First published 2020
Hilarie Burton Morgan felt unfulfilled despite her successful acting career in New York and Los Angeles. After her first son's birth, she and husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan bought a working farm in Rhinebeck, New York. Burton chronicles her transformation from city dweller to country farmer. She learns to chop wood, build chicken coops, and raise alpacas while managing family life. The memoir details her purchase and revival of the town's candy store, Samuel's Sweet Shop. Burton writes candidly about marriage challenges and her struggles with secondary infertility. She weaves practical advice throughout, sharing recipes using fresh ingredients plus home renovation and gardening guidance. The book celebrates small town values and community connections that Burton discovered through farm living.
Genres: family-life, memoir, biography-memoir
Vibes: cozy, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Rhinebeck, New York, New York, Los Angeles
Period: 21st-century
224 pages · Hardcover · HarperOne
Content warnings: infertility