Our Farm: a year in the life of a smallholding
Rosie Boycott Bloomsbury, 304pp, £14.99
ISBN 074758897X
Rosie Boycott has been many things in her life: mother, feminist, hippy, divorcee and drunk. She was co-founder of the 1970s feminist magazine Spare Rib, the first woman editor of two national broadsheets, as well as editor of the Daily Express. She is now a pig breeder and agricultural enthusiast.
Her fractured, but at times fascinating, account of becoming a farmer begins slowly and impersonally, before picking up speed. Echoes of her former glory as a writer are evident as she details the finer nuances of chicken and pig reproduction. Later disclosures poignantly include her father’s slow decline from Alzheimer's disease and how, as a working mother, she was "seduced" into believing women could have it all.
Boycott fled city life shortly after a drunken car crash. She has rebuilt her "shattered self-esteem" through life as a farmer, and her observations can be uncomfortably sentimental: "when you push a bulb deep into soft wet earth it is always a symbol of hope . . . gardening connects us to the
bigger picture".
Boycott writes engagingly on bird flu, global warming, Tescopoly and anything that threatens her community or peace of mind. It is a unique combination of insight into British farming, the media and "pigscapades".
Post this article to
We want to encourage people to comment on our content and to exchange views with other readers and hope this will be done on a courteous basis. However, if you encounter posts which are offensive please let us know by emailing comments@newstatesman.co.uk and we will take swift action where necessary.
