Too-Good-for-Only-One-Round Books

Thanks to David R. Godine for this reprint.

David R. Godine, a small house in Boston founded 55 years ago, is one of my favorite publishers. Besides discovering new authors and works, they bring back into print titles that deserve another go-round. Such a one is certainly Clémentine in the Kitchen, which I read years ago and have regretted ever letting out of my hands. Now there is another chance for me and a first chance for you, if you have yet to discover this wonderful story. 

It was mere coincidence that, just after my order from David R. Godine brought me two copies of a reprint of Clémentine in the Kitchen, by Samuel Chamberlain, from another quarter came a first edition from the World War II era, Respectfully Yours, Annie, by Sylvia Brockway. The coincidence is dual: Clémentine was published in 1943 and tells the story of an American family leaving France in 1939 and bringing back with them their French cook. Annie was published in 1942 and is a series of letters, with introduction by the author of record, from an American family’s London charwoman-cook, who stayed with their house when the mother and children went back to America in 1939. So, Clémentine, French; Annie; English. Clémentine comes to the U.S., Annie remains in England. Both women cook for their employers, and both win the hearts of the families who employ them. Among the differences, the Clémentine book includes recipes, and Annie's does not.

Other books newly arrived in my order from David R. Godine:

Sorry to have to tell you that both copies of a reprinted Donald Hall memoir, String Too Short to be Saved, sold right off the stack on my desk before I could figure out a "better" display. (Apparently, the displayed stack was all it took.) If people knew Clémentine as I know Clémentine--and ditto with Rosie--those books would be gone already, too. As for The Last of the Hill Farms, if I have more time to spend with that before it flies to a new home, you'll hear no complaints from me. Eventually, however, it should go to a photographer or at least someone who loves photography. 

Friday visit from gentleman dog Brady

Kilcherman Apple Book Coming Very Soon!

Antique Apples from Kilcherman’s Christmas Cove Farm explores a very special farm the rolling hills of Leelanau Township. Phyllis and John Kilcherman grow 250 varieties of heirloom apples, varieties in danger of disappearing from our modern food supply. The book, coming soon from Arbutus Press, features Kilcherman family and farm history dating from the land's public offering by the U.S. Government in 1851. Color photos of the orchard in three seasons, photographed by Dianne Carroll Burdick, capture the living apple community from the bee’s pollination to apple harvest. Phyllis also shares recipes both traditional and creative uses of apples in meatloaf, coleslaw, and baked beans, as well as her most prized and sought-after recipe for apple pie from her grandmother. You’ll find folklore, poems, and the apple histories in these colorful pages.

We will launch this book at Dog Ears Books in Northport on Saturday evening, September 3, with a signing beginning at 7 p.m. The public is cordially invited.

Antique Apples from Kilcherman’s Christmas Cove Farm

by Phyllis and John P. Kilcherman

Photography by Dianne Carroll Burdick

Traverse City, MI: Arbutus Press

144pp/color

$25.00