I saw this on someone’s Instagram feed and then it popped up on Borrowbox, so I thought why not?
Here’s the blurb …
In my mind I walk over the land. I run my hands through the grass as if it were the hair on my head. I dig my fingers into the dirt as if the soil were the crust of my skin.In Graft, Maggie MacKellar describes a year on a Merino wool farm on the east coast of Tasmania, and all of life – and death – that surrounds her through the cycle of lambing seasons. She gives us the land she knows and loves, the lambs she cares for, the ewes she tries to save, the birds around her, and the dogs and horses she adores.This book is a stunning thanksgiving for a place and a moment in motherhood; and a timely reminder of the inescapable elemental laws of nature.Susan Duncan on When It ‘An unforgettable story of love and courage that inspires even as it breaks your heart.’
This is beautiful, her writing is fabulous. As a mother whose children are beginning to leave the nest, I felt she was putting my feelings into words. And her descriptions of her environment – the birds, the sheep, the lambs (and how the ewes mother their lambs) are lovely. And her descriptions of farming; surviving the drought, lambing, shearing make a non-farmer like me appreciate the hard ships.
This is such a moving, heart felt memoir. Anyone who is a parent, or a farmer, or just interested in people would enjoy this book.
A review