionate and enthralling portrait – warts and all – of life on Putney Common.

Never has Jilly Cooper written more lyrically about flowers, trees, birds and the natural world; more tellingly about the sorrows – as well as the joys – of caring for dogs and children; or more outrageously about the gossip, illicit romances and jealousies of life in a small community.

‘So observant…a delightful book’ – Daily Express

‘An entrancing book’ – Daily Mail

‘Miss Cooper’s life is a curiously endearing mixture of Joyce Grenfell and August Strindberg – endlessly gracious neighbourly occasions undercut and made bearable by a home life of wonderfully chaotic neurosis and catastrophes – highlighted by sudden and marvellous insights into neighbours and former friends’ – Sheridan Morley

‘A brilliant and beloved book and absolutely unputdownable’ – Elizabeth Longford

‘Thank-you for such a super book, I was walking with you and your dogs on the Common and meeting up with all these great characters. Such wonderful stories. This book is full of all the emotions you feel when owning a dog.’
Margaret Wilkinson

‘I just finished “The Common Years” which made me laugh and cry equally.’
Nancy Durant, Prince Edward Island – Canada

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