Heartland - Sarah Smarsh

Heartland

By Sarah Smarsh

  • Release Date: 2018-09-18
  • Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Score: 4
4
From 199 Ratings

Description

*Finalist for the National Book Award*
*Finalist for the Kirkus Prize*
*Instant New York Times Bestseller*

*Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, New York Post, BuzzFeed, Shelf Awareness, Bustle, and Publishers Weekly*

An essential read for our times: an eye-opening memoir of working-class poverty in America that will deepen our understanding of the ways in which class shapes our country and “a deeply humane memoir that crackles with clarifying insight”.*

Sarah Smarsh was born a fifth generation Kansas wheat farmer on her paternal side, and the product of generations of teen mothers on her maternal side. Through her experiences growing up on a farm thirty miles west of Wichita, we are given a unique and essential look into the lives of poor and working class Americans living in the heartland.

During Sarah’s turbulent childhood in Kansas in the 1980s and 1990s, she enjoyed the freedom of a country childhood, but observed the painful challenges of the poverty around her; untreated medical conditions for lack of insurance or consistent care, unsafe job conditions, abusive relationships, and limited resources and information that would provide for the upward mobility that is the American Dream. By telling the story of her life and the lives of the people she loves with clarity and precision but without judgement, Smarsh challenges us to look more closely at the class divide in our country.

Beautifully written, in a distinctive voice, Heartland combines personal narrative with powerful analysis and cultural commentary, challenging the myths about people thought to be less because they earn less.

Heartland is one of a growing number of important works—including Matthew Desmond’s Evicted and Amy Goldstein’s Janesville—that together merit their own section in nonfiction aisles across the country: America’s postindustrial decline...Smarsh shows how the false promise of the ‘American dream’ was used to subjugate the poor. It’s a powerful mantra” *(The New York Times Book Review).

Reviews

  • Wonderful!

    5
    By perolsa
    I loved this book. It really opened my eyes. I love her courageous mindset to reach her goals against many road blocks. What an inspiring story.
  • A must Read

    5
    By Fred Saberian
    This book is a fantastic and real life depiction of what it is like growing up poor in rural America. It effectively debunks the idea of the America Dream and sheds like on systematic poverty, racism and structureal discriminataion existing in socio econoic sytem in the US. One of the best books I ever read! Thanks Sarah!
  • Great story!

    5
    By Kneedel
    Loved this memoir! So very relatable!
  • Drawn in by the imagery and story

    5
    By Kst8er76
    The imagery and the truth shared of her experience and the way the story is told is captivating. It brings back so many memories growing up in that area. I love the historical links added for depth. Truly a wonderful story.
  • Heartland

    1
    By hotstuff fl
    I feel the book is too long and repetitive! I read most of the book then skipped to nearer the end & realized to my dismay I should not have wasted my money. Hotshots

Comments