Chickens In The Road: An Adventure In Ordinary Splendor (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
Suzanne McMinn wants to live on a farm. That fact that she has no idea how to manage a farm and grew up outside Washington DC does not deter her, so after her divorce she moves herself and her three children to a farm in West Virginia, where her father spent his early years.This is the story of her many attempts to learn to farm, her hilarious encounters with animals she is determined to keep, and her efforts to make it all work despite a farm that is more hill than pasture, a location that means no mail and no school bus and no safe roads in winter, and various other challenges. She doesn't care if she doesn't know what she's doing, she just wants to do it. She wants to make candles and soap, can and preserve everything in sight that's edible, raise every possible kind of animal, and live entirely off the produce of her farm. She has no shame in describing her mishaps with goats that don't want to be milked, neighbors who don't want outsiders moving in, and a partner who becomes her nemesis. But in the end she succeeds, and finds herself the owner of a functioning farm, and a woman who can do just about everything laborious and difficult and dangerous her ancestors could do (and that's why they left the farm for the city).The author switched from writing romance novels to writing about her farm, and now manages to make her living as a columnist and workshop leader on all things agricultural. She is hilarious and smart in turns, and a totally enthralling guide to rural life. I was expecting a book about a woman finding herself on her farm. But it's about a woman who puts up with a verbally/emotionally abusive boyfriend for WAY TOO LONG because she wants to stay on her farm. For the first 90% of the book I wanted to slap both the author and her shitty boyfriend (referred to only as "52" in the book). Finally she gets her shit together and leaves his sorry ass and takes all her animals and finds herself on her own farm. FINALLY!
What do You think about Chickens In The Road: An Adventure In Ordinary Splendor (2013)?
I enjoyed glimpses into farm life. I didn't enjoy the 52 drama
—sonwabile
I read her blog. The book was very interesting.
—Deeanna
