This book absolutely exhausted me. But by the end I knew I enjoyed it
despite that fact; there is something utterly heartwarming about this
memoir.
Jeanne has been a city girl for a long time. Single in
her late thirties, she finds herself in a relationship with a man a
decade or so her senior but the relationship works and she finds herself
wanting other things. Alex is a pretty easy going guy too so when she
gets the "farm dream" in her head, he's right there with her helping to
look for a piece of property in which to go homestead on. Him and his
poodle that is; one of Jeanne's greatest bewilderments with Alex is the
fact that he likes poodles. They do find a farm though and start a
great adventure, involving locals, groundhogs, stubborn brush, and a
myriad of other things that city girl just wouldn't expect.
Jeanne
is very fair to the people she describes. In fact, her neighbors sound
like the best people on earth and she is very lucky to have them. I'm
jealous in fact, I would love to have neighbors like that. Maybe one
day, or maybe you just have to be in a rural area, it's hard to say.
She also doesn't hold back on her affection for Alex either. It's plain
to see that they both appreciate and love each other and that's
special. Even her love for the animals comes right out of the pages.
You feel very close to the people and animals and can definitely picture
them in real life.
Her writing style is a bit wacky. As I said
before the book made me exhausted and that's because the voice of the
book was like an overexcited five year old. It jumped from topic to
topic in a stream of consciousness and it was all I could do to keep up.
I wasn't overly thrilled with that kind of writing style, but Jeanne
was so open that I couldn't help but like her anyway. And I loved the
way she did the ending, I very much appreciated the epilogue of sorts
she provided. Since the book covers a year or so of her life I thought
it was the appropriate length. A lot happened in that time and while
the book could have been dull, it wasn't because she was able to make
her activities sound exciting, even if they were as mundane as planting
grass seed.
A hyper active book but one that's a good read and inspiring. Jeanne makes me want to have a farm of my own again someday.
Fifty Acres and a Poodle
Copyright 2000
272 pages
I'm not sure I'm ready for a hyperactive book although it does sound like a good story.
ReplyDeleteAnn
It was a good story. If you're looking for something a little more mellow though, Hit by a Farm by Catherine Friend is a good homesteading memoir. Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDelete