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|  | |  | | | The Unlikely Lavender Queen: A Memoir of Unexpected Blossoming | | | | | SKU:
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Usually ships in 1-2 business days | | Only 1 left in stock, order soon! | | | | | | “I couldn’t help but question how I’d gotten to this strange spot in my life, so far from what I’d expected for myself. Yes, there had been a heady romance a few years back. Then a slew of subsequent decisions, fueled by love and yearnings I didn’t even know I had. But I never, ever would have suspected that this was where the sum total of them would bring me. That afternoon a new doubt dripped into my mind. When do you know, I wondered, whether the choices you’ve made were the right ones?”
In 1990, Jeannie Ralston was a successful magazine writer and bona fide city girl—the type of woman who couldn't imagine living on soil not shaded by skyscrapers. By 1994, she had called off an engagement, married Robb, a National Geographic photographer, and was living in Blanco Texas, population 1600.
The Unlikely Lavender Queen is the intimate story of a woman who gives up a lot for the man she loves – her beloved blue state, bagels and all-night bodegas—only to have to wonder: Was it too much? Ralston offers a lively chronicle of her life as a wife, new mother and an urban settler in rural Texas. As she labors to convert a dilapidated barn into a livable home, deal with scorpions and unbearably hot summers, raise two young children while Robb is frequently away on assignment, she realizes her ultimate struggle is to reconcile her life plans and goals with her husband’s without coming out the proverbial loser. And just when it seems like she might be losing that fight--and herself-- a little purple bloom changes her life.
For centuries lavender has been a mystical herb, so valuable to ancient Romans that a bushel would cost nearly a month’s wages. But when Robb returns from a trip to Provence with a plan for growing lavender on their land, Ralston is not convinced—in fact the last thing she needed or wanted was to take up farming on top of everything else. Then, much to her surprise, she slowly but surely falls in love with lavender, and in the course of growing and selling blooms, hosting the public at the farm, and creating lavender products, she discovers a new side of herself. A few short years later, Ralston had built Hill Country Lavender, a thriving commercial enterprise that transforms both her little corner of Texas and her life.
The Unlikely Lavender Queen will resonate with all women who have faced the tough choices that come with “having it all” and secretly (or not so secretly) hoped for great adventure to come along and surprise them. Ralston’s honest, funny, and poignant memoir is a testament to the fact that such adventures await us around every bend in life. | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Author: | Jeannie Ralston | | Hardcover: | 272 pages | | Publisher: | Broadway | | Publication Date: | May 27, 2008 | | Language: | English | | ISBN: | 0767927958 | | Product Length: | 6.45 inches | | Product Width: | 1.0 inches | | Product Height: | 10.55 inches | | Product Weight: | 1.05 pounds | | Package Length: | 9.3 inches | | Package Width: | 6.2 inches | | Package Height: | 1.0 inches | | Package Weight: | 1.1 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 73 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 73 customer reviews )
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28 of 31 found the following review helpful:
 A Starring Role in Life's Adventure May 28, 2008
By Story Circle Book Reviews
Have you ever noticed how the one thing that most attracts you to a person can end up being the thing that, in time, makes you absolutely crazy?
Jeannie Ralston's friend Kim once told her "You're just not very adventurous." But any girl who was willing to move from Tennessee to New York, after landing an internship with McCall's magazine, must have had some longing for excitement lurking inside. From there, she carefully engineered a flourishing career as a freelance writer and, thanks to fashion editor Kim, a well-dressed one at that. When she was assigned to work with Robb Kendrick, a cute young photographer from National Geographic magazine, Jeannie got swept right off her Manolo Blahniks and into a life beyond her imagining.
It began as a whirlwind of travel and excitement, where she might wake up on her thirtieth birthday and find her bikini-clad self on the cover of Travel + Leisure magazine. So how did she end up at age forty, living on a farm outside of Blanco, Texas, with work-roughened hands, aching back, and a husband who's rarely home? Ah, therein lies the story!
When Robb first announced that he despised living in New York and wanted to move back to Texas, Jeannie felt sure he would come around eventually. However, she had no idea just how persistent and persuasive her new husband could be. Next thing she knew, they owned a house in Austin.
Of course, that was just the beginning. Robb is an idea man, a man who needs to challenge himself with new projects. A man with itchy feet, enamored with the idea of being a pioneer. After Austin, he hit upon the notion of transforming an old stone barn near Blanco into their home. Jeannie couldn't imagine moving to the country, but eventually caved in, on the condition that Robb must agree to their starting a family. Next, he was inspired by the lavender fields in Provence, and thought, why not in the Texas Hill Country? Though he didn't ask Jeannie to take over their lavender farm while he was away on assignment, both seemed to assume that she would. "This was the natural dance of our relationship. When he was off traveling, which totaled about eight months out of the year, though not all at once, I would get the ball, whatever the ball happened to be at the time."
I connected with this book on so many levels. First, it was just a great read. There was never a moment when I felt my interest flagging, and each chapter left me wanting more. Second, the Texas Hill Country is a delightful setting, uniquely beautiful and peopled by such interesting characters that it could easily hold its own against Tuscany or Provence. When I tried to picture a young woman whose previous life was straight out of "Sex and the City" dining at the Blanco Bowling Club Cafe or paying a social call on the crone next door who was busily carving up a deer and plopping the raw steaks down on the table right in front of our New York immigrant, I laughed so much that I almost needed a change of underwear.
On a much deeper level, though, The Unlikely Lavender Queen spoke to me of the struggles that all women today face: managing two big careers in a single relationship, becoming the caboose that follows a husband's engine, facing the ticking fertility clock--all the tradeoffs we make and what they cost us. It's not easy to bloom where we're planted.
At first Jeannie found herself wondering how much further from her true self she could go. Robb's attitude was looser: "You've just got to be open to surprises. Most people are scared of them. They'd rather be safe and comfortable than surprised." In time, thanks to his pushing and prodding, she found the courage to be a pioneer, discovered untapped talents that amazed them both, and together they launched a Texas industry. After a disastrous season when they were forced to deal with drought, floods, and grasshoppers of near-biblical proportions, a friend of Jeannie's said perhaps she had ended up in agriculture to learn the Zen of farming: the need for patience and letting go.
Once they ran out of projects and renovations at the lavender farm, though, Robb began to get restless and both he and Jeannie grew tired of having people descend on them each weekend. They sold part of the land, planted new lavender fields on property closer to town, and began to build another house. But when they decided to take the family to Mexico for Spanish lessons, their plans turned upside down. They now reside in San Miguel de Allende, though Jeannie still consults with and conducts seminars for Texas lavender growers.
I think perhaps Jeannie ended up with Robb because each needed the other for balance. Had she stayed in New York, she would have forever been the journalist, looking on and chronicling other's adventures. Now she is the star of her own story.
by Becky Lane
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
12 of 14 found the following review helpful:
Truth about the Texas Hill Country Jul 24, 2008
By C. Trussell
"momchar3"
I loved this book!!! Having lived in the Texas Hill Country for eight years, I fully understand many of the challenges faced by the author. This is a beautiful area of Texas enjoyed by many people who are on vacation. But attempting to grow a garden here is not an easy task. The rocky alkaline soil, erratic weather conditions, lack of rain, insects, armadillos, and deer make gardening a difficult proposition. Whiny? No, just stating facts. Hats off to Jeannie Ralston for not sugar-coating the story, and for her sense of humor in the face of adversity. All that said, there's no place I would rather live. She understands that sentiment as well by portraying the numerous benefits of rural life. Thanks to Jeannie for a wonderful book.
9 of 10 found the following review helpful:
UNlikely Lavendar Queen Aug 19, 2008
By Rachel Torres
"RGTorres"
My friend recently lent it to me on vacation, but I could not finish in time. As soon as I got home, I ordered it and have spread the word on this unlikely life experience ever since. It is well written and described in complete detail. I now tell everyone to read it and I know they will enjoy it too. I look forward to reading about Ms. Ralston's future adventures. I know she will have some wonderful ones!
8 of 9 found the following review helpful:
I Miss Texas! Jul 28, 2008
By Janie Alonzo
"Janie"
I was drawn to The Unlikely Lavender Queen mostly because of the lavender. Until three years ago, I lived in the country and the thought of growing lavender had occurred to me.
I could almost smell the lavender as I read the first chapter. In fact, making the transition from that wonderful chapter and into the reality of her life was slow for me. However, as I read more, I began to relate so much to the unexpected turn of events in her life because of her marriage.
Jeannie Ralston did a most outstanding job of not only making the best of her situation, but blossoming beyond her expectations, and helping put a small town on the map. Her story was inspiring to me. By the time I finished the book, it had me wanting to move back to my native state of Texas, San Antonio maybe.
I just wanted to read a book about lavender. Jeannie Ralston gave so much more.
10 of 12 found the following review helpful:
An Inspiring Book for Women Aug 21, 2008
By Jessica L. Jones
Anyone who has ever found that their lives are heading in a direction other than what they had originally planned will sympathize and enjoy reading Jeannie Ralston's The Unlikely Lavender Queen: A Memoir of Unexpected Blossoming.
The memoir begins when as Jeannie harvests her first order of lavender. From there, we travel back to what started it all: a National Geographic photographer with fabulous legs. Jeannie writes about how her marriage to what she calls a "restless" man led to a life she never would have imagined for herself.
For the first part of her life, Jeannie worked hard to establish herself as a talented writer. She wrote stories for Life, Time, and National Geographic and has been a contributing editor for Allure and is currently still one for Parenting. After she meets Robb, they fall in love and eventually marry and move to Texas. Jeannie is helplessly homesick and misses New York, the city she feels symbolizes her youth.
Although the couple first lives in Austin, a city that becomes more than tolerable in Jeannie's mind, they eventually build a home in the Hill Country. Jeannie hates it, and, when Robb decides he wants to start a lavender farm, she only becomes more miserable.
The rest of the book details her gradual acceptance and resulting fondess for the business they build and the small town they live in. But it doesn't end there, Ralston's story has a twist at the end, and her story is far from over.
When she was in town to read from her memoir, I had the opportunity to speak with Ralston. She filled me in on her life as it is now and her relationship with her husband. When I asked her to describe it for me, she told me "Robb pushes me, but he has never suppressed me. In the end, it always seems to turn out for the best."
If Jeannie has learned anything from the lavendar experience, it has been to "let go." At this point in her life, she is more open to his ideas because he has never let her or their boys down or put them in a situation that didn't have their best interest at heart.
The Unlikely Lavender Queen is a witty and entertaining story that will keep you glued to the pages to discover what will happen next. And those who enjoy it can look for more books from Ralston in the future.
See all 73 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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