Home to Woefield

When Prudence Burns, an idealistic back-to-the-land, whole-foods enthusiast, inherits her Uncle Harold's farm, she knows this is her dream-come-true. She packs up her New York apartment and embraces her new life.

Never mind that Woefield Farm is 30 scrubby acres of bad soil, dilapidated buildings, and a half-sheared sheep; nor that the closest she's come to farming is shopping at a farmer's market. When she learns that the bank is about to foreclose on Woefield, she enlists the help of Earl, her uncle's foreman in her plans to transform Woefield into a premier example of sustainable farming.

Earl has never heard of half of the "hippie" ideas Prudence spouts, and, to be honest, he's not much of a foreman either. But he's more helpful than Seth, a slacker celebrity blogger Prudence allows to room in the house in exchange for his dubious work skills.

Added to the mix is Sara Spratt, a serious 11-year-old looking for a place to keep her prize chickens. These four diverse characters (plus a handsome veterinarian Prudence can't stop thinking about despite her conviction that "vets invented mad cow disease") come together to help each other and save Woefield in this humorous, feel-good read.

I'm currently slogging through some heavy reads so Home to Woefield by Susan Juby has been my much-needed light break. It's humorous and fun and I particularly enjoyed the characters. Seth (or "chubnuts" as Earl calls him) relates all of life to heavy metal rock bands and after naming Sara's rooster Alec Baldwin (because of the chicken's impressive "star quality") decides he will help Sara win the poultry competition at the county fair. Meanwhile, Sara who has just read the "Left Behind" series is worried about Seth's moral condition. Earl is bewildered by all the changes on the farm but adapts to it all, even when Bertie, the half-sheared sheep, comes to live on his porch.

Susan Juby usually writes young adult books (a genre she pokes fun of in this book) but I enjoyed this foray into adult books and hope she writes a more. This book is the perfect mood-lifter for a rainy, cold, dreary day (like today).