A friend from Michigan sent me Q Road because he had heard Bonnie Jo Campbell speak and he thought that I would appreciate what she had to say about property. Sure enough, it was fabulous. The book is set in Kalamazoo and re-tells (probably “liberal adaptation” based on the flack that some other books are getting) the story of a summer on Q Road. Old farms were starting to get taken over by new houses. The people moving in were unhappy because of the farm smells and mess and the farmers were sad to see the property being eaten away by houses.
I have a farm in Michigan (Well, I mean…my dad has a farm in Michigan). I love that farm. 90 acres of heaven. Plenty of room for horses.
And I get nervous as the houses move out of town and closer to the farm. I am sad to see fields being turned into subdivisions – houses growing where hay or corn used to grow. Or houses knocking down forest to put up a house with a yard.
But it’s a great read and fun local information. I’d love to go visit that road (not in my usual track of travel) to see if I can figure out which houses she is talking about.
Posted by Heather Voss at February 3, 2006 10:32 PM