Part memoir, part nature writing, and part old-house-restoration journal, this wonderfully intimate narrative brings home all the humor, exhilaration, and disappointment of pursuing a realer, “simpler” life in the country. Miller sprang from a rural background, and she’s run from her roots during most of her adult life, but in Zion, Pa., she makes a gratifying, if not dubious, peace with her past. In her sassy, self-deprecating style, Cathleen Miller puts a fresh, authentic spin on the classic country memoir and surprises us with many unique twists, such as her close encounters with Amish neighbors. Sometimes wry and sometimes full of awe, her observations about these and other locals infuse this delightful true story with rich texture. Through it all we witness the blow-by-blow process of how she and her husband refurbished their woefully dilapidated country house, turning it into a home with a soul.