Although some readers may argue this is an anti-feminist piece of writing, I really enjoyed this quiet, beautifully written memoir of a young woman being raised on a farm in the English Lake District, and the way she shines a light on the day-to-day realities of pastoral living. Helen Rebanks is married to James Rebanks, Oxford scholar, author, renowned sheep farmer, and conservator of the land. Together, they have four children and co-own their cattle and sheep farm, a life Ms. Rebanks never planned on living until she met this man who was different from all the others: he was a reader and a thinker, and he was deeply mindful of the world around him. This memoir, then, is not a call to conserve and to practice stewardship of the land, but rather it is a personal narrative of what it means to be an invisible manager of a busy household where stress and tensions build with each approaching deadline and with each new calendar page of the coming seasons. Constructed by looking back and looking forward, and including 50 recipes related to her stories, Helen Rebanks recounts details of growing up in a close, rural community steeped with childhood friends, co-workers, in-laws, and relatives as she and James navigate living the student life in Oxford, remodeling rundown houses and barns, and raising toddlers, all while trying to maintain a workable marriage. To her credit, Rebanks is unafraid of raising the curtain on the life she has chosen: she shares example after example of her loneliness and uncertainty, while fearlessly forging ahead to a future that may - or may not - be the one she envisioned while growing up in the Cumbrian countryside. In the end, however, this book is filled with hope as witnessed by the author’s belief that good things happen, and they always start in the heart of the home.
not upsessed
Whitecat