As this author opens her past to us and shares her story there are as many heart-breaking moments as there are heart-warming ones. I cried, I laughed and shared in the joys of many small wars battled and won. Anna is such a stong, brave and feisty woman full of grit and determination but with a heart as soft as butter when it comes to her ever-increasing family, as I journeyed through the chapters I sure gained more understanding of the title 'Stable Relation'.
Each family member was an animal that held a story of their own and it was such a delight to learn about their characters and histories. How they all came to be together and create their roles within this unique family was so beautiful. The dignity and all-knowing wisdom of horses, the dedication and fierce protectiveness of dogs, their examples are portrayed in these pages... and the antics of goats will always amuse me. Compassion for other living souls weaves a web throughout this story and it made me consider how much more humans could connect with other species if only we 'listened' more openly.
For animal lovers of a certain age, there's much to identify within this book and the excitement of a new adventure is always a pull to me when choosing a good read so when I picked up this book and read the synopsis I was keen to start it. The opening chapters of Anna starting over, moving to an open prairie in Colorado and having some pretty mammoth projects were exciting and full of possibilities even after such sadness. This book offers hope and inspiration and was wonderfully written in a refreshingly honest and often witty way.
When you sit down with this book expect to go through all of the emotions experienced by this author with her. She is an excellent writer!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story many an evening under a cosy blanket with hot cocoa, although a true memoir it reads like a good novel and you can sometimes get lost in the fantasy of such a place. Thank you Anna for sharing your memoirs with us.
Jeni Sellick x
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