Little Heathens by Mary Armstrong Kalish

This memoir was published in 2007, but the author was in her 80's when she wrote it, and it harkens back to the Iowa of old. It takes place during the Great Depression, but on a farm, which is where my dad also rode out that era (he in New England), so things like starvation were not on the table--you grew and raised your food, and you foraged and preserved and were thrifty but you were not in danger of going hungry. I heard about this on the Parnassus Friday vlog of If You Haven't Read It. It Is New To You--which is a great source for books you would be unlikely to find otherwise, and it was available on ebook and I was traveling, so perfect timing. The book opens with the author's father being banished from their home by her grandparents for an undisclosed transgression, so she grew up fatherless and poor, but she managed to consider herself one of the lucky ones, which is a gift unto itself. The life she describes is very much like my visits to my great grandmother's house in the 1960's, where much of the day revolved around chores and the food was homemade, nothing fancy, but delicious. The butter stayed on the counter after it was churned, the jam was foraged wild strawberries, and the bread was made that morning. The stories I liked most were related to her grandmother and her talent with sewing--there is a movement afoot now within modern quilting to upcycle material, either from thrift stores or your own closet. The author's grandmother took collars off shirts and turned them over so the fraying was hidden and the shirt had a longer life. She also saved bits of thread to use when sewing--nothing wasted--which is a good lesson to learn. There is something lost of this era in the state right now, but maybe it can be recaptured, if and when women become full citizens again and have the right to make decisions about their bodies.