Description
Book SynopsisWhen an American woman and her British husband decide to buy a two-hundred-year-old cottage in the heart of the ;Cotswolds, they're hoping for an escape from their ;London ;lives. Instead, their decision about whether or not to have a child plays out against a ;backdrop of village ;fêtes, rural rambles, and a cast of eccentrics clad in corduroy and tweed. ;
Americashire: A Field Guide to a Marriage ;begins with the simultaneous ;purchase of a ;Cotswold cottage and Richardson's ill-advised decision to tell her grandchild-hungry parents that she is going to try to have a baby. As she transitions from urban to rural life, she is forced to confront both her ambivalence about the idea of motherhood and the reality of living with a spouse who sees the world as a glass half-full. Part memoir, part travelogue - and including field guides to narrative-related Cotswold ;walks - ;
Americashire ;is a candid, humorous tale of marriage, illness, and big life decisions.
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Table of Contents Contents
Part One: Weekender
Pink Foil Strips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
A House with a Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Fairs and F.tes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Irish Nachos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The £400 Fruitcake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Field Guide Number One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Rural Retail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Horse Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
The Strange Customs of the English at Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Field Guide Number Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
New Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
The Mistress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
The Cotswold Cult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Autumn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Gluttony in Gloucestershire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Checkpoint Charlie with Palm Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Part Two: In Residence
New Job, New Nemesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Communion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Field Guide Number Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Cockaleekie, Neeps, and Tatties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Sunday Lunch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
The Ball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Big Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
The Grand National . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Les Ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
This Little Piggy Went to Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
The Game Fair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
The Not-So-Simple Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Field Guide Number Four . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
