ABOUT THIS BOOK

When a mid-life couple finds an old farm that promises refuge from hectic lives and encroaching illness, their world opens up to unexpected adventures: breeding heritage goats, hogs, and cattle; managing a half-dozen large guardian dogs; dealing with barn fires, rapacious logging, and the death of treasured animals. The farm and the surrounding forest also lead to surprising moments of beauty—from sublime sunsets and powerful connections with animals to an outpouring of help from neighbors.

Written separately by wife and husband with distinctly separate voices, the book’s essays illustrate different perspectives of life on a farm dedicated to the compassionate treatment of livestock and a deep appreciation of nature’s complexities. Priscilla embraces the intensity of loving animals; Henry explores the mysteries of living in a beautiful place. And, in telling their tales, the authors provide a glimpse into their own marriage—as complicated, improbable, and enduring as life itself. The Keep—the term for “the strongest or central tower of a castle, acting as a final refuge”—is a love letter to an unexpected place and adopted lifestyle.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Henry T. Ireys is a former health policy researcher. He published numerous papers in health policy journals and, since his retirement, has been writing for The Hampshire Review about farming and the natural world. Priscilla M. Ireys worked in the fashion industry for thirty years, where she designed and made stage clothes for country music stars such as Loretta Lynn before leaving to focus on farming and the conservation of heritage breeds. Together, they have lived on a farm in Hampshire County since 2001, tending a core herd of fifty Spanish and Savanna goats. The Keep is their first book together.

REVIEWS

“The Keep is honest and compelling storytelling told through the contrasting and complementarity of Priscilla’s and Henry’s individual voices. Priscilla has an intimate view of animal husbandry, while Henry is more prone to philosophizing; yet both are deeply engaged with the land, and both are thoughtful and lively storytellers. Neither shies away from complexities and challenges. In her accounts of raising goats and hogs, Priscilla captures both the necessary brutality and profound tenderness required for successful animal husbandry.”
—Arwen Donahue, author of the graphic memoir Landings: A Crooked Creek Farm Year (Hub City, 2022) and the oral history collection This is Home Now: Kentucky’s Holocaust Survivors Speak (University Press of Kentucky, 2022). Arwen lives on a farm in Kentucky.

“A delightful chronicle of a moment in time on a parcel in Appalachia.”
—Gretchen Legler, author of Woodsqueer: Crafting a Sustainable Rural Life; On the Ice: An Intimate Portrait of Life at McMurdo Station, Antarctica; and All the Powerful Invisible Things: A Sportswoman’s Notebook.— -

TABLE OF CONTENTS