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At Home on Ladybug Farm
By:
Donna Ball
List Price: $14.00
Your Price: $10.08
(as of: 09/08/10)
Manufacturer: Berkley Trade
ISBN: 0425229785
Publication Date: 2009-10-06
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Product Description:
From the award-winning author of A Year on Ladybug Farm comes the continuing story of three women who learn what it takes to turn a house into a home.
A year after taking the chance of a lifetime, Cici, Lindsay, and Bridget are still trying to make a home for themselves on the newly-renovated Ladybug Farm. Life in the Shenandoah Valley is picturesque, but filled with unexpected trials- such as the introduction of two young people into the ordered life the women have tried to build for themselves.
As the walls of the old house reveal their secrets and the lives of those who have gone before begin to unfold, the cobbled-together household starts to disintegrate into chaos. And when one of their members is threatened by a real crisis, they must all come together to fight for the roots they've laid down, the hopes they share, and the family they've become.
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Cici, Lindsay and Bridget are renovating a run-down 100 year old mansion in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and turning it into their new home. They have left their fast paced lives in Baltimore, Maryland and are ready to start their “retirements” in Donna Ball’s newest novel, At Home on Ladybug Farm.
The women have remained friends while going through divorce, widowhood and raising children. Lindsay was an elementary school teacher who always wanted to be an artist. She is turning the former dairy barn into an art studio. Cici has a passion for building so is happy to tackle the many renovation projects needed at the old mansion. Bridget has harbored dreams of one day opening her own restaurant so keeps busy tending the herb and vegetable gardens and creating recipes using the fresh ingredients she is growing and cooking for them all. Lori is Cici’s twenty year old daughter and a recent college drop-out. She wants to prove she can make it in the world without an education and is always looking for ways to make the home and small farm pay for itself.
Ida Mae has been the housekeeper at Ladybug Farms forever. She does not care to reveal her age or the history of the farm except for dropping hints at odd moments. She shares some of the history of the farm as hidden treasures are discovered as the remodeling progresses. Noah has also been inherited with the property. He is a fifteen-year old homeless teenager who has been camping out in the folly. There are secrets in his past that could threaten his future on the farm.
The secrets in the walls of the house are slowly revealed as the walls come down and Donna Ball very creatively uses flashbacks to the various goings on at the farm beginning in 1863, moving forward to 1944 and forward more to 1967 interspersed with the happenings today. The household is threatened to fall apart under the various discoveries and misadventures of the new inhabitants. If they are to remain the new family they have created they will have to learn to live and work together under the surprises and chaos that is thrown their way. At Home on Ladybug Farm is a wonderful novel with wonderful characters working together to turn their new house into a home.
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| By: Judy Dils, ReaderToReader.com
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Customer Reviews
Good series!: (2010-08-06)
I almost skipped these books after reading the reviews on Amazon. However, so glad I did not. Sweet books. I compare them to the goodness and stories in the Mitford series by Jan Karon but more relative to modern life. I would like a long weekend at Ladybug Farm.
A friendly novel for readers everywhere: (2010-07-06)
Donna Bell returns with this powerful sequel to "A Year on Ladybug Farm," expanding on the intertwining personalities of Cici, Lindsay, and Bridget, this second book digs deep into the history and soul of the Shenandoah Valley and the run-down mansion the ladies have begun to call their home. Realizing that Ladybug Farm was once a boarding house for military wives in the forties, readers venture into the heart of the tale clearly centered on a house filled with women-- their individual insecurities, passions, fears, and truths but still unequivocally reliant on one another for the ultimate renovation at hand: themselves. Going through every room in the one-hundred year old house and claiming spaces for themselves, Lindsay planned to turn the dairy barn into an art studio and Bridget's long ago dream of owning a restaurant would lead her to cultivating a garden whereas Cici's building escapades would be the glue that keeps everything together, this narrative is filled with probing questions about what really constitutes a functioning household: physical location or real-life inhabitants? When is an actual house a home?
Sweet story: (2010-05-03)
I really enjoyed these books, and would gladly read more by this author. The characters are well-written and interesting. The history of the farm, the references back to earlier families, and the whole story tying together was fun. I really enjoyed it.
More of the same: (2010-03-24)
I was disappointed in this book. I was looking forward to reading this book after reading "A Year on Ladybug Farm", but I found this book predictable and boring.
Ladybug Farm: (2010-03-03)
The Ladybug Farm books are delightful! The story centers around 3 women, in their mid- to late 50s and have been best friends for a long, who decide to leave the city and move to a farm in Virginia. Their learning curve is sharp. More importantly, they continue to like each other, support each other, and make a success of their venture. It is so nice to read books about women who are good friends without the petty jealousy and one-ups-manship that seemed so prevalent in books for so many years. This is just a nice read, no heavy conflict, and humor thrown in for good measure. Delightful! The fact that I was able to get it in Kindle format was the icing on the cake!
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