Many of his stories depict life in the rural Midlands of England, particularly his native Northamptonshire. After leaving school, he was briefly a newspaper reporter and a warehouse clerk, but his heart was always in writing and his dream to be able to make a living by his pen. He was born in Rushden, Northamptonshire and was educated at Kettering Grammar School. His study of the Modern Short Story is considered one of the best ever written on the subject. It should not be overlooked, however, that he also wrote some outstanding novels, starting with The Two Sisters through to A Moment in Time, with such works as Love For Lydia, Fair Stood the Wind for France and The Scarlet Sword earning high praise from the critics.

Herbert Ernest Bates, CBE is widely recognised as one of the finest short story writers of his generation, with more than 20 story collections published in his lifetime. and his and the Larkins' secret is “that they live as many of us would like to live if only we had the guts and nerve to flout the conventions.' He tried writing a brief tale based on the family, but soon decided that he couldn’t waste such a rich gallery of characters to a short story.' Pop is a wonderful character who hates pomp, pretension and humbug loves his family, but doesn’t hesitate to break a few rules. Bates, speaking of how he was inspired to create the Larkin family, recalled the real junkyard that he often passed near his home in Kent and he remembered seeing a family - a father, mother and many children, sucking at ice-creams and eating crisps in a 'ramshackle lorry that had been recently painted a violent electric blue'.

The Chromicles comprise all five of the immensely popular series of comic novels consisting of ‘The Darling Buds of May’ (1958), ‘A Breath of French Air’ (1959), ‘When the Green Woods Laugh’ (1960), ‘Oh! To Be in England’ (1963), and ‘A Little of What You Fancy’ (1970). The Pop Larkin Chronicles appeared as an omnibus edition in 1991 around the time of the successful Yorkshire Television series in which David Jason played Pop Larkin, with Pam Ferris as Ma, and featuring Philip Franks and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

The pop larkin chronicles