Episode 1

Enthusiastic new librarian Sylvia Blackwell shakes up the tight-knit community of East Mole.

Salley Vickers' lyrical tribute to the power of children's literature - as she casts her clear psychoanalytic gaze on small town, post-war England.

Economic uncertainty and a growing dissatisfaction with old class distinctions cause friction as a recent library graduate comes to a new town determined to open the world of literature to all the local children.

Read by Barbara Flynn.

Abridged in ten parts by the author.

Salley Vickers is the acclaimed author of 'Miss Garnet's Angel', 'Where Three Roads Meet' and 'Dancing Backwards'.

Producer: Eilidh McCreadie

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2018.