Rating: 
Summary: A magnificent testament to the vanishing farm era in America
Review: The mark of a great novel to me is that I don't want it to end. After reading most of "The Farm She Was," I found myself wishing it would go on past the thirty chapters. This magical book brings the rural farm period in American history into focus for me the way the camera frames a shot of my farmhouse in upstate New York. I walk this land every day and feel the pulses of those that lived here and farmed the land -- those that lived in Irene (Reeni) Leahy's world. It was the way of life that built this country and, despite a rebirth in recent years, it's a life that is now over. The testament Ann Mohin has written to the generations of Americans that walked the fields, suffered with the animals and toiled until dark, has a grandeur one would not expect from such a soft, delicate book. Though the ninety year-old Reeni is spunky, I thought I could relax and let her gentle memories wash over me. Then, something about the waves of reminiscences created an impact so powerful that I found myself weeping as I remembered my own relationships with father, mother, siblings and lovers."Yes, I close my eyes and inhale, and the years left in my life are still high in number," Reeni says at the end of Chapter 15. Is she talking about now, or is she talking about then? Is it then, the past -- you know, when Reeni was young -- or is it now when she's -- dare I say it -- old? Then I realize that the time confusion Mohin has created cleverly makes me, the reader, feel what the character is feeling. Reeni goes between the present and past like a bee choosing its flower. In the past she was the independent, self-sufficient master of her life, in the true American spirit. Now, with all good intentions,"they" are trying to take control and dare to tell her she should leave the farm, not knowing, as the title suggests, that Reeni and the farm are one. I'm also eager to find out how she's going to handle the situation. Someday I will grow older and someone will be trying to take things I cherish from me. So an amiable suspense exists in the story, like in any good mystery. There's another question that possesses me though, besides how Reeni solves her problem. Why does the end of the family-farm era strike such a chord in me, and so many others? For us, and for all those who aren't afraid of facing their own memories, this book is a must-read. --------------------------------------------------
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: This was a really good book to read - I definitely recommend it.
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