After the death of her father in the spring of 1932, Radcliffe graduate Adele Crockett left her city job to save the family apple orchard in Ipswich, Mass. She had to cope with a mountain of debt, aging machinery and the vagaries of weather‘all without encouragement from her mother and brothers. Later, she wrote in rich detail about her farming years in the depths of the Depression. Her manuscript was discovered soon after her death by her daughter, Betsy Cramer, who contributes the introduction and epilogue. It is a charming memoir that evokes the despair and hope of that era. We see the doughty Adele and her French-Canadian workers feverishly picking apples in darkness to beat a hurricane; we share her nervousness when she attempts to find a market. An unusually cold winter that froze most of the crop spelled the end of Adele's valiant struggle. Photos not seen by PW. 25,000 first printing. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Robertson, a Radcliffe graduate, left a comfortable life in Boston during the Depression to grow apples in the family orchard near Ipswich, Massachusetts, from 1932 to 1934. This remarkable woman survived near poverty; cold winters; faulty plumbing; frozen pipes; the specter of unsold, spoiled apples; and harassment from the local bank. She describes her experiences learning how to operate and repair a tractor, digging a well, packing and storing apples, and other tasks involved in running a successful orchard. The loyal workers who helped her run the farm and the university purchasing agent who bought her apples and introduced her to new clients helped make her lot bearable. In the epilog, written by her daughter, we learn that although the farm was later sold, Robertson continued to live in the house, married, and became active in the community as a shop steward, local radio reporter, historian, and journalist and did a stint in office as a selectwoman. This absorbing tale is recommended for all collections focusing on the contributions of women or American agriculture.‘Irwin Weintraub, Rutgers Univ. Libs., Piscataway, N.J. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.