While Fairacre's new commuter lifestyle causes a sharp decline in enrollment at Miss Read's school, Miss Read focuses her attention on the ill health of her old friend, Dolly Clare.

"When Miss Read receives a magnificent diary for Christmas instead of the more customary bath salts, she decides she must make good use of it. In each chapter of her diary, Miss Read recounts a month in her life as headmistress of Fairacres School. With kindly humor, she relates all the difficulties and all the enjoyment of living in a small country community. Her jollity lasts even through staff problems, a village decision to marry her off, and...

Trouble brews in the tiny country village of Fairacre when it is discovered that Farmer Miller's Hundred Acre Field is slated for real estate development. Alarming rumors are circulating, among them the fear that the village school may close. --From publisher's description.