The Rural Diaries is charming and joyous, a celebration of family and community and simple living. Hilarie Burton and her husband left the Hollywood lifestyle and moved to a small town in New York to raise their family, starting with a cabin in the woods and then moving onto a working farm with cows, donkeys, alpacas, chickens, ducks; you name it, they have it.
While I never watched One Tree Hill, I grew up during that era and had seen bits and pieces of the show just flipping through the channels. Burton's character Peyton always seemed so driven and strong at a time when I was a floundering teenager trying to figure out my passion and place in life. Then this book comes along and I find out she married the Winchester dad from Supernatural. So my curiosity was definitely peaked.
Often with celebrity memoirs, you hardly learn anything about the person after reading them. But that's not the case here. You can hear Burton's voice shine throughout. She is so genuine and open in the book, sharing not just her triumphs but also her challenges and heartbreaks. She speaks candidly of her experience with motherhood, the difficulties of making a marriage work, every day life on the farm, her struggles with infertility, and so much more. And it's clear her love for her town, and how thankful she is to have finally found a place to belong and a community that embraces her.
Reading this book felt like talking to an old friend, one who is insightful and funny. At the heart of it, Burton distilled her life down to its most important parts, and wasn't afraid to take the leap nor of the hard work that followed. She takes the bad moments one day at a time while remembering to celebrate all that life has to offer. She lives the life we all want, one that is authentic to who is she, and I respect her so much for that.
Readaroo Rating: 5 stars!
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