Being Present with the Past

"Tell me about the olden days, Mom." So started Jeanne Bartlett's remembrance of things past. The twenty-five essays collected here open a window into what it was like to be a child in rural New Hampshire during the 1930s and 1940s. Present-day events kindle memories of long-ago childhood adventure, community generosity, daily and seasonal chores, and growing up in a family that would "use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without" on their homestead in the hills.

With deftness, humor, and grace, Jeanne's writing brings us to the kitchen table, the hay field, and the snow drifts of her youth. Readers might find their own childhood

memories stirring or be prompted to ask of others, "What was it like?" And with a skilled storyteller as their guide, readers for whom this is a time lost to history can begin to experience it for themselves through the vivid telling of being present with the past.