As a farm girl
transplanted to a city, I have apt memories of the pleasures and
absurdities of farm life as well as an understanding of how a city
dweller would view such situations. The author has the ability to
describe, with extreme accuracy and humour, farm situations and the
city dweller's reaction. The main character inherits a small farm
that is unproductive and heavily in debt from her uncle. She tries,
through extreme positivity, several insane schemes to make money but
settles on a bluegrass festival.
The detailed
descriptions in this novel are so perfect. For example, “ [a]fter a
minute or two, a chicken emerged. It walked with an odd
back-and-forth motion that reminded me of a heartbeat. I gasped when
it cleared the cage because it was no regular chicken. It had a
glossy black body and a head topped with an elaborate arrangement of
white feathers, like the sort of hat a British aristocrat might wear
to a wedding.” (page 117)
And “the sheep at the
fair were spotlessly white and soft and fluffy – like summer
clouds. And so docile! They allowed their owners to lead them around
without any argument at all. No kicking, no bleating, no trying to
pull on the rope and run away. They were half an step away from being
pillows.” (246)
While
the content and the writing style of this novel is light and
inconsequential it made me laugh out loud several times and left me
smiling. Not every author can accomplish that. I highly recommend
this novel.
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