洛瑞•李（1914——1997）

英国著名作家、诗人、编剧，被誉为“英国首屈一指的作家”，荣获大英帝国勋章、大西洋奖、作家协会游历奖、威廉•福伊尔诗歌奖、W.H.史密斯父子奖等，众多作品被公认为英语世界备受喜爱的旅行书籍。其回忆录代表作《萝西与苹果酒》（1959）、《当我在一个仲夏清晨出走》（1969）、《战争的一瞬间》（1991）合称为“自传三部曲”，成为长销不衰的经典作品。

另著有四卷诗集：《太阳是我的纪念碑》《蜡烛生光》《掌中诗》《我层层衣装的男人》，其他作品包括《献冬日以玫瑰》《我无法停留太久》《两个女人》等。2003年，洛瑞•李的手稿被收入大英博物馆珍藏。

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