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cheriekg's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
4.5
This was an intense read. You get taken on a ride through Schiller's deteriorating mental health and homesteading experience. She is a beautiful and brilliant writer and while there are pieces that didn't quite work for me during most of the book, the explanations arrive at the end.
katyferenczydakin's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.5
Not a bad book but definitely mis-sold. Much more about the authors mental health than about buying a smallhold. The repetitive nature of the book wasn’t for me this time.
emk's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
4.0
lizzieteareads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
sophie_paterson's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
fireintrouble05's review against another edition
4.0
“...I will think that while most people are made of 60% water, I am composed of smoke and mirrors largely held together with shame.”
The book gets off to an interesting start as we meet the author undergoing some kind of test. It is engaging because we want to know what it’s about. The author makes it clear how she feels about the test with vivid descriptions and staccatoed thoughts. In them we learn that she maintains a plot of land in the country, though it is unclear, to both the reader and the writer, if that is what is keeping her sane, or if it is the reason she is unraveling. As we learn more about the daily chores, local wildlife, and what flowers and vegetables are in season, it becomes apparent that the author’s mental health is in decline. The author’s struggles on the farm, and with various members of her family, are reflected in her hunt for a medical diagnosis. She spends long hours down internet rabbit holes, researching the history (or, more accurately, the herstory) of the land, a way to distract herself from the unknown diagnosis, while at the same time, growing closer to the land and its past.
This book hooked me with its illustrative writing style, doing an excellent job of showing, not telling, both in the garden and in regards to her mental state. The author’s anxiety is palpable in both her uncontrolled outbursts and runaway, occasionally self-berating, thoughts. I enjoyed the repetitive elements of defining words and their origins, and how they tied neatly to the topic at hand. I breezed through this book in a matter of hours, needing to know her diagnosis, as though it would make me feel better about what's going on in my own brain, because much what she recounts is very relatable. I did get lost in the weeds towards the end, which seems like the writer’s diagnosis rearing its ugly head. The pace changes, becoming choppy prose and then lengthy narrative. It’s over in a few pages, but it did sour my opinion just the tiniest bit of an otherwise fascinating book of what life is like living with an undiagnosed mental condition.
This book might be appreciated by those familiar with the Back to Land Movement, more recent works on the topic include Melissa Coleman’s memoir This Life is in Your Hands and Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. This book also sparked some similarities to Sylvia Plath.
The book gets off to an interesting start as we meet the author undergoing some kind of test. It is engaging because we want to know what it’s about. The author makes it clear how she feels about the test with vivid descriptions and staccatoed thoughts. In them we learn that she maintains a plot of land in the country, though it is unclear, to both the reader and the writer, if that is what is keeping her sane, or if it is the reason she is unraveling. As we learn more about the daily chores, local wildlife, and what flowers and vegetables are in season, it becomes apparent that the author’s mental health is in decline. The author’s struggles on the farm, and with various members of her family, are reflected in her hunt for a medical diagnosis. She spends long hours down internet rabbit holes, researching the history (or, more accurately, the herstory) of the land, a way to distract herself from the unknown diagnosis, while at the same time, growing closer to the land and its past.
This book hooked me with its illustrative writing style, doing an excellent job of showing, not telling, both in the garden and in regards to her mental state. The author’s anxiety is palpable in both her uncontrolled outbursts and runaway, occasionally self-berating, thoughts. I enjoyed the repetitive elements of defining words and their origins, and how they tied neatly to the topic at hand. I breezed through this book in a matter of hours, needing to know her diagnosis, as though it would make me feel better about what's going on in my own brain, because much what she recounts is very relatable. I did get lost in the weeds towards the end, which seems like the writer’s diagnosis rearing its ugly head. The pace changes, becoming choppy prose and then lengthy narrative. It’s over in a few pages, but it did sour my opinion just the tiniest bit of an otherwise fascinating book of what life is like living with an undiagnosed mental condition.
This book might be appreciated by those familiar with the Back to Land Movement, more recent works on the topic include Melissa Coleman’s memoir This Life is in Your Hands and Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. This book also sparked some similarities to Sylvia Plath.