Daffodil Days by Helen Bain

In the early 1960s, in a small town near Dartmoor, the church bells ring. The people of North Tawton go about their days, catching glimpses of one another’s lives.

There’s the local GP, who knows more about his patients than he would sometimes prefer. There’s the young shop assistant at Kestrels, who understands that the ladies who come there for a new outfit sometimes hope to find a new self. There’s the tenant farm labourer who rings the tower bells at the church three times a week, the notes – harmonious and clashing – rippling out across the rooftops of the town.

Amid all these lives, a young couple move into focus. New to the town with their small daughter, they have escaped London for a quieter existence in the thatched house beside the church, Court Green. The life they intend to build here – out of fresh lino tiles, second-hand furniture painted with hearts and flowers, and expertly-cooked suppers for weekend guests – will be a good and happy one.

The Daffodil Days depicts a pivotal year in the marriage of 20th-century literature’s most infamous couple, witnessed by the people they lived among. It is a kaleidoscopic portrait of this enigmatic pair, refracted through the rich inner lives of a rural community caught – if only for a moment – in their light.

A mesmerising debut about two writers in a rural Devon town, seen through the eyes of the community around them

About the Author: Helen Bain works as a sub editor at the Financial Times (formerly at the Guardian, Vogue and Red). She received her PhD in creative writing from King’s College London, and holds two MA degrees from Birkbeck University in creative writing and modern/contemporary literature. She was chosen for The London Library Emerging Writer’s Programme 2020-21 and The Genesis Foundation Emerging Writers’ Programme 2022-23. She lives in Sussex, but has spent much time in North Tawton as part of her research. The Daffodil Days is her first novel.

12 Mar 2026
 

The Daffodil Days by Helen Bain ISBN 9781037203824