This lyrical book traces the history of New England farming with a twist; her intimate knowledge of agriculture is based in the experiences of her immigrant family who came to farming in Massachusetts in the 1920s. Each chapter explores a different New England environment, from “Island” to “Wilderness” to “The New City,” always coming back to its relation to farming. “Cultivation is a possession,” she argues, “an allegiance intertwined with necessity,” and she doesn’t shy away from the fact that that need for ownership has resulted in abuse of nature and pain in the family (181). But her love for the land always shines through and makes this a moving and thought-provoking read.