H. E. Bates

Herbert Ernest Bates (1905-1974), worked as a journalist and clerk on a local newspaper before publishing his first book, The Two Sisters. His most famous work of fiction is the bestselling Fair Stood the Wind for France (1944). Other well known novels include Purple Plain (1947), Jacaranda Tree (1949), Scarlet Sword (1950), and Love for Lydia (1952). The Darling Buds of May, the first of the popular Larkin family novels, was followed by A Breath of French Air (1959), When the Green Woods Laugh (1960), Oh, To Be in England! (1963) and A Little of What You Fancy (1970). His last works included the novel The Triple Echo (1971) and a collection of short stories, The Song of the Wren (1972).