Customer Reviews

The Milkweed Ladies

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Louise McNeill was the poet laureate of her home state of West Virginia, and this book is poetic in its evocation of the richness of rural life in that state. She makes you feel the variety and delight of nature, the security of family and friends, and the uncertainties of change. I reread this book about once a year, and I find it fresh and inspiring every time.

This is a lovely, short memoir written about growing up in small West Virginia community. It was part of my Appalachian studies/Folklore cirriculum. I enjoyed reading about the author's family, such as some of their family history, their connection to the farm that had been in their family for generations, the importance of family and community in their isolated town, and the heartbreaking ache of watching the beautiful land they loved being destroyed by timbering and pollution. It's not even so much of a political or environmental novel, so I don't want to give the wrong impression. It truly is a story of a family from the descriptions of her grandparents, the wildflowers on the farm, the old family graveyard, the town's only store, and the community gatherings at the churches and school. It also tells stories of how black raspberries saved the farm and how the mysterious contents of the author's father's sea trunk.

At matter fact, I enjoyed this book so much, I am planning to buy it for my mother and both of my sisters.