In a long distant youth, on a dusty library shelf,
I first discovered the works of H. E Bates.
‘Love for Lydia’ was my favourite book.
It told of a fabulous, unreachable world,
Of country houses and a sheltered, selfish girl
and how a boy at once is smitten
and journeys to eventual commitment.

I sent you an order across the web,
so I could re-read that book from my long distant youth,
So what, Dear Amazon, sparked in your inhuman head
and made you send me Jane Fonda’s ‘Love for Lycra’ instead.

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Love for Lydia is a semi-autobiographical novel written by British author H. E. Bates, first published in 1952.