4.5 out of 5 stars
On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads
How I discovered this book: Various book blogs, including Sally Cronin
In a Nutshell: Human drama and cultural changes, fiction based on fact, 1960s
I was attracted to this book because I just loved the title, which I find poetic and rather beautiful.
The story centres around Sheldon Poor Farm in Vermont, which did actually exist, as I read about in the author's notes in the back. Hazel and her husband Paul run the farm in rural Vermont; here, they take in those who might otherwise have had nowhere else to go, aside from possibly a mental institution. It has existed in several incarnations for some decades, but in 1968 it faces closure.
The book opens with the arrival of the Claire, who is clearly in the throes of a mental breakdown of sorts, which has been taking place for some time. Hazel takes the uncommunicative mystery woman under her wing.
The first half of the book alternates between the points of view of Hazel and Claire, as we learned what happened to the latter to bring her to this point in her life. Later, we travel back to 1927 to learn about the heartbreaking story of Hazel's childhood, and how she recovers from disaster after disaster, loss after loss.
The story is so well structured; the author provides background just at the right point, setting up the intrigue and allowing the different elements and timeframes to weave together perfectly. I was so aware of the difference between Claire and Hazel's lives; Claire knew all about the changing culture of 1967 and 68, whereas in Sheldon Poor Farm life ticked by as it always had done, aside from when the residents were allowed to watch television and see some of the horrors taking place in the world, such as the murders of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy.
Lovely book. I definitely recommend.
