At all times wonderfully evocative and poignant, Cider With Rosie is a charming memoir of Laurie Lee s childhood in a remote Cotswold village, a world that is tangibly real and yet reminiscent of a now distant past.In this idyllic pastoral setting, unencumbered by the callous father who so quickly abandoned his family responsibilities, Laurie s adoring mother becomes the centre of his world as she struggles to raise a growing family against the backdrop of the Great War.The sophisticated adult author s retrospective commentary on events is endearingly juxtaposed with that of the innocent, spotty youth, permanently prone to tears and self-absorption.Rosie s identity from the novel Cider with Rosie was kept secret for 25 years. She was Rose Buckland, Lee s cousin by marriage.