Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and James Herriot for the advance audio copy of "All Things Bright and Beautiful" for my honest review.

What a delightful story. The narration by Nicholas Ralph really makes the book come to life too! The story continues the life of James Herriot as a newly married Veterinarian living in Yorkshire, Scotland. I so enjoyed the characters. The names are changed, but based on real life individuals. The story is filled with Mr. Herriot's journeys filled with struggles and great humor.

I was so pleased to receive this for review as a fan of the series. I downloaded the Net Galley app and it would not work . i was unable to listen to the audio but I am sure this rendition of this timeless well loved book is wonderful and its no fault of the author . This is a outstanding series that all animal lovers will enjoy hearing on tape.

James Herriot was the pseudonym for a vet who wrote with warmth, humor and insight about his experiences learning how to do his job and to get along with his animal patients and their owners. There was a TV series made based on these titles a number of years ago and a new series is set to air in the U.S. early in the new year. (It has already been seen in Britain).

This title is the second of Herriot’s memoirs and it is every bit as engaging as the first. If you are looking for a gentle escape from daily life, look no further. This very well narrated title will offer you hours of escape to another time.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

Audiobook Reviews: All Creatures Great and Small, and, All Things Bright and Beautiful (All Creatures Great and Small, Parts #1-4) by James Herriot, Nicholas Ralph (Narrator)
(Published by Macmillan Audio, November 17, 2020)

5.0 Stars, twice!

James Herriot's tales was one of those series of books you just couldn't get enough of from way back when, and it was a sad event to reach the last page of that final chapter.

And now...

Audiobook narration, flow and production: Superb! The audiobook performance vividly brings to life the fabled exploits of Mr. Herriot underscored by the Yorkshire Dales accent and dialect of the actual voices of the production cast headed by Nicholas Ralph, star of the upcoming 2020-2021 PBS Masterpiece Christmas special and remake of 1978-1990 BBC comedy drama, in celebration of the 5oth anniversary of the publication of the first book.

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Darrowby, North Riding, Yorkshire, England, circa 1937.

A penniless Scotsman travels for an interview to Yorkshire, England. James Herriot of Glasgow, recently qualified aspiring veterinary surgeon gets hired to join the country vet practice of Siegfried Farnon at Skeldale House on Trengate.

Also joining the practice as a reluctant apprentice is freewheeling student /brother Tristan Farnon, who garners the care of a chicken coop and pigsty as one of his first solemn duties. Driving around in the ancient chuggy Austin assigned to James, the younger duo often team up in shared exploits with invariably disastrous results, such as when they operate on a prized cow disregarding the advice of their gifted but mercurial 30-year old boss.

"God's own country." - Nigel Farndale

Book 1 goes through the adventures of the three-person practice as they deal with Dalesmen farmers, generally men of goodwill, immensely proud of both their county and identity, and, moreover, noted to be formidable burly stockmen - some of whom would faint at the first sight of blood "...especially the super-boisterous and confident types...".

"The major never pays anyone a penny..." - James Herriot

At Skeldale House, the monthly settlement of accounts with famously tightwad Dales farmers is a painful monthly ceremony although the good-natured vets often forego payment for many tasks. As the saying goes, "a Yorkshireman is a Scotsman (legendary tightwads) with all the generosity squeezed out of him".

The practice also has townsfolk clientele, notably Mrs. Pumphrey, the childless local contessa who adopts as her own offspring a Pekingese, Tricki Woo, and later on, a piglet, Nugent.

The vets scramble with limited resources in those times of the '30-40s, with advancements in medicine and medical technology years away. But even in somber moments, you could feel that perennial chuckle just a page away.

At the end of Book 1, Herriot meets farmer's daughter, Helen Alderson, takes her on a disastrous first date, Dales-style. They eventually get married.

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Book 2 entertains with more unique chapters, mostly accompanied with demonstrations of unconditional love for animals and general cheer, highlighted by a taste of Dales cricket, with far fielders off the slope of a steep crest, out of sight as they wait for the cricket gods to have a ball wobble their way, right out of the sky.

We see the culmination of an era in the Yorkshire Dales practice, as the partner veterinarian surgeons are called to duty with the Royal Air Force.

. "If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then .
animals are better off than a lot of humans." - James Herriot

What an exclamatory and fitting end to a year of reading! I had the utmost privilege to receive an advance reading copy of both audiobooks, and re-read a vivid, theatrical narration of one of the favorites of my reading youth, generous ladles of good cheer and bonhomie, chicken soup for the tired soul in this day of noise and haste, the good-heartedness of that plucky young vet and his comrades. And the brilliant writing of British Veterinary Surgeon, James Alfred Wight, a/k/a James Herriot, OBE FRCVS, 1916-1995.

A collector's item, highly recommended!

Review based on Audiobook ARCs from Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley.

This book is like a warm hug, which I think we could all use right now. This lovely memoir is the perfect antidote to the current hideous election trauma. Highly recommended for the perfect escape to the beautiful Yorkshire landscape and a simpler time.

Another great collection of vet stories! Herriot is a great storyteller and conveys the day to day of being a country vet with humor and heart. I loved getting to know the various people and animals in the area a little better and learned a few things about animals I didn't know.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot
Narrated by: Nicholas Ralph
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Description from NetGalley...
“The second volume in the multimillion copy bestselling series.

Millions of readers and listeners have delighted in the wonderful storytelling and everyday miracles of James Herriot in the fifty years since his animal stories were first introduced to the world.

All Things Bright and Beautiful is the beloved sequel to Herriot's first collection, All Creatures Great and Small, and picks up as Herriot, now newly married, journeys among the remote hillside farms and valley towns of the Yorkshire Dales, caring for their inhabitants—both two- and four-legged. Throughout, Herriot's deep compassion, humor, and love of life shine as we laugh, cry, and delight in the portraits of his many varied animal patients and their equally varied owners.”
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Thank you to @NetGalley @macmillan.audio @macmillanusa @stmartinspress for the audiobook in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts...
This is the second audiobook of “The Warm and Joyful Memoirs of the World's Most Beloved Animal Doctor,” Dr. James Herriot. Once again Nicholas Ralph did a brilliant job narrating and I was at a lost after I’ve finished listening to this.😢 There were a few more dog stories here, which were a mixture of heartbreaks and triumphants. Again, the veterinary adventures were very medically detailed and graphic, but were so interesting. I could probably help with calfing now (or maybe not). All the other characters were endearing and of course the animals were all adorable. I cannot wait for the series on @masterpiecepbs - and I’m excited because Samuel West will be in there as well and I think he’s such a great actor.

I returned to the Yorkshire Dells and to Herriot’s story, shared once again through Nicholas Ralph’s narration, and to the many other characters that fill these pages - James, Siegfried, and all the cast and characters of the town, pigs, horses, dogs, cats, and, of course, Tristan.

’...I think the Gods love people like Tristan who sway effortlessly before the winds of fate and spring back with a smile, looking on life always with blithe optimism.’

Tristan reminds me a bit of Paul, in A River Runs Through It. Charming to almost all, Tristan has no real plan for life, except to enjoy it to the fullest. His lackadaisical attitude annoys Siegfried endlessly, while James seems to find more merit in his potential, but still recognizes that Tristan needs to get more serious about his life, especially after James has been made a partner in the practice, and is now married to Helen.

From visits to farm after farm, the families struggling to keep their animals healthy, some amusing struggles to wrangle bigger ones, and other, sadder, struggles to keep their livestock healthy that don’t succeed, this is life in pre-World War II in Yorkshire. Some of the people who are in All Creatures Great and Small are heard from again, as well as some new ones, and several new dogs and cats that come to join families in the village. Siegfried expounds frequently on all matters that frustrate him, the people and situations that cause this frustration, even when they aren’t exactly factual. Herriot’s thoughts and stories seem to focus on Helen, and his work, offering some thoughts on the joys of new discoveries through his work.

’“That ewe's life had been saved not by medicinal therapy but simply by stopping her pain and allowing nature to do its own job of healing. It was a lesson I have never forgotten; the animals confronted with severe continuous pain and the terror and shock that goes with it will often retreat even into death, and if you can remove that pain amazing things can happen. It is difficult to explain rationally but I know that it is so.’

As this second installment in this series wraps up, Herriot joins the RAF and must leave with the war closing in, and Helen will leave to stay with her parents through her pregnancy. This story will continue in All Things Wise and Wonderful, and I’m looking forward to the next one.

‘We didn’t know when, if ever, we would see each other again yet neither of us had said a word...I wanted to thank him for being a friend as well as a boss, for teaching me so much, for never letting me down. There were other things, too, but I never said them.’

I thoroughly enjoyed, once again, the additional charm that Nicolas Ralph added through his excellent narration.


Published: 17 Nov 2020

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Macmillan Audio

I loved these books as a child and this chance to revisit them in this time of global uncertainty is priceless. As beautiful, uplifting and life affirming as I remembered

historical, hilarious, Yorkshire, veterinarian, memoir, nonfiction, 1930s, short-stories, rural, village*****

I can't think why I haven't read this marvelous book before! It's a lot of fun and I like the way he tells how it was when he was starting out in practice but also how the improvements in veterinary medicine have helped the domesticated animals. He relates his own foibles as he deals with the varied human characters as well as the others.
This program is read by Nicholas Ralph, star of the new PBS Masterpiece series and his interpretation is wonderful! I love listening to him as he portrays Herriot and everyone else.
I requested and received a free audio copy from MacMillan Audio via NetGalley. Thank you!