A Barn in New England: Making a Home on Three Acres - Softcover

Monninger, Joseph

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0811840018 ISBN 13: 9780811840019

Publisher: Chronicle Books Llc, 2003

Synopsis

Published to glowing reviews in hardcover and now in a handsome paperback edition, Joseph Monninger's finely crafted memoir of moving with his family to a barn in rural New Hampshire is part dream come true, part unexpected adventure. "An utterly charming story, told with grace and insight" (Booklist starred review), A Barn in New England perfectly captures the beauty of the New England countryside, the tests of renovating a home, and the pleasures large and small of making a new place your own.

About this title

Review:

It takes a village to raise a barn. And it takes a village to renovate one, too, as Joseph Monninger discovered when he and his companion, Wendy, and her rambunctious 8-year-old son fell in live with an enormous, empty barn in Warren, N.H., and decided it would suit them as a budget-conscious home. These weren't naive urbanites seeking a rustic weekend hideaway. Monninger is a hardy, handy outdoorsman and Wendy an even hardier, handier country girl. Her Thanksgiving turkey may have come from the supermarket, but the kitchen she cooked it in she built herself. Neither was she much fazed when the glass of water on the bedside table froze during a particularly punishing cold snap. What makes this account so appealing is the cast of local characters who pitched in to fend off disasters that would have sent less committed homeowners running as if from a resident ghost: rotten footings, a leaky roof big enough to cover a mini-mall, a dubious septic system. Unruffled townsfolk attacked these problems with Yankee ingenuity and thrift, and threw a spare wood stove into the bargain. Monninger never once doubts his sanity or his good fortune, either, in gaining the great pleasures of life--love, parenthood, community, home--all in one swoop. -Boston Globe

About the Author:

Joseph Monninger is the author of the memoirs Home Waters and A Barn in New England (both by Chronicle Books) and seven books of fiction and nonfiction. He lives in New Hampshire.

About this edition

• Publisher: Chronicle Books Llc
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0811840018
• ISBN 13: 9780811840019
• Binding: Paperback