In this lovely, unconventional, often funny memoir, we meet Catherine Goldhammer, newly separated and several tax brackets poorer, forced by circumstance to move from the affluent New England suburb of her daughter's childhood into a new, more rustic life by the sea. Against all logic, partly to please her daughter and partly for reasons not clear to her at the time, she begins this year of transition by purchasing six baby chickens--whose job, she comes to suspect, is to pull her and her daughter forward, out of one life and into another. As she gradually transforms her new house, nine hundred feet from the sea--with its tawdry exterior but radiant soul--tile by tile, flower bed by flower bed; as she watches her precocious twelve-year-old daughter blossom into a stylish and sophisticated teenager; and as she tends to the needs of six enigmatic chickens, Catherine's life starts to slowly shift from chaos to grace. Beautifully written and ultimately inspiring. Still Life with Chickens is an unforgettable lesson in hope, in starting over, and in the transcendent wisdom that can often be found in the most unlikely of places.

In wry and poignant prose, Still Life with Chickens offers a testament to new beginnings. (Joan Anderson, author of the national bestseller A Year by the Sea)

When divorce takes [Goldhammer] . . . to a honky-tonk town with a preteen daughter and six chickens in tow, there is no still life! Only deeply felt, humorous, and, at last, happy life. (More magazine)

Still Life with Chickens teaches the art of moving on . . . and reminds the reader thatthrough friends, family, inspiration, humor, and a little chutzpahanything is possible. (Ann Hood, author of Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine)

In this beautifully written and frequently funny memoir, Catherine Goldhammer, newly separated, along with her twelve-year-old daughter, starts life anew in a cottage by the sea, in a rustic town where live bait is sold from vending machines. Partly to please her daughter and partly for reasons not clear to her at the time, she begins this year of transition by purchasing six baby chickenswhose job, she comes to suspect, is to pull her and her daughter forward out of one life and into another. An unforgettable story filled with hope and grace, Still Life with Chickens shows how transcendent wisdom can be found in the most unlikely of places.

CATHERINE GOLDHAMMER is a graduate of Goddard College and was a Poetry Fellow in the fine arts program of the University of Massachusetts. She has been published in the Georgia Review and the Ohio Review.