The theme of constant, relentless change is a key element in the series, as Garner's villagers try to maintain local traditions in the face of upheaval.

Progress strands the elderly by making their skills obsolete. Like the rest of the world, Chorley is steadily moving away from the familiar values of the past toward the impersonal standards of modern mass society. But if change is one of Garner's themes, stability is another. Members of the family remain profoundly loyal to their surroundings and to their class, their fortunes perpetually tied to those of their neighbors, the Allmans and Leahs. Everyone grows up knowing the same stories, landmarks, hills, and fields. By the end of the series so much has happened at some of the key places—St. Philip's and the chapel at Chorley, Glaze Hill and the jackacre at Lizzie Leah's—that...