50 pages • 1 hour read
All Things Bright and Beautiful: The Warm and Joyful Memoirs of the World's Most Beloved Animal Doctor
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Chapters 1-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes depictions of substance use, animal cruelty, illness, and death.
Chapter 1 Summary
One night, James Herriot, who goes by “Jim,” gets into bed with his wife Helen and thinks about all that he is grateful for. It’s winter in Darrowby, the town in the Yorkshire Dales where he lives, and it is very cold. Jim is grateful that ever since he married Helen, he has someone to keep him warm.
A phone call from local farmer Harold Ingledew interrupts Jim’s peaceful reverie. Harold needs help with a ewe. Jim is one of the Darrowby veterinarians and often gets calls at odd hours. He tears himself out of his warm bed and heads into town. Harold is drunk when they meet up and sings loudly throughout the interaction. Jim tries to temper his annoyance while helping the ewe, who’s having trouble giving birth. However, his happiness returns when he successfully delivers the lambs. On the way back home to Skeldale House, he remembers his blessings and rejoins Helen in bed.
Chapter 2 Summary
Jim and Helen live at the top of Skeldale House. The veterinary surgery is below. Jim’s boss Siegfried Farnon and his brother
