Rebecca LeeAnne Brammer

The Year of Plenty is probably the most charming book I'll get to read all year. Set in rural Kentucky in the 1920s it is the story of a year in the life of the Fraley family. Told from the viewpoint of the second-youngest daughter Odella, we're introduced to her school-life, her relatives and the routines of life at a self-providing farm just before the depression set in.

Odie lives together with her parents, her grandmother, four of her seven older siblings and her one younger sister. The three oldest are grown and have moved away to the city, where they’re more severely affected by the coming depression. Odie doesn’t know much about that though – she just knows that thanks to the produce of their farm, the cellar and loft are full, and she has nothing worse to worry about than when she’ll be big enough to be allowed to help her mother on the farm.

Written in the style of American classics like the Little House series we get to follow the life of a family - we hear about their holiday traditions, their joy and sorrows, their schooling, their friendships and relationships, and - my favourite parts - the running of the farm. I've always been utterly fascinated by all the every-day chores that came with running a farm 100 years ago, and the work necessary for setting away food to last through the winter.

The Year of Plenty is one of those books you sink down into, and it's almost torture to have to come back out again. I came to care about all the members of the family, and wanted to hear more about what happened to them. Rebecca Brammer shows an incredible gift for in-depth characterisations and creating an atmosphere with her words. Her writing seems effort-less and the plot tight. I hope to meet the Fraley family again in future books from this talented writer.… (más)