Book description
Fresh out of Veterinary College, and shoulder-deep in an uncooperative
cow, James Herriot's first job is not panning out exactly as expected .
. . To a Glaswegian like James, 1930s Yorkshire appears to offer an
idyllic pocket of rural life in a rapidly changing world. But even life
in the sleepy village of Darrowby has its challenges. On the one hand
there are his new colleagues, Siegfried and Tristan Farnon, two brothers
who attract a constant stream of local girls to whom James is strangely
invisible. On the other he must contend with herds of semi-feral cattle,
gruff farmers with incomprehensible accents and an overweight Pekingese
called Tricki Woo… Heartbreaking and hilarious in equal measure, If Only
They Could Talk is a book for all those who find laughter and joy in
animals, and who know and understand the magic and beauty of Britain's
wild places. 'Bulls with sunstroke, pigs on the run and a cake-eating
Peke with a betting habit . . . I grew up reading James Herriot's book
and I'm delighted that thirty years on they are still every bit as
charming, heartwarming and laugh-out-loud funny as they were then' Kate
Humble 'It's a pleasure to be in James Herriot's company' Observer
'After an evening among his tales, anyone with as much as a dog or a
budgerigar will feel he should move to Darrowby at once' Yorkshire Post
James Herriot grew up in Glasgow and qualified as a veterinary
surgeon at Glasgow Veterinary College. Shortly afterwards, he took up
a position as an assistant in a North Yorkshire practice where he
remained, with the exception of his wartime service in the RAF, until
his death in 1995.
