Susan Branch

Re-read, December 2022…
I savored Susan Branch's journal of a trip to England just as much the second time through. It's absolutely wonderful for reading just a few pages a day. A gorgeous volume that evokes all the most thrilling possibilities of two months to spend in multiple swoonworthy corners of the English countryside. Bliss!

Original review follows:

This book is a warm hug, a crackling fireplace, a handmade blanket, and whatever other metaphorical images of comfort you can think of.
It is the author's journal of a two-month trip to England, and it is delightful. She narrates day by day their sightseeing and the new habits they form in the English countryside, and her love for it all breathes through every sentence.
It is much more than a travelogue, and it is certainly not a travel guidebook. It is an account that has much in common with the way I would probably experience England if I ever get to go. There are long country walks, discoveries of new food and drink (and a few recipes, yay!), musings on the people and places so closely tied to English history, and affectionate tributes to her favorites. There are also BEAUTIFUL watercolors (this is one talented lady) in the margins. There are photographs too, but the paintings are the real stars. Because of the design choices on every page (including the use of handwriting instead of computer font), you really do feel like you have picked up someone's diary/scrapbook.
This book is not mainstream (what, really?! I thought everyone would be like me and wax poetic and starry-eyed about the beauties of the English countryside) ...there's no digital edition and not many libraries have it. My library was kind enough to find it for me through interlibrary loan. I highly recommend it! I mean, only if you like tea, cute little lambs, Jane Austen, Beatrix Potter, watercolors, wildflowers, castles, and happiness.… (more)

Who could not love Susan Branch's handwritten, water-colored pages?
In this middle book of her memoirs, she chronicles her move from California to Martha's Vineyard, where she bought a little cottage almost without meaning to, and settled in to recuperate from heartbreak. In the process, she fell in love with the changing seasons, decided to try writing a cookbook, and of course spent plenty of time with tea, kitties, books, music, old movies, etc.
Her chapters have recipes, lists, and the most BEAUTIFUL of drawings on every page. And lovely quotes of all kinds scattered throughout!

The first time I opened a Susan Branch book ("A Fine Romance: Falling in Love with the English Countryside") and realized it was handwritten the whole way through, no type-setting, I had a moment of doubt. Wasn't it a little distracting? NOPE. It's perfect. I decided I enjoyed reading it way more than I would have if the same words were typed.
I suspect I am coming to her work the opposite of the way most of her fans did--I am reading her memoirs first, and have just decided to look for her cookbooks. Her combination of quotes, recipes, watercolors, and stories is irresistible. It's the most personal style I have ever seen.… (more)