Americashire: a Field Guide to a Marriage

by Jennifer Richardson

Overview

When an American woman and her British husband decide to buy a two-hundred-year-old cottage in the heart of the ;Cotswolds, they're hoping for an escape from their ;London ;lives. Instead, their decision about whether or not to have a child plays out against a ;backdrop of village ;fêtes, rural rambles, and a cast of eccentrics clad in corduroy and tweed. ;

Americashire: A Field Guide to a Marriage ;begins with the simultaneous ;purchase of a ;Cotswold cottage and Richardson's ill-advised decision to tell her grandchild-hungry parents that she is going to try to have a baby. As she transitions from urban to rural life, she is forced to confront both her ambivalence about the idea of motherhood and the reality of living with a spouse who sees the world as a glass half-full. Part memoir, part travelogue - and including field guides to narrative-related Cotswold ;walks - ;Americashire ;is a candid, humorous tale of marriage, illness, and big life decisions.
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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781938314308
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	04/23/2013
Pages:	158
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Jennifer Richardson is an American Anglophile who spent three years living in a Cotswold village populated by fumbling aristocrats, gentlemen farmers, and a village idiot. ;She is married to an Englishman who provides her with ample writing material. ;She currently resides in Santa Monica, California with her husband and her royal wedding tea towel collection. ;You can find her on Twitter @baronessbarren.

Table of Contents

Contents

Part One: Weekender

Pink Foil Strips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

A House with a Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Fairs and F.tes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Irish Nachos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

The £400 Fruitcake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Field Guide Number One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Rural Retail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Horse Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

The Strange Customs of the English at Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Field Guide Number Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

New Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

The Mistress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

The Cotswold Cult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Autumn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Gluttony in Gloucestershire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Checkpoint Charlie with Palm Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Part Two: In Residence

New Job, New Nemesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Communion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Field Guide Number Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Cockaleekie, Neeps, and Tatties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Sunday Lunch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

The Ball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Big Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

The Grand National . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Les Ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

This Little Piggy Went to Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

The Game Fair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

The Not-So-Simple Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Field Guide Number Four . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149