"Us, and our donkey"

The story opens with a lively, self‑aware young girl who has just lost her mother and is forced to recount her family's abrupt move from the outskirts of London to a remote Lincolnshire village. Through her witty, slightly rambling diary voice we meet her clergyman father, her mischievous brothers Denys and Aylwin, and the over‑bearing rector's wife, all while she jokes about being forgetful and disdainful of needlework. Her candid reflections on grief, poverty, and the chaos of packing create a vivid portrait of a household in transition.

Soon the village’s quirks begin to surface—a bustling market, a travelling gypsy camp, and, most importantly, a stubborn donkey that the children adopt as a companion. The narrator promises a series of capers—from a rickety chariot race to a night‑time rescue—each episode reflecting her growing confidence and the bonds forming with neighbors and siblings alike. Readers are invited to follow her bright, irreverent commentary as she learns what it means to belong in a place that feels both strange and home.