University of Wisconsin Press, 2009 Cloth: 978-0-299-23250-4 | eISBN: 978-0-299-23253-5 Library of Congress Classification PS3601.P67B58 2009 Dewey Decimal Classification 813.6
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Fans of Jerry Apps will delight in his latest novel, Blue Shadows Farm, which follows the intriguing family story of three generations on a Wisconsin farm.
Silas Starkweather, a Civil War veteran, is drawn to Wisconsin and homesteads 160 acres in Ames County, where he is known as the mysterious farmer forever digging holes. After years of hardship and toil, however, Silas develops a commitment to farming his land and respect for his new community. When Silas’s son Abe inherits Blue Shadows Farm he chooses to keep the land out of reluctant necessity, distilling and distributing “purified corn water” throughout Prohibition and the Great Depression in order to stay solvent. Abe’s daughter, Emma, willingly takes over the farm after her mother’s death. Emma’s love for this place inspires her to open the farm to school-children and families who share her respect for it. As she considers selling the land, Emma is confronted with a difficult question—who, through thick and thin, will care for Blue Shadows Farm as her family has done for over a century? In the midst of a controversy that disrupts the entire community, Emma looks into her family’s past to help her make crucial decisions about the future of its land.
Through the story of the Starkweather family’s changing fortunes, and each generation’s very different relationship with the farm and the land, Blue Shadows Farm is in some ways the narrative of all farmers and the increasingly difficult challenges they face as committed stewards of the land.
Finalist, General Fiction, Midwest Book Awards
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Jerry Apps, born and raised on a Wisconsin farm, is professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His many nonfiction books include Every Farm Tells a Story, Country Wisdom, One-Room Country Schools, Cheese, Breweries of Wisconsin, Old Farm, and Ringlingville USA. He is also author of the novels In a Pickle and The Travels of Increase Joseph. Apps received the 2007 Major Achievement Award from the Council for Wisconsin Writers.
REVIEWS
“Jerry Apps unravels a family secret that arcs across three generations and delivers a surprising answer for one descendant.”—Philip Hasheider, contributing author to Seasons on the Farm
“Jerry Apps weaves a good tale through three generations of family life, strife, and the fabric of the rural landscape that holds them together.”—David L. Sperling, editor, Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue—November 2000
Part 1
1. Ambush—March 1865
2. New Orleans Hospital—March 1865
3. Limited Duty—April 1865
Part 3
12. School Board Meeting—October 2000
13. Memories—October 2000
14. Snowstorm—December 1866
15. Wolfgang and Amelia—December 1866
16. Housekeeper—December 1866
17. Kitchen Stove—January 1867
18. Opportunity—October 2000
Part 4
19. William Steele—October 2
20. Blue Shadows—February 1867
21. Mixed Thoughts—May 1867
22. Wedding—July 1867
23. New Baby—February 15, 1868
24. Elsa—April 1872
25. Increase Joseph—Summer 1872
26. Going Home—August 1872
27 Modern Nature Educators, Inc.—November 2000
Part 5
28. Modern Nature Educators II—November 2000
29. Greed—Summer 1874
30. Borrowed Hay Mower—Summer 1874
31. Tornado—August 1875
32. Silas and the Arrowheads—Summer 1876
33. Kate Dugan—November 2000
Part 6
34. Hiking Emma's Farm—November 2000
35. Abe and the Kittens—May 1880
36. Quilting Bee—November 1885
37. School Days—October 1886
38. Christmas Program—December 1886
39. Picnic—July 4, 1895
40. Skinny-Dipping—August 1900
41. Abe Farming—May 1901
42. Ole Brothers Circus—July 1902
43. New House and Barn—Spring 1903
44. End of an Era—1905
45. Gravel Pit—1906
46. Merrifield Visits the Farm—November 2000
Part 7
47. How Dry I Am—1919
48. What Now?—Summer 1919
49. Visitors—Summer 1920
50. Purified Corn Water—Summer 1920
51. Living High on the Hog—Summer 1922
52. Sorrow-Joy-Sorrow—1925
53. Depression, Then War—Summer 1932
54. School Board Decision—November 2000
Part 8
55. Threshing Days—August 1945
56. Postwar—August 1945
57. Jim Lockwell—August 1946
58. Fishing—August 1947
59. New Year's Eve—December 31, 1949
Part 9
60. Green Growing Farms—Summer 1960
61. Holding On—June 1980
62. Longtime Relationship—1986
63. Offer—November 2000
64. Secrets—November 2000
Epilogue
Suggested Reading
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
University of Wisconsin Press, 2009 Cloth: 978-0-299-23250-4 eISBN: 978-0-299-23253-5
Fans of Jerry Apps will delight in his latest novel, Blue Shadows Farm, which follows the intriguing family story of three generations on a Wisconsin farm.
Silas Starkweather, a Civil War veteran, is drawn to Wisconsin and homesteads 160 acres in Ames County, where he is known as the mysterious farmer forever digging holes. After years of hardship and toil, however, Silas develops a commitment to farming his land and respect for his new community. When Silas’s son Abe inherits Blue Shadows Farm he chooses to keep the land out of reluctant necessity, distilling and distributing “purified corn water” throughout Prohibition and the Great Depression in order to stay solvent. Abe’s daughter, Emma, willingly takes over the farm after her mother’s death. Emma’s love for this place inspires her to open the farm to school-children and families who share her respect for it. As she considers selling the land, Emma is confronted with a difficult question—who, through thick and thin, will care for Blue Shadows Farm as her family has done for over a century? In the midst of a controversy that disrupts the entire community, Emma looks into her family’s past to help her make crucial decisions about the future of its land.
Through the story of the Starkweather family’s changing fortunes, and each generation’s very different relationship with the farm and the land, Blue Shadows Farm is in some ways the narrative of all farmers and the increasingly difficult challenges they face as committed stewards of the land.
Finalist, General Fiction, Midwest Book Awards
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Jerry Apps, born and raised on a Wisconsin farm, is professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His many nonfiction books include Every Farm Tells a Story, Country Wisdom, One-Room Country Schools, Cheese, Breweries of Wisconsin, Old Farm, and Ringlingville USA. He is also author of the novels In a Pickle and The Travels of Increase Joseph. Apps received the 2007 Major Achievement Award from the Council for Wisconsin Writers.
REVIEWS
“Jerry Apps unravels a family secret that arcs across three generations and delivers a surprising answer for one descendant.”—Philip Hasheider, contributing author to Seasons on the Farm
“Jerry Apps weaves a good tale through three generations of family life, strife, and the fabric of the rural landscape that holds them together.”—David L. Sperling, editor, Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue—November 2000
Part 1
1. Ambush—March 1865
2. New Orleans Hospital—March 1865
3. Limited Duty—April 1865
Part 3
12. School Board Meeting—October 2000
13. Memories—October 2000
14. Snowstorm—December 1866
15. Wolfgang and Amelia—December 1866
16. Housekeeper—December 1866
17. Kitchen Stove—January 1867
18. Opportunity—October 2000
Part 4
19. William Steele—October 2
20. Blue Shadows—February 1867
21. Mixed Thoughts—May 1867
22. Wedding—July 1867
23. New Baby—February 15, 1868
24. Elsa—April 1872
25. Increase Joseph—Summer 1872
26. Going Home—August 1872
27 Modern Nature Educators, Inc.—November 2000
Part 5
28. Modern Nature Educators II—November 2000
29. Greed—Summer 1874
30. Borrowed Hay Mower—Summer 1874
31. Tornado—August 1875
32. Silas and the Arrowheads—Summer 1876
33. Kate Dugan—November 2000
Part 6
34. Hiking Emma's Farm—November 2000
35. Abe and the Kittens—May 1880
36. Quilting Bee—November 1885
37. School Days—October 1886
38. Christmas Program—December 1886
39. Picnic—July 4, 1895
40. Skinny-Dipping—August 1900
41. Abe Farming—May 1901
42. Ole Brothers Circus—July 1902
43. New House and Barn—Spring 1903
44. End of an Era—1905
45. Gravel Pit—1906
46. Merrifield Visits the Farm—November 2000
Part 7
47. How Dry I Am—1919
48. What Now?—Summer 1919
49. Visitors—Summer 1920
50. Purified Corn Water—Summer 1920
51. Living High on the Hog—Summer 1922
52. Sorrow-Joy-Sorrow—1925
53. Depression, Then War—Summer 1932
54. School Board Decision—November 2000
Part 8
55. Threshing Days—August 1945
56. Postwar—August 1945
57. Jim Lockwell—August 1946
58. Fishing—August 1947
59. New Year's Eve—December 31, 1949
Part 9
60. Green Growing Farms—Summer 1960
61. Holding On—June 1980
62. Longtime Relationship—1986
63. Offer—November 2000
64. Secrets—November 2000
Epilogue
Suggested Reading
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE