The Land of Heart’s Delight

A Memoir

Reviewed by: Christine I Speakman

Written by: Aletha Barrett May and Janis Susan May

Published: www.swimmingkangaroo.com

March 2007

Genre: Memoir/Non-Fiction

ISBN Electronic: 978-1-934041-13-0

ISBN Paperback: 978-1-934041-14-7

Pages: 156

Retail Electronic: $4.99

Retail Print: $11.99

4 out of 4 Roses

I don’t normally read biographies, or other non-fiction for that matter, but sometimes you just have to reach beyond your comfort zones.  I’m glad I did.  “The Land of Heart’s Delight” was a delight to read.  Ms. Aletha Barrett May’s life was beyond anything I ever knew and the telling twice as entertaining.

I never knew the USA Government actually had women teach other women how to take care of their homes.  How to can and preserve their foods, make mattresses, make their clothes, even repair their sewing machines.  I don’t remember a time were you could leave all your windows and doors open on a hot summer night without worry.  And I sure wouldn’t want to drive through a herd of cows or through a living stream of frogs.  And let’s just forget about listening to rattlesnakes outside my bedroom window.

Janis Susan May has taken the stories her mother told her and has woven them into the memoir her mother would have written had she had the chance.  I felt I knew Aletha, and my heart ached realizing that, yes, this wonderfully brave woman was no longer with us…as a matter of fact had died years ago.

I hadn’t laughed out loud while reading in such a long time.  My neighbours must have thought me crazy.  Even as I read Aletha’s story on the porch, I now write this review surrounded by those same neighbours.

I even did something I had never done before…I contacted the publisher because I so enjoyed this memoir.

I’ll tell you what I told Dindy Robinson – Not only is “The Land of Heart’s Delight” a great look back at a personal history, but it’s marvellous glimpse into a small portion of the USA’s post-depression history.

A must for memoir-reading lovers.

Christine Speakman - Muse Book Reviewer

  *HIGHLY RECOMMENDED