The West Window

About the Book

The West Window tells a heartwarming story of survival, change, and friendship. The lives of a sixty year old farmer, Harold, and a nineteen year old orphan, Shirley, come together in a struggle to find compatibility on a Vermont hill farm. Shirley is eager to move forward with the onrush of new agricultural technology, and Harold is determined to fight change. Shirley is haunted by her violent past involving a kid now grown into a maniacal character who has vowed revenge. She also struggles to free herself of the haunts of rape that resulted in pregnancy. A romance with Joe Iverson, Agricultural Agent, blooms and then fails, leaving her devastated. The author vividly portrays life on a small farm in the spring, summer, and fall of 1948 when Vermont was intensely agricultural. This is a story of two people finding wholeness, healing, and redemption.

The author is a graduate of the University of Vermont majoring in Agricultural Economics. He has been a dairy farmer for forty years in East Montpelier, Vermont. His wife, Donna and he have raised four children and have twelve grandchildren, most of who continue to be involved in the dairy infrastructure, from the hobby level to commercial dairying. Prior to farming in East Montpelier, he spent five years employed by the University of Vermont Extension Service.

"The West Window is a fine novel of personal evolution and the loving embrace of circumstance. What a pleasure to read someone who clearly knows what he is talking about from his long farming experience." Christopher Noel author of A Frail House (stories) and In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing (memoir).

"This is a good story, full of action and character, about the clash of the old ways with the new. There are plenty of characters here too, and the best one is Harold, the old man that owns the farm. Everyone who lives in Vermont will recognize him with affection, and everyone else will be glad to have met him." Ruth Porter, editor of Father to Daughter, and the author of The Simple Life, a novel.

About the Author

John S. Hall is a graduate of the University of Vermont with a major in Agricultural Economics. He was raised on a small farm, and has been a dairy farmer for forty years in East Montpelier, Vermont. He and his wife, Donna have four children and twelve grandchildren. Prior to farming in East Montpelier, he spent five years employed by the University of Vermont Extension Service.