In an age of increasing international insecurity, the concept of home becomes of still greater importance, as does our relationship with other races and cultures. This account of an American-born woman of Ukrainian extraction, married for 50 years to a Devon farmer, offers a small but entrancing vision of what unlikely meetings of culture, blood and tradition can produce. This wise and spirited account of one woman's life suggests how old traditions, transplanted, can become renewed and how brave life choices can generate creative outcomes. I read Karen's story with the kind of quiet pleasure that only the truly authentic can deliver. - Salley Vickers