Betty MacDonald, żyjąc na surowej farmie w północno-zachodnich Stanach Zjednoczonych, z humorem i szczerością opisuje swoje życie. Przedstawia relacje rodzinne, początki małżeństwa oraz zmagania z budowaniem nowego życia w dziczy. Jej opowieść to fascynująca narracja o pokonywaniu przeszkód, odnajdywaniu szczęścia i odkrywaniu samej siebie w trudnych warunkach.
'Gdyby jajko miało sześcianu kontury, żywot kury byłby ponury' - stwierdził Hemar, a Tuwim nadał tej prawdzie kształt ostateczny: 'Gdyby jajko miało inną formę, życie kury byłoby potworne' Wniosek: jajko plus kura to literatura.
Tuberculosis. A terrifying word, as terrifying then as cancer is now. It meant entering a sanatorium for treatment, leaving her family, her children. And what if she did not recover? Hardly the basis for comedy, one would suppose. And one would be wrong. Betty MacDonald always had the ability to face up to adversity -- and heaven knows she had enough in her life! -- so after the initial shock had passed, she proceeded to laugh at her illness, the other patients, the nurses, the doctors, and -- chiefly -- herself. Humor was her greatest medicine, right up to the day she left the sanatorium, cured. Of course she had her bad moments when despair and tragedy underlying what she saw and heard refused to be pushed into the background, but she had the grit and wit to rise above it. The result is a lively, cheerful and most funny book. In fact, it's a tonic.
One would suppose that during the Depression there wasn't much to laugh about in America. But one would be wrong. This book takes up Betty's story before she'd had any success as a writer - when she went back to live with her mother. With a failed chicken farm and marriage behind her, Betty was desperate to make a living in a country without any jobs. Luckily she had her sister Mary batting for her, and catapulting Betty into one hilarious situation after another, while she watched safely from the sidelines.
Originally published: Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1955.