A review by emjay2021
The Woefield Poultry Collective by Susan Juby

4.0

I read the whole thing on an international flight and thoroughly enjoyed it. The situations and characters are slightly larger than life, but in a boisterous, good-hearted, effective way, not in an annoying try-hard way. Prudence, a Williamsburg hipster who dreams of running her own small sustainable organic farm, has her wish granted when her great-uncle dies and leaves her his rural Vancouver Island home. Although the farm definitely doesn't match what she had in mind, soon she has gathered a group of local misfits to help her transform it into the communal oasis she had envisioned: Earl, the elderly farm hand whom she inherits along with the property; Seth, the 21-year-old agoraphobic alcoholic who reluctantly agrees to work on the farm in exchange for room and board; Sara, the 11-year old who raises prize chickens and provides livestock advice.

This was a great holiday read that is warm and funny. I actually laughed out loud at one point, which I almost never do. It reminded me of early Miriam Toews--lighthearted with overall happy endings, but not afraid to address serious issues like addiction, estrangement, and neglectful/abusive parents.