Building a New World Order: A $500 House in Detroit

I wanted to read Drew Philp's book A $500 House in Detroit  because he, like so many other young people, have returned to the city to make it home, to help establish a new city, a better city. Like the young man at my hair salon who bought a house in Brightmoor, who, starting from scratch, is making a new kind of house for a new generation.

Philp came from a rural area of Michigan, from generations of people who worked with their hands. He attended University of Michigan but was repulsed by the values and life style of wealth. He wanted something different, more authentic. Instead of taking a high salary job he wanted to find a life with meaning. He moved to Detroit and worked sanding floors, a 'token white' for an African American company, becoming their public face when selling in the suburbs.

When Philp bought his Poletown house at auction for $500 it was an empty shell--well, empty but for piles of human waste and the sawed off front end of a car.  Philp worked all day and restored his house all night. When he moved in he had no heat; it was a brutal winter without even hot water. It nearly broke his spirit and his health.

When we saw 'gentrification' in Philly, when people were moving in and restoring grand old homes, or factories being put to new use as housing, the city was not as far gone as Detroit. It seems like this is something new--Neighborhoods literally turned into 'urban prairie' with a few houses here and there, cut off from city services and protection. And kids like a twenty-three-year-old Philp deciding to move in and start from scratch.

And that 'scratch' includes community. Philp's heart-warming stories of acceptance and integration into the existing community is enviable. For few of us in the 'burbs know our neighbors anymore. The block parties of my youth and the mothers all looking out for the kids are things of the past.

Philp's book was eye opening on so many levels, including his history of Detroit's fall, the politics of corruption, the inequity that began long ago with 'urban renewal', and the value system of consumerism and business profit is well presented.

I communicated with Philp and he graciously answered some questions I posed.

Nancy: Few people have the will to live an authentic life based on values that are in tension with social expectations. I was wondering if you would talk about that.

Philp: I think much of my generation wants to live authentically, and in fact, I think it's the defining trait of the millennials. What I don't think we understand yet is how to do so. I was lucky. I had a background where I learned how to build physical things from an early age, and stumbled upon a community that could help encourage and transform those skills. For me, living an authentic life meant building a house. For others it's likely different.

But the underlying principle is we're looking to build a better world, one free from all kinds of coercion, that recognizes the interconnection of all different kinds of people and issues. You can see inklings of experiments like this in movements such as Occupy Wall Street and the camps at Standing Rock--they've been maligned for not having a dedicated plan, but I think that isn't the point. The point is to build community, a real one, and a new world, a better one. The kids at Occupy were doing it right there in the park, in practice, rather than begging a wealthy, disconnected politician to do it for them. I'm trying to do the same with my house and community.

Nancy: You have the rare ability to see beyond the surface: you don't just see a product, you see how it was manufactured and the implications on human lives and the environment. Where did this awareness come from?

Philp: I think I was pushed by circumstances. I've watched my countrymen and women die in wars nearly my entire life, at least one of which was built on lies. I've seen, in Detroit and elsewhere, people starving and homeless in "the greatest country on earth." I've taught in prisons where there is little to no rehabilitation going on, and the privatization of incarceration, the making money from locking people in cages. I've seen eight, just eight now, men owning half as much wealth as 50 percent of the world...the list goes on.

I feel I've been lied to very deeply, by my government, by society, by culture, and I've seen it with my own eyes, and had to begin looking for my own answers. They've led me to a startling place. From the clothing on our bodies to the pipes running through our homes, much of our comfort has been built on the near slavery of workers in the global South and environmental degradation the world over.

Nancy: I appreciated the sense of community that you describe in Detroit. Few communities behave like family any more. Can this be patterned in other communities?

Philp: I would argue that community is always important, we can just temporarily mask that need with longing for perceived safety and consumer culture, for example. There's a lot of ennui happening in the supposedly wonderful suburbs and McMansions. People aren't as happy as they pretend to be. In Detroit we're not all that special in finding community--we've just faced the problems longer than anyone else, and by virtue of time, have had longer to find the answers.

As to participation in community, I think it's what my generation is looking for above all else. Fulfillment comes from authentic life, which comes through community. Many of us have grown up in faceless suburbs, divorced from any meaningful culture, sense of belonging, and are very, very lonely. People have been moving back to cities to find a sense not only of selves but their history and connection to others. If the US continues down this road of fascism and cruelty, we're going to see an explosion of it.

Nancy: Everyone is rooting for Detroit to be the come-back kid but I know too many neighborhoods do not enjoy benefits from the growth of trendy restaurants or boutiques. Do you think that Detroit's past is it's future, with areas attracting suburbanites for play vs. areas of neglect and poverty?

Philp: I think that is what the grassroots in Detroit is fighting against. As I mention in the book, the only real failure Detroit can undergo in moving forward is not trying anything new. We have an amazing opportunity to become, as strange as it sounds, the city of the future. The grassroots in Detroit is attempting to solve global problems on the local level-- i.e., climate change, which we won't be getting too much help from the current federal administration--and paradoxically, Detroit has solutions to offer. Hopefully we can stave off the big money and current thinking in our own city to give them as a gift to the rest of the world.

Philp is one of those rare people who rise above status quo conventions to see a higher moral order, another vision of a better city. It gives one hope that America's future will be influenced by ideals that will lead to a better America.

Read the article that became a sensation and led to this book:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/drewphilp/why-i-bought-a-house-in-detroit-for-500?utm_term=.ejR4n797J#.cewKzMQM0

"As we rebuild this ashen city, we're deciding on an epic scale what we value as Americans in the 21st century. The American Dream is alive in Detroit, even if it flickers." Drew Philp

I revived a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

A $500 House in Detroit: Rebuilding an American Home and an Abandoned City
by Drew Philp
Scribner
Publication April 11, 2017
$26 hard cover
ISBN: 9781476797984

Memoirs of Eugene Gochenour: The Story of a Friendship

Dad finished his Chrysler stories with the story of his friend's tragic end.

"Russ C.

"I worked at Chrysler Engineering at Highland Park, Michigan, from 1964 to 1992.

"Chrysler had a plant in Huntsville, Alabama, and another at Sterling Heights, Michigan where engineering and building of major portions of the Redstone, Jupiter, and Saturn rockets were done for the U.S. Space Agency. When the contract with the government ended, many of their engineers and managers moved to Highland Park. This must have been hard for them, leaving modern plants with the latest technology and going to work where the buildings and equipment were ancient. Pat McI., Vic A., Al P., and Russ C. were a few of the good people that joined our lab. At that time we were the Air Conditioning and Heater Lab.

"Russ had been a foreman at the Van Dyke facility in Sterling Heights, MI and when he came to Highland Park he was made a technician. Even though he did not have a degree I thought he was the best engineer I had ever seen.

"Russ and I became good friends, and since he lived near by and his house was on the way to work I would pick him up. He was always ready and waiting when I came. Russ had a wife named Joyce, like my wife, and she was a very fine person.

"One day Russ told me he was going to sell one of his cars. it was a 1967 Plymouth Satellite convertible. I knew Russ had always taken excellent care of his vehicles and I bought it from him for $800. Joyce and I enjoyed riding around the town with the top down in the evening during the summer. Eventually, I gave the car to my son Tom when he left high school.

"Russ and Joyce had a cabin in the northern lower peninsula on Lake Bellville near Traverse City. One winter right after Christmas, Russ, Ron H., Dick D., Terry H., Bob P., and I drove there to do some ice fishing. The cabin was a beautiful log structure and it had a clear view of the lake.

"When we arrived the snow was fairly deep, but the lake had not yet frozen. Dick and I had brought our shotguns along, so the next day we decided to go rabbit hunting. As we loaded the car, a neighbor lady called over and told us we had better not shot the bunnies that lived in the swamp in front of her cabin. We assured her we were not hunting near by and left.

We drove a few miles and found an area that looked promising and parked. After tromping through the snow in the woods for a while, and not seeing any bunnies, we left and went back to the cabin.

"While we waited for the ice to freeze we played cards and drank apricot brandy. Then the ice froze enough for us to set out tip-ups and begin to fish. It was very cold and one day after we had set up our tip-ups we went back to the cabin and sat by the window so we could watch them.

"We had not sat there long when we heard a knock on the door. When we opened it, standing there was the game warden. We asked him in and then he asked to see our fishing licenses. Lucky for us we all had bought them and set up only two tip-ups each, so we were legal. But he told us that he could have given us a ticket because the lines were unattended. But he overlooked it because we could watch from the window. We did not catch a lot of fish, but we had a great time.

"At work, when Russ brought me a work order it was always well thought out and he always provided me with everything I would need to complete the job. Russ was liked by everyone. He was one of the finest people I knew. But things were not well at home. Joyce left him, and only then did I find that Russ was an alcoholic. I never had a clue that Russ had a drinking problem. I did not know that he had joined Alcoholics Anonymous until one evening when he called my wife and I to tell us and relieve his conscience.

"Russ missed a few days of work, and one evening I went to his house and knocked on the back door. Russ only opened the door because he had ordered a pizza and thought I was the delivery man. I was shocked to see the condition he was in. He had not shaved, his hair was uncombed, and he looked like he had not changed his clothes in days. When I entered the kitchen I noticed all the clutter on the table and counter. This was not like the Russ I knew.

"We talked for a while and I listened as he told me that his wife had left and that they should have had kids, should have moved to a different house, and other excuses, avoiding the real problem--his drinking. I tried to build up his ego by telling him that everyone I knew thought very highly of him, then eventually left.

"After Joyce left Russ she would occasionally call my wife to tell her what was going on. She said she had joined Alanon. They told her an alcoholic will not stop drinking until they hit bottom, and that is why she left Russ.

"One day Russ's wife Joyce called me at work and asked me to meet her at their house at noon so she could talk to him. So, at 11:30 am I left work and when I got there I saw police cars and fire trucks surrounding the house. I parked and asked someone what had happened, and they said Russ had committed suicide. This was a shock to me, and when I looked toward the garage I saw the door was open and the interior was all black from a coating of carbon.

"As usual, Russ had done a meticulous job. He had bought some flexible metal tubing which he taped to the tailpipe of the car, some duct tape with which he sealed the doors and windows of the garage, then he started the car engine and sat in the front seat.

"Russ had called his wife Joyce and asked her to meet him at the house. When I talked to another close friend of Russ's I was told he thought Russ had planned for Joyce to arrive before he was asphyxiated because when the garage door was opened, they saw that Russ had left the car, as if he had changed his mind, but it was too late.

"And so I lost my good friend Russ. Not too long after, Joyce sold the house and moved to be near her sister. We still write Christmas cards to each other every year."

Grief Cottage by Gail Godwin

Character's inner ruins lay concealed, their grief diverted by obsessions and addictions, in Gail Godwin's novel Grief Cottage.

After the death of his single mother, eleven-year-old Marcus's only living family member, his Aunt Charlotte, becomes his guardian. While his depressed aunt spends her days in her art studio, painting and sipping bottles of red wine, Marcus uses his honed homemaking skills to keep the beach front cottage spic and span, making himself useful, as he did for his working mom. Marcus is also an expert caretaker, responsible and useful; his own needs are shunt aside, his own grief and doubt internalized.

The rest of his day Marcus walks the South Carolina beach to visit the deserted house locals call Grief Cottage. Marcus is obsessed to know more about the tragedy that took place there. A family vacationing at the cottage disappeared in the 1954 hurricane, the parents searching for their missing son. How could no one have recorded the family's name? Marcus visits the empty shell of a house daily, 'courting' the ghost of the boy who appears to him.

"Marcus feels the pain of others," said Aunt Charlotte, "even when they're dead and gone."

Charlotte's cottage is filled with grief. Charlotte tries to escape the memory of her 'devil' father who at age five began to 'poison' her. It is 'the good old family horror story', Greek or Shakespearian in nature. Marcus is burdened by his lonely childhood, shamed when his one friend discovered he shared a bed with his mother. In a rage, Marcus beat the boy up. He underwent counseling and then his mother left her job and they moved-- to worse conditions--then his mother was killed in a car accident.

In the galley reader's note, Godwin writes that she was inspired by stories of ghosts whose arrival coincides with a mental crisis, tales grounded in 'daily life,' but which  'leaves a window for the possibility of a reality we haven't discovered yet."

"People see what they want to see. Or imagine they saw. "

For a lonely eleven-year-old child in a new place, deep in grief, imagining a ghostly friend is not a far stretch. I had Homer the Ghost to keep me company when we moved the year I turned eleven. I knew he was imaginary. Marcus has to work to keep his 'realities' separate, the duties he owed to his aunt and to the ghost boy, to keep his sanity. It makes him feel even more isolated, for who would understand?

I was compelled by this story to read far into the night. Even the supporting characters are sympathetic, full and real. There is a climatic revelation, and life goes on as it had, Marcus and his aunt supporting each other. And at the very end, a moment of grace returns Marcus something he had lost and gives him something he had long searched for.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Grief Cottage
Gail Godwin
Bloomsbury
Publication Date June 6, 2017
$27 hardcover
ISBN: 9781632867049

What's Up?

This month I have several quilts hanging in the Blair Memorial Library:

Regency Redwork, my original story book quilt based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Cranes in Winter, made with fusible applique, machine quilted, hand beaded. The image is from a National Geographic photo of Japanese cranes in winter. I tried to show the effect of the snow using a sparkly tulle overlay.

Morning Glory Flower Fairy is based on an image from Anna O. Scott's A Year With the Fairies. It is crayon tinted, embroidered, embellished with beading and appliqued silk flowers, machine quilted, and has a tulle overlay. In 2015 I started each month with a post including illustrations and the poetry from Scott's book.

Other quilts this month include this yo-yo quilt from Bev Olson,

 Coffee or Tea from Betty Carpenter,

and another from Betty, Daffodils.

The display case is dear to my heart--Breyer horses, which I collected as a girl back when I was 'horse crazy.'

Including one of my favorite children's books as a girl, Brighty of the Grand Canyon!

And at the circulation desk is Peter Rabbit wishing us all a HAPPY SPRING!

Make your own Peter Rabbit and friends craft with Stitching with Beatrix Potter!

To the Stars Through Difficulties by Romalyn Tilghman.

When She Writes Press asked if I would be interested in reviewing To The Stars Through Difficulties by Romalyn Tilghman I recalled seeing the book on NetGalley and thinking it was interesting, so I agreed.

When I started reading the novel I was delighted to discover it was not only about the building of Carnegie libraries in Kansas but also about an art quilter--and it includes a genealogical mystery.

My blog subtitle is "Books. Quilts. What I Love." And 'what I love' includes genealogy. It's as if the book had been written just for me!

*****

The empowerment of women to impact their community, the use of art for healing, and a belief in the power of books are the themes behind the stories of three women.

A tornado has destroyed the Kansas town of Prairie Hill. Gayle has lost everything and she and her husband are weighing rebuilding or relocation. The Prairie Hill women mourn their losses, including antique heirloom quilts.

"If only someone could stitch together the few remaining pieces of my tattered life into something whole and new and beautiful." - Gayle

Bibliophile Angelina is pushing forty and trying to finally finish her dissertation on the Carnegie libraries, particularly the one her grandmother helped to build in New Hope, Kansas--population 2,975. She leaves her disapproving mother and Philadelphia behind, gambling on the dissertation to bring a career and independence.

Traci is a twenty-six-year-old self-taught artist from the streets of New York City. An unwanted baby raised by a dysfunctional foster family, she feels bitter and unloved. She was hired, under false credentials, to be the artist in residence for the New Hope art center located in the old Carnegie library. Her art quilts embellished with 'trash' had garnered her an NYC gallery show.

"Great. I've swapped bed bugs for tornadoes." --Traci

Angelina arrives in New Hope for material and to find her grandmother's legendary journal which holds important documentation on how women built the library she loved to visit as a girl. Along the way, Angelina discovers more than history; she finds family, acceptance, love, and a career.

Traci is dismayed by the plebeian work the local quilters turn out.

"I see these women are all great seamstresses but their choices of fabric are dismal: American flags, spiders, and cats. It's amazing how they can put so much time and energy into such crap."

She encourages the No Guilt Quilters to use quilting for self-expression, expanding their techniques to include surface design and the repurposing of textiles and trash for embellishment. She is able to prod them past local gossip and partisan divides (there is antagonism between Prairie Hill and New Hope) so that they become a force for community change.

"You've got to throw all your pain into your creativity. Believe me, it's the best therapy."

Traci has a rough start with the teenagers sent to the art center as punishment after being kicked out of school band. They resent their conservative and parochial community. "We're runners," one explains. "Ran away from home, and if we run away from the foster family, we'll end up in juvvy." Their first project does not go over with the locals, but the teens are empowered and find their voices in art.

Along the way, readers learn about robber baron Andrew Carnegie's charitable donations and orphan trains.

Having lived in Philadelphia, with a husband who worked in New York City, and having afterward having lived in several small towns, I appreciated the East Coast ladies' adjustments. The small town's inability to agree on a paint color for the library recalled our small town church that got pretty riled up over deciding what color to paint the sanctuary. I also enjoyed Traci remarking, "where I come from, there are never so many white women in one place." I had an adjustment coming from a diverse neighborhood to a county with one family of color out of 40,000 people.

But don't think there is an East Coast bias to the book. In the end, Traci and Angelina discover "there's no place like home," and that home is in New Hope, Kansas.

I don't need a happy, tied up ending to a book, but for readers who do, this one offers a wish-fulfillment ending for all. Online questions for book clubs are available at http://www.romalyn.com/resources

I received a free ebook from She Writes Press through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

*****

I asked the author to talk about several topics.

Nancy: I wondered what Romalyn's experience with the NEA brought to her understanding of how the arts is important to community building. Also, with the current administration's desire to ax the NEA from Federal support, what will be lost?

Romalyn: I was lucky to start my career in Kansas, thanks to an NEA grant. I was hired to work with communities interested in creating cultural opportunities. I met the most dedicated, creative, smart, and hard-working volunteers who were determined to provide arts classes and performances and exhibits. Many of them, with grit and gumption, managed to find the resources to create an arts center, even in one-stoplight-towns. And, yes, the entire community was proud. I thought each town had its own self-esteem, and sometimes that self-esteem had been threatened by the consolidation of schools or the new highway bypassing town. Like individuals do, those towns could regain their self-esteem through focus and new goals.

One summer a storyteller toured to 90 towns, all with populations of under 3,000. We also toured an exhibit of Kansas quilts that would rival those displayed in the world’s most prestigious museums. We had quilts from the early 19th century and those finished days before yesterday.

Many people think the NEA funds only NPR and the Metropolitan Opera, but, in fact, it provides seed money for artistic endeavors across the country, in rural mining and farming communities and in inner city schools; each taxpayer contributing 47 cents, less than the price of a postage stamp.

It’s through the arts that we tell our stories, and stories deserve to be told no matter from whence they come. It’s through the arts that we develop our creativity, and the world can certainly use creative thinkers, in and out of artistic professions. Artists will work, with or without NEA support, but they will have less time to create and there will be less incentive to spread the arts to places without wealthy patrons. We will lose stories and we will lose creativity, beyond the significant arts contribution to the GNP.

Nancy: I would like to know what quilter/s  inspired Traci and her art. It was exciting to read about surface design and embellishment in a novel.

Romalyn: Traci is not based on one person, but is more a composite of the many textile artists I know. I had fun in imagining her as a self-taught artist.

Traci was found in a trashcan on Times Square shortly after her birth, adopted into a troubled family, and pretty much raised herself. She is both savvy and scrappy. Her education came through the New York Public Library and free days at museums, where she saw the works of great artists and the power of self-expression. Using found objects from the streets, she begins to make quilts, like the collages she sees in galleries. She might have seen a show of Amish or African-American quilts at the Folk Art Museum, giving her the courage to use rich and deep colors. Or the prints of Faith Ringgold at the Guggenheim.

It’s not until she gets to Kansas that she begins to hone her techniques, sees the virtue in perfect seams and tight knots. Quickly, she figures out she’s learning as much as she’s teaching, but takes great delight in seeing the Kansas women stretch their creative muscles, by making heart stamps out of apples or polka dots with the tips of erasers.

To The Stars Through Difficulties
Romalyn Tighman
She Writes Press
Publication Date April 4, 2017
$16.95 paperback
ISBN:9781631522338

Stitching with Beatrix Potter by Michele Hill

Before my son was born my Mother bought a set of Beatrix Potter's little books, all in a slip case. Since 1902 these books have been nursery staples. A self-taught artist, amateur scientist and farmer, Beatrix Potter's legacy has enriched generations of readers.

Beatrix Potter's illustrations have also inspired generations of crafters who adopted her art for needlework, stuffed animals, embroidery, quilts, knitting patterns, fabric lines, and coloring books. To celebrate 150 years sine the birth of Beatrix Potter, The 2016 Tokyo Quilt Festival included The World of Beatrix Potter, amazing quilts from Yoko Saito and ten other quilters.

William Morris aficionado Michele Hill already loved Beatrix Potter when she learned that Beatrix and Morris shared connections. Beatrix sent her early stories to Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris's business partner and friend, and her photographer father was hired by Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir John Everett Millais.

Beatrix Potter applique baby quilt by Michele Hill

Hill's new book Stitching with Beatrix Potter offers ten projects inspired by Beatrix's life and art. Her wonderful characters appear in embroidered and appliqued projects, floral applique with a Morris flair, pieced quilts in various sizes, a Hexie quilt pattern, and a pattern to reproduce Beatrix's heirloom quilt from 1863.

Iron cover by Michele Hill

A brief biography of Beatrix Potter is illustrated with photographs from her Hill Top farm.

Embroidered Hexie table topper by Michele Hill

Hill was amazed to see the rarely displayed Potter heirloom quilt dated 1863, bearing her parent's initials. Her version is appliqued, as seen below.

Appliqued 1863 reproduction quilt by Michele Hill

Patterns include

• P is for Pinwheels, appliqued and embroidered coasters
• Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle iron cover, just adorable
• Bubbles and Bunting baby quilt featuring popular Potter characters in applique
• Let's Play wool felt ball
• Handmade Hexies lap quilt icluding embroidered character hexies
• Floral Frieze wall appliqued hanging with a William Morris flare
• Cherry Twist Cushion featuring an appliqued bouquet
• Hill Top wool felt box with handles
• 1863- A Wedding Quilt, 78" x 95"
• Serendipity quilt, 55 1/2" x 55 1/2", with embroidered characters

Floral Frieze by Michele Hill

General instructions includes machine applique tips, binding, hand embroidery, all well illustrated with photographs.

Hill Top box by Michele Hill

My quilt group friends are all excited about this book! I am too.

Read my book review of Over the Hill and Far Away:The Life of Beatrix Potter by Matthew Dennison here.

Read an excerpt from the book at http://www.ctpub.com/blog/excerpt-from-stitching-with-beatrix-potter/

Learn about Hill's William Morris Applique book at http://www.ctpub.com/more-william-morris-applique/

I received a free ebook from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Stitching with Beatrix Potter
Michele Hill
C&T Publishing
64 pages + pattern pull out
$22.95 paperback, $15.99 ebook
ISBN: 978-1-61745-610-7

Over the Hills and Far Away: The Life of Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter's "little books" are much beloved, and her paintings of little animals in human clothing are universally known.

Matthew Dennison's book Over the Hills and Far Away is not a typical biography; its focus is on how Potter's life is revealed through her stories and illustrations. Some aspects of her life are just hinted at, such as her endeavor to publish her study of fungi. Dennison identifies the inspiration for Potter's characters and landscapes. She was a stickler for realism, painting from life.

Potter was born on July 28, 1866, to a gentile, conformist, Unitarian London family. She hated London but adored the countryside visits to her grandparents and the family's summer homes.

Beatrix grew up lonely and found solace in reading and in the companionship of the small, wild animals who inspired her early art. An intelligent girl, she was often bored in London and came alive when roaming the countryside with her brother.

Her parents were content for Beatrix to remain a child. They did nothing to promote her marriageability nor did they support her interests and talents. She became nervous and unhappy and was often ill, which suited her mother. Her claustrophobic, limited life is a sad example of how fettered women were in the late 19thc. She remained a dependent, lonely, and unhappy child well into adulthood.

Publishing her books offered Potter a sense of accomplishment, identity, and independence. At age thirty-eight she was still living at home with her mice and walking her rabbit on a leash. But she had improved in health, had a personal income, and even fell in love with her publisher. Sadly, he died of lymphatic leukemia before they married.

Potter bought Hill Top farm three months later. She had no experience farming or gardening or in home ownership but loved the challenge. She still had to care for her aging parents and did not live at the farm full time. The cottage served as backgrounds to some of her tales.

In 1913 she did marry; William Heelis shared her interests in sheep breeding and farming. Potter was now wealthy and happily married. Her eyesight was poor and she kept finding excuses to write another book.  Potter died in 1943, and William in 1945. She left over 4,000 acres to the National Trust including 15 farms and 5,000 pounds.

Over the Hills and Far Away style is cozy and conversational, offering stories as they are related as opposed to following a strict timeline. The book offers an understanding of Potter's emotional life and how her life influenced her art.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Learn more about Beatrix Potter at
http://beatrixpottersociety.org.uk/about-beatrix/
http://www.peterrabbit.com

Read about a new quilt and project book, Stitching with Beatrix Potter by Michele Hill, here

Over the Hills and Far Away: The Life of Beatrix Potter
Mathew Dennison
Publication April 4, 2017