Here's a book for a sparsely populated publishing niche: agricultural history as memoir. Hargrave's declared subject is how she and her husband built a vineyard from scratch on the eastern end of Long Island but it's also an engaging account of how she got from being an hopeful inexperienced young person of 21 to the mature woman who wrote this book.

There's nothing I don't like about The Vineyard.. I like Hargrave's voice--direct,
unadorned, humorous, clear. I like the sense we get of how hard the work was. She doesn't complain--much--but she does describe her daily life in enough detail that a reader has a vivid, physical sense of the vintner's life. Also, of how tough it is
to run a business according to one's own lights. Her amateurishness--good
sense, not bad sense--at the outset gives way to know-how, but only as she
figured things out. And since the Hargrave wines can't be tasted as we turn the
pages, we have to take her word for the standards to which she and her husband aspired. And that's just what we do; her writing is that persuasive. She doesn't preen, never tries to show us her best profile, so we hear about her worries and annoyances, as well as about her joys.

The book is not all grapes and weather worries. Her children make frequent welcome appearances; her account of her marriage, its beginning, its long happy middle and its end, sounds pretty true-to-life. (If there were messy details, Hargrave doesn't get into them. Hargrave's ability to tell the hard truths and yet take the high road is one of her strengths as a writer.) Readers won't feel they know Alex as well as they know Louisa and their children but it's a sastisfying read nonetheless. On balance, a well-rounded portrait of a couple of people and their business.

A fascinating account of how a highly educated couple from a suburban background became successful "farming" pioneers growing grapes and making wine on Eastern Long Island. This was not sit-on-the veranda farming. The author makes reference to stories of the American frontier, and certainly that is apt, as the dedication and endurance of these pioneers was extraordinary. Their hard personal work in the fields was the equal of the pioneers, and they also had to deal with modern government. All in all, very intriguing and very well written, with enough human detail to make the people come to life.

If you loved "Little House on the Prairie" you'll love this true modern pioneer saga set in (of all places) Eastern Long Island, New York. You don't even have to be a wine enthusiast to enjoy the book, although Louisa Hargraves' descriptions of tasting may make convert you.
While telling her 30 year history of growing French varietal grapes (which people said couldn't be done), the author allows us to experience the grit behind the glamour in all its (pardon me) juicy details.
As in all successful memoirs, we get a chance to live someone else's life, imagine what it would be like to follow our dream as singlemindedly as she did, and rejoice when dreams come true. We also get to see the price that is exacted. Because Louisa Hargrave keeps us by her side, I stayed up until 2 AM to finish the book. I put it down feeling touched, informed, and inspired.

As most fans of "Little Women" know, author Louisa May Alcott based the story on the lives of herself and her three sisters, Anna (the sweet mothering one), Elizabeth (the musical one), and May (the artist). "Louisa May" is a wonderful way to discover how Louisa turned a sometimes very difficult childhood into something magical that has stood the test of time. Photographs of Louisa, her family and their many homes were especially interesting to see. I couldn't help looking at those without thinking, "Ah, so that's what Meg, Beth and Amy looked like."

Louisa May Alcott was born in 1832 to a freethinking teacher, Bronson Alcott, and a Boston blueblood, Abigail May Alcott. Although Abigail (known as Abba) came from a wealthy family, she received little inheritance, and her family soon grew tired of bailing out Bronson from his financial problems. For much of Louisa's early childhood, the family lived in abject poverty. Both parents worked in the abolition movement and in other attempts at social reform. Their friends included many famous transcendentalist thinkers of the day, such as Emerson and Thoreau. Johnston briefly describes transcendentalism, but not in enough detail that the reader will wind up with a lasting understanding of this nature-based philosophy.

Sections of this biography dealing with Bronson's unconventional teaching ideas and techniques and his struggles to maintain a teaching post were perhaps the most fascinating. The most recent film adaptation of "Little Women" alludes to some of these problems when one of Meg's society friends comments that her father's school had to close because he admitted a black girl as a student. "Louisa May" provides a few further details on this incident, which actually occurred, noting that the child may have been the daughter of free blacks who knew the Alcotts through the abolition work. Bronson also found himself out of a teaching job for focusing on philosophy rather than the three Rs, including sex education in his curriculum, and preaching his own religious beliefs to his students.

While Bronson's educational approach cost him jobs in America, a book published by his assistant made him famous in England. Following a visit to that country, he returned to Massachusetts with several like-minded hangers-on and decided to found a utopian farm. Charles Lane, his chief ally in this effort, encouraged Bronson to a life of abstinence. Lane's monk-like approach to life included rigid lessons for the Alcott girls, meals consisting mostly of bread, potatoes, and water eaten without plates (the Alcotts already were vegetarians), and ultimately an attempt to separate Bronson from his family.

Johnston's description of how Abba managed to turn things around for the family is inspiring and contradicts stereotypes that many have about 19th century women's submissiveness to their husbands. Reading "Louisa May" left me longing for more information about Bronson and Abba Alcott, and their unconventional lives.

Like Jo in "Little Women," Louisa sought to help support her family as she got older. She did sewing, cleaned houses, taught children and, despite discouraging publishers, sold short stories. When the Civil War broke out, Louisa volunteered as a nurse. Her nursing experience proved pivotal in her life in several ways: "Hospital Sketches," based on her letters home, established her as a writer. Her hard work as a nurse, however, destroyed her health. Although not clear from "Louisa May," Louisa worked only three weeks as a nurse before going home sick.

The sections about her writing her famous children's books are less fascinating than the chapters on her early life, perhaps because it's hard to read about Louisa's struggles with poor health. At this point, Johnston briefly describes the plots, mentions which publisher the book was written for, and a few other details about what was going on in Louisa's life during its writing. Johnston could have given better context to Louisa's financial success. Stating that she earned $1,000 a year seems like an improvement over the $30 a year the family struggled to survive on during her childhood, but for readers unfamiliar with mid-19th century wages, it would be hard to see this sum as representing financial security.

I was surprised at how quickly I read "Louisa May." It had sat on my shelf for years before I finally picked it up, and then I read it practically nonstop. My primary disappointment was its lack of footnotes and its lack of a broader bibliography. I wanted to know more and I wanted Johnston's help in pointing me in that direction. Then I noticed that the biography was written for "11 & Up" and understood. I certainly didn't get the impression from the writing style, that the book was geared to younger readers.

Overall, I enjoyed "Louisa May" very much, and have new respect for her as an independent woman who set out to accomplish goals and lead a life that would have been somewhat unusual for women in her day-and did everything she set out to do!

I wasn't looking forward to starting this novel-sized biography to gather information for my research paper, but once I began it, it was hard to put it down! It shows how truly interesting and amazing and difficult Louisa May Alcott's life was. It's longer than most of the other Louisa bios I have seen, and it contains a wealth of information and details while remaining easy to read. It also includes background information on the May and Alcott families, as well as pictures sprinkled throughout the book. I highly recommend it for research or pleasure reading!

than "The Cuckoo Clock" to an imaginative child of the proper age! While its tales-within-tales were lovely, what really caught me were the evocative details of the little heroine's surroundings. I realize my love for potpourri, nodding "Mandarin" porcelains, and yes, even cuckoo clocks were formed as I read this book.

This is one of the most magical & imaginative children's books I have ever read, I first read it as a child and have never forgotten it! Buy it for your children....

I like this book because it shows that Jo would do anything to make sure that her sisters won't be adopted by her aunt but instead have herself adopted by her aunt because she thought that her sisters won't mind that. But instead she learns that her sisters do care about her and that she shouldn't "jump to conclusions".

I thought that this was a great book. It was about a girl who decides that she will live with her aunt, because she thinks that she fits the description best. I recommend it because you can relate the problems to your own, only in a different way.

This goes directly to " A reader from California" spin offs aren't always bad because this one is good . Plus it doesn't matter what the cover looks like ! Have you ever heard the saying "don't judge a book by its cover? I guess not because you are judging this book by its cover ! I've read the book and I think iot's one of the best books I've ever read ! So what if Jo is pretty and glamourous . So what if it doesn't look like a tomboy read the book and it even says Jo's a tomboy in the book and she is a little akward! I really like this book ! It's really cool ! It's sad , happy , and angry in some parts but, that's the best part of it !

This book is the worst, trashiest book I have ever read. It was about topics that trashy people like to read and I wish I would have realized that sooner than when I actually started reading. Just nasty, dirty, messages which didn't lead out to one thing. Be smart, and get a different book instead. The only reason that I gave this book 2 stars was because I felt so dang sorry for it!! It's just one of those trashy teen novels people label literature. Try some REAL books instead.

Losing Louisa is book about a 16 year old girl named Lacey who is coming to terms or has to come to terms with many things that have happened or are happening in her life. Her sister's pregnancy shatters Lacey's perception of her sister as a prim, preppy, good girl. Lacey's father, who has deserted her and her family for another woman, is living in a posh house and expecting a child with his new wife. Lacey's mother is dressing in tight clothes, going out with a body-builder named Vinnie, and acting much like a 16 year old herself. As for Lacey, she is dealing with the everyday pressures of growing up. The fact that her crush is turning out to be a jerk. Her mixed feelings about her father. The guy from the deli who has a crush on her.Lacey is dealing with a lot, but throughout this book she learns a lot too. So does the reader. In general the writting was clever and humourous,as was the story, but also serious at some moments and sad at others. This book was an incredibly good read and i would recomend it for anyone (teenaged or adult) who wants to read a great book.

Well this book is mostly for teens. It contains teen situations and curses, foul language, and teen stuff. Well, it begins with a girl named Lacey that has a crush on two boys but at the end of the book she stays with one. Her mom wears tight teenage clothes and divorces and dates. Rosie, Laceys Sister is pregnant and has to chose between adoption or abortion. Lacey's cat dies and she gets a half-sister which seems that makes her jealous. This is book has many surprises and suspenses. It deals with the teenage life and it is a very great young adult book. I recommend this book to everyone.

A Long Fatal Love Chase was interesting because it was just recently published when the author has been deceased so long & also because Ms. Alcott is known for more happy stories like Little Women. I rarely read mysteries but I saw this novel in a used book store and when I saw the author I had to have it and the mystery part really did sound good.My prediction was right.This story of a young woman being stalked around the world by her lover who emotionally abused her was excellent. It showed determination on the character's part & each time I thought I would put it down something else came along so I had to keep reading.It showed another side of Ms. Alcott that I really liked--she broke out of her shell!!!

Louisa May Alcott's A Long Fatal Love Chase was an interesting and entertaining book. It is about a young girl, Rosamond, who gets swept away by a charming and worldly man, Tempest. Tempest also brings along his friend Lito, a little boy who becomes Rosamond's best friend. Together the three travel Europe, stopping when they wish and staying as long as they please. This is until Rosamond finds something shocking out about her husband and leaves Tempest. The rest of the story is Tempest stalking and trying to get Rosamond back. I liked how this showed the strength of Rosamond, taking on whatever challenge faces her. Alcott writes of the love, hatred, courage, and determination of a woman's spirit. I can see why it was not published in 1866 when written. Although a very entertaining book, sometimes it became slow for short intervals. Also, there are many references to European cultures I don't know much about. I think young women especially would enjoy this book. Also those who have traveled Europe to understand the references and be able to appreciate the beautiful scenes Alcott describes.

I just finished this book last night, 8 hours of laying in bed and I never wanted it to end. I devoured it like a rabid beast and at the end I cried like I've never cried before. I fell in love with Rosamond Vivian, an innocent, beautiful girl who doesn't give in to the temptations of the charming yet deceitful devil-like man she is still in love with. She forces logic to rule her heart while the 35-year-old Tempest grows ever-the-more obsessed with a selfish love for this angel of a girl who is the first one to ever resist his spell.
He hunts her like a wild rabbit-- in a convent, a mental institution and all over Europe. He is cunning and shows up at the most incredulous moments (if it were a movie you wouldn't believe it) but Alcott explains how these impossibilities happen and it all makes sense.
This book is intriguing, will have you breathless and literally on the edge of your seat, and will make you cry. If it's the last thing you do, buy this book.

Like small pieces of glass rotating and reflecting new patterns, Zelitch's story of the Holocaust, Zionism, and the founding of Israel appears in fragments and rotates upon itself. Scenes move back and forth in time, between characters, between Hungary and Israel, and between first and third person narratives. The reader must work hard here to connect these fragments and to see how all the characters relate to each other, but gradually, the fragments evolve into a whole picture with a depth, scope, and historical grounding that are rare in fiction.

Ostensibly, this is the intriguing story of Louisa, a young German Aryan who marries Gabor, a Hungarian Jew, as World War II is breaking out. But it is equally the story of her feisty mother-in-law Nora, the primary speaker of the narrative, who decides to emigrate to Israel in 1949. The reader learns of the problems each woman has faced in Hungary during the Holocaust, her family history, her involvement in intellectual and cultural life, and her personal relationships. It is a book of enormous, epic reach.

One of the difficulties of developing a story like this in fragments, however, is that the reader is often so busy connecting ideas that s/he remains somewhat distanced from the characters, being forced to accumulate information about them, rather than partipating in the action with them. The characters become players on a stage, in a drama which is not completed until the end of the book. Despite substantial background information, I never felt that I really knew Louisa and Nora or "got inside" their heads enough to be able to understand them or predict how they would behave. Their motivations are often unclear because the fragment of the story which explains motivation appears later in the book. The deliberate parallels between Louisa and Nora and the Biblical story of Ruth and Naomi give depth and scope to their relationship, but they do not fully explain it.

Ultimately, I found this novel thoughtful, enlightening, and even important, but it didn't capture my heart. Its unique approach to the Holocaust story, its slice-of-life pictures of early Israel, its themes, and its "big picture," while truly admirable, do not generate a great deal of warmth or lead to complete characters which linger long in the reader's memory--at least, this reader's. I wish it had been so.

This engrossing, well-told tale of Nora, a Jewish Hungarian woman, and her gentile German daughter-in-law Louisa drew me in from the first sentence. Nora arrives in Israel following World War II with widowed Louisa. The other Jewish refugees resent Louisa and try to pressure Nora to send her back to Europe, but Nora can only reply, "I owe her my life." As for Louisa, she explains her strange desire to convert to Judaism and to become an Israelite as simple love for Nora. But the reader knows that these sentiments, while enough for some people, does not completely explain why they are together in this foreign land. As the women's stories emerge, a uniting force becomes apparent: Gabor, Nora's carefree, reckless, and handsome son.

Zelitch has done an admirable job of characterization, from gritty Nora, to refined but resourceful Louisa, to Nora's idealistic cousin Bela, to Nora's measurement-obsessed husband Janos. This story unfolds at a leisurely pace that never bores; the narrative is full of details that give everything - and everyone - life. Although, as noted by other reviewers, the point-of-view shifts can be disconcerting at first, it was clear to this reader that Nora, not an omniscient narrator, was imagining and embellishing scenes she could never have known first hand in an effort to understand herself how she came to be in the new Jewish homeland with Louisa.

Readers who expect a page-turner should look elsewhere, but those who appreciate the richness of literary fiction should find much to admire.

For the past fifteen years or so, Hungarian Jew Nora Gratz has lived a harsh life with her husband missing for more than a decade and her son now dead. She detests her daughter-in-law Louisa, daughter of die hard German Nazis, but family is family. Truth be told, Louisa is the only reason Nora survived the holocaust because she hid her mother-in-law from the Nazis after her spouse died.

In 1949 Nora, accompanied by her daughter in law, Louisa immigrates to Israel. However, her cousin fails to meet her at the Haifa docks. Nora and Louisa live in a camp where Holocaust survivors treat the younger woman with hatred and contempt. Willing to convert to Judaism, Louisa remains an abomination to the embittered survivors of Europe.

LOUISA, the retelling of the biblical story of Ruth, is an extraordinary work because Simone Zelitch provides perceptiveness into the parallel stories. Readers will feel a sense of time and place through the characters. Readers obtain a feel for the turmoil of the 1930s and 1940s in Hungary as well as a taste of 1949 Israel. The characters are drawn relatively simplistically and unsympathetically, but surprisingly that provides deeper insight into relationships, especially that of Nora and Louisa. The ultimate accolade to the author is that the audience will take a fresh look at the Ruth-Naomi tale.

Harriet Klausner

I was disappointed when I gave this book as a gift to find that it is not exactly the same as the hardcover edition. Some photos are missing that were in the hardcover edition so if you enjoyed that book don't think that this one will replace it. I don't know if the text is different.

This stunning tribute to the gardens of Provence is truly a masterpiece. The author and photographer have captured the most breathtaking collection of photographs of crafted nature to behold. The care and artistry that is unveiled is the essence of the beautiful plants that are seen in this unique and exquisite area of the world. The wonderful herbs that are evocative of Provence are left wild or cultured into enchanting or simple shapes that enrich the senses. The heady perfumes of Rosemary, thyme, lavender, and all the other local favorites almost reach the olfactory glands through the seductive rendering of this landscape. This book is sensual browsing; put your rosemary, lavender and thyme nearby. Create your own aromatherapy. Better yet, go there!

I had heard of Edna Lewis for many years, so was anxious to see what all the fuss was about. And I was only mildly disappointed. Like M.F.K. Fisher, she has an uncommon appreciation for food and a keen sensitivity to subtleties in flavor. Throughout her cookbook she speaks of preserving flavor, complementing it,& getting the best out of it; and stresses the importance of fresh, organic, high-quality food. In her introduction she says, "I feel fortunate to have been raised at a time when the vegetables from the garden, the fruit from the orchard, and the meat from the smokehouse were all good and pure, unadulterated by chemicals and long-life packaging. As a result, I believe I know how food should taste." And so naturally, by extension, she has alot of particularities and preferences for how she likes things: she prefers Madagascar vanilla to Tahitian, cinnamon from Ceylon, the fall crop of raspberries to the early summer crop, the basil plants with tiny leaves, home-made baking powder to store-bought (she includes the recipe), and she waxes rhapsodic on wild berries: "...but wild things never fail us. They always taste good, which is why if you see only a handful of wild nuts or a cupful of berries, you should pick them. They have a flavor nothing else has. If you transplant a wild plant to the garden it will never taste the same." Etc.,etc. Quite a few recipes are designed for specific, possibly obscure, types of fruits or vegetables-- green gage plums, explorer potatoes, cymling squash, lady apples, Keiffer pears, etc. In the case of the Damsom plum, wild persimmon, and wild strawberry recipes, she allows for substitution with the regular and cultivated versions, but warns that the results will taste different and not as good. She offers a diverse range of hints along the way-- from how to buy a good coconut, to how to learn to listen for the signs when a cake is done.

Edna Lewis is an old Virginian, raised in Freetown, a small farm community founded by her grandfather shortly after his emancipation from slavery. The narratives introducing each food chapter, and the comments that accompany each recipe, are reminiscences from her childhood and insights into southern sensibility, and they are delightful: " Summertime is just nothing without boiled corn on the cob. When I was younger, for dinner, corn would be a separate course, which we would eat after the main part of the meal when the dishes were cleared away. After all, you really can't eat anything else if you are concentrating on corn", and "In the South there's a big stir about how chess pie got its name. Some say it's because when a guest would say 'My, this a good pie, what is it called?' the answer would be 'jes pie'."

The disappointment for me, a near-vegetarian, was not only in the relative paucity of vegetable recipes, but in seeing how heavily she relies on meat in general-- not just as a course in itself, but as a means of deriving flavor in other dishes. She says,"I still use pork shoulder, country ham, bacon, and streak-of-lean to flavor many dishes", and," I wouldn't feel my kitchen was well-stocked if I did not have ham on hand to flavor dishes." A full third of the cookbook is devoted to meat, fish and game. And much of that is not necessarily your ordinary fare-- there are more recipes for rabbit, for instance, than for beef. And quite a bit of quail, pheasant, duck, guinea hen, etc. There's even head cheese, eel (including how to skin them), and squirrel. The squeamish may want to skip this section altogether. She also obtains flavor from the liberal use of fat. I was surprised by how many recipes, even vegetable ones, call for a stick of butter or a cup of heavy cream.

Still and all, this cookbook is a unique treat-- informative, inspiring, and just a pleasure to read. The tomato soup with basil, crispy cornsticks, creamed scallions, and summer berry pudding are all excellent. Of the latter she says, "When I made this for the James Beard Tribute Dinner in New York one year, Mayor Koch had five helpings." Next to try is the chocolate souffle, "one of the recipes for which I am best known."

Excerpts from a diary reflect the life and times of Louisa May Alcott. Through her entries in a journal, Louisa is presented as a real girl, with heartful emotions. An editor's note, afterword, and insets offer more information about the time period. Authentic, the author has attempted to preserve the original writings, including misspellings. I found the biography is to read and informative.