Other Side of the Dale, Paperback/Gervase Phinn

A warm, funny and mostly true account of the author's first year as a School Inspector in North Yorkshire, featuring a brilliantly portrayed cast of eccentrics, Ministry bigwigs, teaching nuns and the children themselves, who, whether from remote farms or industrial towns, steal the show. A surprise success in hardback, fame has brought several appearances on Esther Rantzen's TV shows and the promise of a second volume, Over Hill And Dale, in Spring 2000. A Penguin Audiobook edition, read by the author, is also published this month.