This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America

As an immigrant coming from Europe, my view of the US countryside can be quite romanticized, edging closer to my childhood experience (Europe) than to the American countryside itself. I view it as huge natural spaces where I could grow fruit trees, let my dog run in the backyard, and have enough room to fully stretch out on the patio. But then, I am also gender fluid and in a queer and biracial relationship. So I know that my ideal view of the countryside would be tinted by how people might view me and my wife, as well as my own sense of safety and integrity. So sometimes, I need to read a book like this one to remind me that romanticizing a place keeps the pros of a community but removes the aspects that are less than welcoming.

This is the story of Navied and his wife, who, tired from the daily commute in the Bay Area, decide to buy a plot of land in Idaho and make it their home. They will hire Amish people to build and deliver, by the road, the foundation of their home, lay their own wood floor and ceramic tiles, plant their kitchen garden, and little by little make their new house a home. Some of their neighbors will be friendly, especially cooking Navied elk kebabs, some less so, clearly displaying a note on the front store that people coming from ‘over there' are not welcome ‘here.'

Most of the pages are about Navied's exploration of nature, learning to recognize with his wife the birds and tracks of animals in the snow, getting enough wood to keep them warm through the winter, and deciding (or not) to get a hunting license.

Ultimately, the book will be about deciding what makes a land a home, what traditions and culture we gain from a place, and what kind of life they would want their future family to have.

It was a sobering story, filled with beautiful art and a smooth narrative. I would highly recommend it.

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.