Amy and Lan: The enchanting new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Outcast

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The only negative was the backwards and forwards between families - it was hard to tell who was who at times but I think that was the point. Nor is there an obvious development in their world view until they move to secondary school – but again maybe there wouldn’t be.

Although the reader could see what was coming in the undercurrents of conversations heard and the behaviours the children witness from the beginning but don’t understand, it’s still a shock when the infrastructure of Frith changes forever. We begin in autumn 2005, when anticipation about who gets to light the annual bonfire fairly bursts from the pages. All the way through, there is a tension, as you know something dreadful will happen at the end, but it still came as a shock and left me crying with Amy. Both women were pregnant, both depressed by world news: “the greenhouse effect and battery chickens. This was an easy read and for most of the time it was cute, but there was always an undercurrent of ‘what is going to go wrong?Our narrators are Amy and Lan (for Lachlan), seven-year-old best friends, revelling in their shared freedom on the “organic smallholding” that their parents and friends have reclaimed from dereliction. In alternating chapters, the children introduce us to their bold and adventurous selves — Lan’s axe experiment has luckily missed Amy’s toes — and describe the weather (frequently damp and cold), moods and personalities of the adults in charge of their bit of paradise. I don't think the adults were that neglectful - the children went to school and did not seem to have any problems there, they had baths and did not come to too much harm. The adult drama of Frith and the way in which it was filtered through the childish perceptions of its narrators, often relayed through overheard conversations, was a highlight. So much of the story of Amy and Lan is like that: children and adults working and laughing and dancing in a world of their own.

Sadie Jones has really captured the mind of the child, free of preoccupations with money and jobs and focussing on relationships. The Financial Times and its journalism are subject to a self-regulation regime under the FT Editorial Code of Practice.It is not to be read as a comment on the viability of communal living – there being at least as much good as bad in Frith. I finished ‘Amy and Lan’ wanting to know how they adapted/enjoyed/survived the next ten years of their lives. An orphaned calf (“Gabriella Christmas”) arrives one December, a gift from a neighbour, nursed indoors for months by Lan and Amy. We get clues to what are the issues with the adults through their childish observations, which they patently do not understand.

You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Both families had left their city lives and rented a farm just before they were born, along with a third family and a couple of others. However, this perspective also subtly introduced darker elements as the children grew older; money difficulties, external influences such as school and the holiday makers, mental health issues, and betrayal. I adored Finpbar’s character, although had a small part in the book, he obviously was being cared or by the Frith Community, and the book portrayed traditional community support values, which took me back to the village I grew up in - everyone knew everybody, but also helped each other out. Gifted by Vintage and the Reading Agency* Amy and Lan is both an amusing and tragic presentation of rural life in the mid-late 2000s.Themes of growing up and losing the innocence of childhood are woven into the story, along with the difficulties of friendships. I also felt the city outsiders that visited frith, disrespectful and ignorant of rural life, lacked depth and felt heavy-handed in their implementation.