Everyman’s Rules for Scientific Living

This was fun. Very raunchy, which other reviews of this title seem to ignore. To begin with I thought it was science fiction: the ‘better farming train’ makes its way through 1930’s Australia, laden with scientific experts to teach the farmers how to grow more wheat and their wives how to have more, and fatter, babies. But apparently there really was one. You can read about it in an interview with the author, Carrie Tiffany. There’s a quirkiness about the book and a naivety about the narrator which is quite charming. The events of the story are actually quite tragic, but the lightness of the writing ensures that it isn’t depressing. It’s set in Australia with flashbacks to Yorkshire. Curiously, I read it on a train in Yorkshire. A strange and delightful read.