Becky Cannaday Merchant

Over in the Country: a Blue Ridge Mountain Family's Stories Becky Cannaday Merchant

"Over in the Country" is a memoir about Paul and Eula Simms, remarkable people who never considered themselves remarkable, a rich collection of stories from their life on a farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia during the first half of the twentieth century. In 1904 Paul bought a hundred acres of raw land, mostly rolling hills, but with enough level ground for a house and a garden. To make their farm prosper, he and his bride Eula Rakes brought their experiences growing up in the country, their eagerness to try new ideas and inventions, their willingness to work hard, and their determination to succeed. Almost as essential was the pleasure they took in good fun, good food, and a healthy sense of humor. The memoir tells stories about Paul and Eula before they married, their efforts to make the farm pay, their four children, kinfolk and neighbors, church and school in an isolated mountain community. The small self-sufficient farms of earlier America are gone. Stories such as these help us remember our grandparents and connect us to our past.