This Life Is In Your Hands: One Dream, Sixty Acres, And A Family Undone (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
As a former aspiring organic farmer who was inspired by Eliot Coleman's Four Season Harvest and New Organic Grower, when I saw this book I *had* to read it.As a memoir by Eliot Coleman's oldest daughter, this book is written with incredible maturity, sensitivity and empathy for both her parents, when she could have easily demonized one or both of them. Melissa Coleman rises above what could be labeled a uniquely unstable and traumatic childhood and finds a reason to celebrate at every turn - if not her life, then for the Life that surrounded and nurtured her. Stability, predictability, comfort, and beauty came from Nature, the farm, and the unquestioning, all-accepting "hippie-love" of farm apprentices and neighbors, and while this is described poignantly and eloquently, it does not eclipse the need for the nuclear family stability and love that she lacked as a young child. Coleman shows an incredible awareness of this imbalance, and nothing feels glossed over. A real, moving, heartbreaking, and hopeful memoir. Young and idealistic, the author's parents buy 60 acres and decide to "live off the land" in rural Maine. They build a tiny house that does not have modern plumbing or electricity, and begin to clear land and plant gardens using no power tools or tractors. This is the story about how their dreams unravel, and the hard lessons they learned. After reading this book, I am furious at the author's father for the way he treated her mother, and saddened at how women just accepted their lot, believing that something was wrong with them if they couldn't stand childcare and endless cooking and cleaning 24/7.
What do You think about This Life Is In Your Hands: One Dream, Sixty Acres, And A Family Undone (2011)?
"Depiction of the back-to-the-land movement as seen through a child's eye"
—Dazia
A real eye-opener for those who imagine an idyllic life in on a farm.
—achyuth
enjoyed the last quarter but hard slog to get there
—Bitterblue
