Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, 368 pages

Cross Creek is the warm and delightful memoir about the life of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings--author of The Yearling--in the Florida backcountry.

Originally published in 1942, Cross Creek has become a classic in modern American literature. For the millions of readers raised on The Yearling, here is the story of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings's experiences in the remote Florida hamlet of Cross Creek, where she lived for thirteen years. From the daily labors of managing a seventy-two-acre orange grove to bouts with runaway pigs and a succession of unruly farmhands, Rawlings describes her life at the Creek with humor and spirit. Her tireless determination to overcome the challenges of her adopted home in the Florida backcountry, her deep-rooted love of the earth, and her genius for character and description result in a most delightful and heartwarming memoir.

This would have been a delightful read except for the author's rampant racist attitude toward African-Americans. The chapters that dealt only with plants or animals were fine, but the whole book was pretty much ruined for me. I know it was published in the 1940s, but there is no excuse for her language and/or attitude.