Red Emma’s

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.

Henry had a forty-year career as a health policy researcher working at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, and Mathematica Policy Research and published numerous papers in health policy journals. Since his retirement, he has been writing for The Hampshire Review_ _about farming and the natural world and has had stories published in several anthologies of Appalachian writers.

Priscilla attended the Pittsburg Institute of Art and FIT in New York. She designed and made stage clothes for country music stars such as Loretta Lynn. Under her own label, she sold handmade scarves to Nordstrom’s, Henri Bendel, and many high-end boutiques. She left the fashion industry after thirty years to focus on farming and the conservation of heritage breeds. She has written numerous stories for Small Farmer’s Journal. Since 2001, Henry and Priscilla have lived on a farm in Hampshire County, West Virginia.