Given to me by a friend, because her story tells me lots more about the area of New England where I live, and a woman whose life also included lots of poets, musicians, composers, etc.

I really enjoyed this, as a lively memoir of a very specific kind of place, and a very interesting woman (who you almost certainly have never heard of.) This is a memoir by someone from the New England upper crust: you get a sense of what life was like for the mill-owning class of the industrial revolution. But that makes it sound dry, and actually, her stories are generally wonderfully interesting. She worked hard to be a singer and musician, multilingual and an artist. Ultimately, she had friends among all the most talented poets of the Boston 20th century school, like Marianne Moore, e.e. Cummings, Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Hardwick. And many amazing artists, like Constantin Brancusi. I read this in only a couple of days, because it was so much fun. It's a great introduction to the art of the early modern period: I hope it inspires you to pick up some poetry books at the library, or to go visit a local art museum. We should all throw ourselves into the art world the way Hildegard and her circle did! Reserving for an upcoming book box.

This was a terrific memoir, I thought. An interesting life and a nice glimpse of New England at a certain time. On its way to Canada. Probably a fairly rare book...small printing, so I hope she goes out to find new readers.

A beautiful looking book. Reminds me of some of the old family photos we have around the house (my grandmother, great-grandparents, etc.) BTW, my great-grandmother Mabel Chester had roots in CT and Buffalo, NY. Her father fought in the Civil War (Yankee side). Mabel moved to Ottawa around 1885 to study opera, met a Scots-Canadian, got married, and the rest is....
Next week I am going on a vacation up north and will have loads of time to savour this lovely book.

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