Rest Assured

Now that Matthew Taylor has a telephone and a car named Betsy to help his young business, he keeps selling policies for Premier Assurance across the bleak, open country of the North York Moors. At home, his wife Evelyn takes driving lessons so she can work as a supply teacher, which leaves the question of who will mind their baby, Paul. Life in Delverdale is changing after the war, though not without friction. One resident will not give up his outdoor privy, a neighbour's new lavatory in the back lane is wrecked by a stolen car, and a newcomer who cannot tell left from right wants cover for his model aeroplanes. Crocky Morris, the well-liked and clumsy pot seller from the earlier book, returns, and Matthew's makeshift office outside a village pub on market day draws a colourful crowd of clients.