“The older I get, the more I believe that the greatest kindness is acceptance.”
Born on a family farm, Christina Olson never thought much of life anywhere else. However, when she is young, she survives an illness that leaves her without complete control of her legs and arms. Constantly falling and dropping things are part of her life, but it leads to few friends and a slim chance at any romance. The farm is to be her life.
I was looking for a good fiction book to read after reading a lot of non-fiction and I had A Piece of the World on my kindle, probably purchased on sale many months ago. I’ve enjoyed several Christina Baker Kline books so I knew I’d enjoy this one, too. I’ve read Orphan Train, The Exiles, and Sweet Water.
Christina manages to not just survive, but thrive, on the farm. As her parents get older, she takes on more and more of the chores – cooking, canning, cleaning, laundry and even sewing. She can make her hands to what she wants while she sews. Later in life, the son of a famous painter uses her house as his base station and tries to get a sense of what the house and farm is saying to him. Through his eyes, Christina finally sees herself.
A Piece of the World is a wonderful historical fiction book based on the real life of Christina Olson. The farm never had electricity, so there are many survival lessons thrown in for living without power, too. Overall, the books shows the importance of loving those who are in our lives and reaching out to them, even when they push us away.
Where did you always want to live when you were young? Share in the comments!