洛瑞•李（1914——1997）

英國著名作傢、詩人、編劇，被譽為“英國首屈一指的作傢”，榮獲大英帝國勛章、大西洋奬、作傢協會遊曆奬、威廉•福伊爾詩歌奬、W.H.史密斯父子奬等，眾多作品被公認為英語世界備受喜愛的旅行書籍。其迴憶錄代錶作《蘿西與蘋果酒》（1959）、《當我在一個仲夏清晨齣走》（1969）、《戰爭的一瞬間》（1991）閤稱為“自傳三部麯”，成為長銷不衰的經典作品。

另著有四捲詩集：《太陽是我的紀念碑》《蠟燭生光》《掌中詩》《我層層衣裝的男人》，其他作品包括《獻鼕日以玫瑰》《我無法停留太久》《兩個女人》等。2003年，洛瑞•李的手稿被收入大英博物館珍藏。

One of eight children, Laurie Lee was born in 1914, in Slad, Gloucestershire, then a remote corner of England. As his father was absent , the large family--five children from his father's first marriage and three from his second one was brought up by his capable mother. "We lived where he had left us; a relic of his provincial youth; a sprawling cumbersome, countrified brood too incongruous to carry with him; and I, for one, scarcely missed him. I was perfectly content in this world of women . . . bullied and tumbled through the hand-to-mouth days, patched or dressed-up, scolded, admired, swept off my feet in sudden passions of kisses, or dumped forgotten among the unwashed pots."

Lee's memoir opens when he was just a baby younger than three years old and ends as he becomes a young man experiencing his first kiss. "I turned to look at Rosie. She was yellow and dusty with buttercups and seemed to be purring in the gloom; her hair was rich as a wild bee's nest and her eyes were full of stings. I did not know what to do about her, nor did I know what not to do. She looked smooth and precious, a thing of unplumbable mysteries, and perilous as quicksand."

This beloved classic describes a lost world, a world reflecting the innocence and wonder of childhood, and illuminating an era without electricity or telephones. This is England on the cusp of the modern era, but it could have been anywhere. This may explain why Cider with Rosie became an instant bestseller when it was published in 1959, selling over six million copies in the UK alone, and continues to be read by children and adults all over the world.

A charming look at the loss of innocence into a world of understanding.- The Midwest Book Review