I was disappointed in this book. The Hudson Valley is a magnificent well for story tellers and I was excited to read about the generations who had lived in a single home and worked on its orchard.

This is much more a creative writing guide than a history of a house/family. Philip spends chapters describing the writing process, but not enough about the actual home/family. The writing parts would have made an excellent preface, but the book needed more substantative history.

Too often Philips interupts herself to backtrack to modern times.

This had great potential, but left me looking for another book.

Evocative, elegant account of family history, deftly blending geneology with present day realities. Highly enjoyable read~

After all the books about houses in France and Italy, it's nice to see a truly American story about a house and the family that has owned and loved it for nearly 200 years. Philip deftly interweaves the personal and the historical into a memorable narrative. Although nonfiction, the book's flow and vivid descriptions make it read like almost like a novel. Talvera may be the most interesting American country house since Tara.

Very clearly illustrates some important aspects of Japanese culture through the eyes of a Gaijin. Made me fall in love with pottery and life in Japan all over again.