And I Shall Have Some Peace There: Trading in the Fast Lane for My Own Dirt Road

I loved this book - no pun intended, but it grew on me as I read and when I came to the end, I didn't want it to end. It is not a gardening memoir - it is a tale of a woman finding her place in the world on her own terms. Her embrace of being alone and learning that she liked that state was very refreshing. I loved her reverence for and quest for knowledge of the natural world. I loved the growing relationship with Jack the cat, particular fitting since I read this to Agatha, the wild cat beast who lives in the library and is getting tamer by the book.

Your response to this quote from the jacket flap will tell you whether or not you'll like this memoir - "an attainable fantasy that anyone can indulge in." Sure, retire to a few rural acres in your early fifties, renovate the small house, add a heated shelter for the stray cat you've adopted, re-route the driveway and install a 16' gate across it, hire a part-time garden helper and handle snow removal by putting on an extra coat to move your car for the neighbor with the plow. Oh, and sadly your accountant told you to incorporate yourself (not a cheap process) so now you can't collect unemployment. I give this book 3 stars because Roach, largely self-educated but highly intelligent and widely read, writes beautifully tho not without show more incessant whining (and tediously ostentatious use of Latin names for local fauna). But enough with the neurotic pity-party! Roach should stick with her charming (in the best Martha Stewart manner) and award-winning gardening blog.
And if you want to see how protected you are by a 16' gate, see David Sedaris' "Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk." show less

If trying to read A Widow's Story: A Memoir over spring break was bad timing, the arrival of this book on the last weekend of spring break was good timing. Exactly what I needed. Just as Roach was seeking peace on her own dirt road after years of living in the fast lane, I was seeking the quiet peace of this book after reading the turbulance of A Widow's Story. Perfect.

I love memoirs of people who find a deeper life in quiet places. This is one. And, as a person who left my version of the fast lane (if teachers can be thought to have a fast lane) long ago, I loved reading of Roach's slow development of a love for her garden and country life.

(Aside: I found it strangely interesting to see that both Oates and Roach were helped along show more their paths to peace in their lives by gardening. And writing. Interesting.)

*Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book. show less

The beginning of this book was like peering into the mind of a severely A.D.D. afflicted woman, it rambled and wobbled all over the place like a drunken sailor. However Margaret Roach, the author, did manage to pull some semblance and cohesiveness to her story after the first couple of chapters and I began to really enjoy it. Margaret has done what so many of us would love to do. She quit her high paying, highly prestigious job in New York and moved to the country. Being a former weekender she doesn't know many people and with her rather introverted nature it takes her awhile to make friendships. She adopts a cat even though she is not a cat person and is lucky enough to be able to spend as much time as she wants observing nature, her show more garden and all the creatures that live there with her. She even named the frogs in her ponds and could recognize them individually! I enjoyed her observations and the naturalist descriptions of what she saw around her, the birds, the frogs, the seasonality of her garden. I do feel that she still hasn't quite found what she is looking for despite having spent years in therapy and reading every self-help book that's out there. Perhaps she is still a work in progress. I think she has told her story with honesty, humor, and a lyrical if somewhat rambling voice. I liked the fact that despite being alone she was never lonely and Iiked Margaret Roach despite her many insecurities. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in memoirs. show less

Margaret Roach, who, until 2007, had a high level career with Martha Steward Corporation, chucked it all to live in her cabin in upstate New York. She went on to have an amazing garden and write about it in a blog – thus this memoir.

I wanted to like this book, but the meandering, diary-like-free-form writing was too difficult to get through. I now know more about frogs 🐸 that I ever intended, and it did nothing to help me understand her transition.

I persevered because there was much that was “quirky” and relatable (I suspect it’s relatable only due to my age and current situation) and I wanted to see it through to the end.

When asked why she left everything behind and if she was afraid, she answered: “Yes, but not as afraid show more as I was of drying up and blowing away.”

I enjoyed her humility and her courage: “You have to be a little brave to make changes, to try something, but you don’t have to be fearless”

I also enjoyed the reference to lessons learned through the principle of “Be Grateful to Everyone” (11th cent sage Atisha).

Would I recommend? Not sure...obviously I got something from it (and finished it!lol), but that middle section was grueling in its disorganization (of mind)...yet...I, too, long for that “small cabin” where “I shall have some peace there.”

My favorite quote: “Humbled or no, ‘gardener’ was the label imprinted on me when the souls were handed out, and so be it.” What a beautiful way to describe who she is/was at the core!

The title comes from my favorite Yeats’ poem: “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core. show less

This book, and my reaction to it, went through a transformation about halfway through, probably mirroring Roach's own coming to terms with her new life.

The first chapter, which she calls "A Preview," felt almost ADD-like, leaving me breathless. Leaving her corporate life at Martha Stewart, being up at her country house, something about a logo, her blog, getting interviewed, book proposal, snakes, ex-husband, frogs, therapist ...

And then, in the first half, I kept being jolted by snarky words in italicized parens, words like "stupid fucking chair" and "whoa baby check it out" - words that just didn't fit the otherwise reflective writing. It felt like second-guessing herself, covering all the angles.

And then, she settled down, bringing show more me with her, into beautiful language like "I love the ritual now of bedtime ... The waning hours are like licking the spoon of cake batter ..." She found her rhythm.

I just wish we could have heard more about the cat! show less

I loved this book. While I was never in the fast lane and don't live on a dirt road, I find the peace in my gardening ventures much the same as Margaret Roach. I also share her rather quirky feelings about doing (or not doing) certain things when you are alone. My husband knows enough now that he is never to get on the roof to blow off leaves and twigs unless I am here to call 911 should he fall. I laughed right out loud when she voiced these fears in the book, as I thought I was the only one paranoid enough to feel this way. I guess down deep, us gardeners share a lot more than just a love of playing in the dirt. Thank you Margaret Roach for writing such an eloquent book about finding your own peace.