Home: Chronicle of a North Country Life

By (author): Beth Powning

Home is like a leaf on a tree: other people, other homes, are the other leaves. They live beneath the same sky, share the same memories, survive the same storms.

But one leaf is a solitude.

After twenty-five years on a New Brunswick farm, award-winning Canadian author Beth Powning came to understand the land she calls home. Now, almost twenty years after the initial publication of Home, readers may once again experience the spirit of home in nature in this new edition of her seminal book.

Time has made the subtle messages beyond her door become clearer, if not less mysterious: the glorious rawness of winter storms, the effortless dominance of oak trees, the distinctive poetry of night, the universes found within a humble garden.

Placing herself in the dual roles of explorer and storyteller, Powning waltzes the unspoken divide between the untamed and the domestic, revelling in the complex bonds that exist between the natural world and those who would seek to navigate its wonders.

Originally released in Canada as Seeds of Another Summer, this new edition, which includes a new introduction and gorgeous reproductions of Powning’s sumptuous nature photography, will inspire those who seek a simpler life and enchant those who are already there.

AUTHOR

Beth Powning

Beth Powning grew up in a small New England town, where her family has lived since the 1790s. In 1972, she and her husband Peter Powning moved to Canada and bought an 1870s farm in New Brunswick, where they established a pottery business. In 1995, Beth Powning published a book of photography, Roses for Canadian Gardens (written by childhood friend Bob Osborne). She later found her voice in Home: Chronicle of a North Country Life. Over the next fifteen years, five books followed: another book of photographs, Northern Trees and Shrubs; two works of non-fiction, Shadow Child and Edge Seasons; and three bestselling novels, The Hatbox Letters, The Sea Captain’s Wife, and A Measure of Light.

Reviews

Home is like a leaf on a tree: other people, other homes, are the other leaves. They live beneath the same sky, share the same memories, survive the same storms.

But one leaf is a solitude.

After twenty-five years on a New Brunswick farm, award-winning author Beth Powning came to understand the land she calls home. Now, almost 20 years after the initial publication of Home, readers may once again experience the spirit of home in nature in this new edition of her seminal book.

Time has made the subtle messages of the valley beyond her door clearer, if not less mysterious: the glorious rawness of winter storms, the effortless dominance of oak trees, the distinctive poetry of night, the universes found within a humble garden.

Placing herself in the dual roles of explorer and storyteller, Powning navigates the unspoken divide between the untamed and the domestic, revelling in the complex bonds that exist between the natural world and those who would seek to explore its wonders.

Home was originally released in 1996 in Canada as Seeds of Another Summer and in the US as Home. This new edition, which includes a new introduction and gorgeous reproductions of Powning’s sumptuous nature photography, will inspire those who seek a simpler life and enchant those who have already found it.


“Beth’s sense of home is not of a static dwelling, but of a place of seasons, cycles, and lifespans, or experiences and memories. This is a book for your soul.”
Telegraph Journal

“Powning takes her camera, her pen and, most important, her spirit into the landscape. . . . The delicate, often beautiful photographs combine with a quietly spirited naturalistic prose in an Annie Dillard-Henry David Thoreau mode to produce a work evocative in both sensual and domestic ways.”
Globe and Mail

“Beth Powning’s beautiful celebration of natural life is meet and proper for these unnatural times. I think it will be read for years to come.”

Awards

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Excerpts & Samples ×

Home is like a leaf on a tree: other people, other homes, are the other leaves. They live beneath the same sky, share the same memories, survive the same storms.

But one leaf is a solitude.

After twenty-five years on a New Brunswick farm, award-winning Canadian author Beth Powning came to understand the land she calls home. Now, almost twenty years after the initial publication of Home, readers may once again experience the spirit of home in nature in this new edition of her seminal book.

Time has made the subtle messages beyond her door become clearer, if not less mysterious: the glorious rawness of winter storms, the effortless dominance of oak trees, the distinctive poetry of night, the universes found within a humble garden.

Placing herself in the dual roles of explorer and storyteller, Powning waltzes the unspoken divide between the untamed and the domestic, revelling in the complex bonds that exist between the natural world and those who would seek to navigate its wonders.

Originally released in Canada as Seeds of Another Summer, this new edition, which includes a new introduction and gorgeous reproductions of Powning’s sumptuous nature photography, will inspire those who seek a simpler life and enchant those who are already there.

Reader Reviews

Details

Dimensions:

176 Pages
8in * 6in * 0.8268in
626gr

Published:

October 07, 2014

Publisher:

Goose Lane Editions

ISBN:

9780864928528

9780864927286 – EPUB

Book Subjects:

NATURE / Essays

Featured In:

All Books

Language:

eng

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