Lynne J. (Doughgirl) reviewed on 2/9/2006 + 138 more book reviews

This is a memoir of the author's childhood growing up on a farm in southern MN in the 80's - told through a series of short stories. But it's not your stereotypical idylic farm life. The author had a frustrated father who came back to his family home to farm after his pro baseball career was cut short and a mother who was moody/temperamental and seemed to be always pregnant and worn out by life. And these stories are about REAL farm life, the one where you work hard, and can't afford to get attached to any animal because, well, life is hard and often short for farm animals. But you also found time for fun, be it flirting with the milkman or gossiping with your girlfriends during a week at a Catholic retreat center.

Nicole Lee Helget is a talented short story writer. She's won several short story awards. Her prose is magnificent, and the words just come alive on the pages. The first story in the book "Stain You Red" is one of the award winners .... but be warned, if you are sensitive to violence against animals, this is one story that you might want to skip. Other stories cover the gamut from a story about the local moonshiners to one of the most haunting ghost stories I've ever read called "Rooted Here".

In sum, this was sometimes a fast read, sometimes hard to read, but always compelling.

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