Linda M. HasselstromLeaning Into The Wind: Women Write from the Heart of the West

You know when you're driving across the plains of the mid-west, and you look off into the fields that line that highway,...and you see that big barn, red or maybe brown, and there's a woman wearing overalls and a long apron, and flocks of chickens are fluttering in the field behind her, lining up behind the woman who's wearing a long apron and overalls, and carrying a thin switch, and she's gently leading cows and chickens back into the barn for feeding and milking...and a few lambs are prancing beside her, while she guides them into the barn for bottle feeding, and the chickens file in line behind her...and you wonder what her story is and if she's happy caring for the land and the animals that surround her, and what she's been thru and what her story is.... That's what this book is about. And if you think that sounds like a slow read, you're wrong, because just behind those gray low clouds, there's a tornado starting up, or maybe it's a dust storm, or if it's winter, there maybe a blinding storm that'll freeze her tears so stiff the woman can't see around them to what's right in front of her. This book has it all, but especially that secret look into a life we all take a small part in, whether we know it or not. This book tells that story, all their stories, and it was the best book I've read in a very long time. You will not be disappointed!

women in the west modern day

friends keep friends sane, help deliver babies, cry when the learn she is pregnant once more. trying to love, nurture,, teach their kids to read, all with little knowledge, all while knowing as soon as that child can hold a tool he would be doing a man's job at a very early age..

An awe-inspiring collection of stories about hard-working women. I recommend this book to anyone who is brave and strong or would like to be braver and stronger - many women have struggled and overcome immense difficulties and have wonderful stories to tell.

I love stories about women, especially women living on the unforgiving prairie. It is well balanced with old and new stories.

love the storys

Such an inspiring book. A great example of the qualities woman possess.

another grand compilation of essays, poems, and stories from real lives. I suggest buying Woven in the Wind and Crazy Woman Creek for hours of intelligent reading.