Summary from Goodreads:

Prudence Burns, a well-intentioned New Yorker full of back-to-the-land ideals, just inherited Woefield Farm—thirty acres of scrubland, dilapidated buildings, and one half-sheared sheep. But the bank is about to foreclose, so Prudence must turn things around fast! Fortunately she’ll have help from Earl, her banjo-playing foreman with a family secret; Seth, the neighbor who hasn’t left the house since a high school scandal; and Sara Spratt, an eleven-year-old who’s looking for a home for her prize-winning chickens.

Home to Woefield is about learning how to take on a challenge, face your fears, and find friendship in the most unlikely of places.

My Review:

Home to Woefield surprised me.  I mean, I thought it’d be a cute fluff stories, and it had a few things that annoyed me (the super green attitude of the main character was a little over the top) but it worked still.  And what a cast of characters!  I don’t think I’ve had that much fun reading about characters since experiencing The Lumby Lines  by Gail Fraser (another fun book).

Prudence is a New Yorker who is fascinated by the simpler life.  When an opportunity arises to move to her now-deceased Uncle’s farm, she snaps it up.  She eats local food, but wants to be that person on the other side of the farmer’s market, the one with the veggies to sell.

What she gets is not what she was dreaming of – with her rose-tinted glasses.  Instead, it’s a beat-up farm, a half-shorn sheep, and a group of characters that definitely fulfill every person’s worst nightmare of neighbors.  And for that very reason, the story works.

Susan Juby did a fantastic job moving into the world of adult literature, but there is still some evidence in her writing that she came from a world of young adult.  Not that it’s a bad thing, just that the book was very sectioned into certain personality types and there was not a whole lot of growth in the characters – outside of obvious story-needing growth.  Still, although a bit predictable, it was a fun, entertaining, easy read and made my afternoon pass very pleasurably.

For a light, summer beach read, this book would be high on my list – now, all I need is summer to make its way back so I can enjoy it again.

About the Author

Susan’s website, her blog, and Susan on Twitter: @thejuby.

Susan Juby, is going to be on Blog Talk Radio with Book Club Girl on Tuesday, April 5th at 5pm PT? Here’s the link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/book-club-girl/2011/04/05/susan-juby-discusses-home-to-woefield

For more reviews on Home to Woefield by Susan Juby, please follow the book tour.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from TLC Book Tours. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”