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Overall Summary
The book All Creatures Great and Small is based on the real life experiences of a veterinarian named James Herriot. He wrote this book because he wanted to share all of his amazing stories with people, including the most memorable animals that he had ever met. The author also wanted to show how resilient humans are in times of hardship, as well as their capacity for compassion and kindness. This book was published in the United States in 1972, and it became an instant hit because it resonated so strongly with readers who could relate to its themes about human nature. It has since been adapted into two popular movies (in 1975 and 1976) as well as a television series that ran from 1978-1980 on BBC America.
All Creatures Great and Small takes place in the Yorkshire Dales during the early years of James Herriot’s life as a veterinarian. The book is told through anecdotes about his experiences with animals, farmers, and other clients. It opens at a time when he was just beginning to work for Siegfried Farnon (and working out of Skeldale House). He quickly learns that Siegfried has a disorganized practice style, but soon becomes used to it. Miss Harbottle helps run the business side of things by keeping track of patients’ medical records and billing information. She also tries her best to keep Siegfried organized so they can continue running their very successful practice. However, sometimes she struggles because there are many humorous stories about how much trouble he gets himself into while practicing medicine on his own terms—for example, treating an animal with unconventional methods instead of following standard procedures or testing new drugs on animals before using them on humans. While most people think this is dangerous, Herriot admires these farmers for being able to make ends meet in such harsh conditions.
Although Herriot finds the Dales beautiful, he has a hard time adapting to the harsh winters. However, he comes to appreciate the beauty of the snowy countryside as spring and summer come around. As his career advances, he becomes essential to his business partners and helps them with their personal conflicts. Siegfried is very different in personality from Tristan; however, James respects Siegfried for his knowledge about animals and how seriously he takes his job. He becomes friends with Tristan who likes to play pranks on both James and his less funny brother. Tristan helps him with romantic relationships by introducing him to people around town such as Mrs Pumphrey (an eccentric woman).
Herriot winds up being named Tricki’s honorary uncle which liven up an otherwise challenging life in the Dales
The latter part of the novel follows Herriot as he falls in love with Helen Alderson, a farmer’s daughter. He meets her when he’s treating one of the farm animals and quickly becomes infatuated with her. To get to know her better, he joins a music society and eventually finds the courage to ask her on a date at an expensive hotel restaurant. The date goes terribly wrong, but she still asks him out again for another date at a movie theater. This time is also beset by mishaps, but Helen still expresses interest in seeing James again. Soon they’re seeing each other regularly and James proposes marriage to Helen, who happily accepts his proposal because she doesn’t mind that their honeymoon will be spent touring around so James can test local cows for tuberculosis during their wedding season. At the end of the novel, Siegfried makes Herriot his partner in practice because it’s clear that this is what Herriot wants most from life.
