Let's Bust a Recap : Hannah Coulter

Wendell Berry is one of the most highly lauded living authors today. Currently 91 years old, his resumé is a thing to behold. I've been wanting to read his work for some time now, but let me tell you: his books are hard to find secondhand. Even on my go-to resale sites, they land on the pricier side. And now that I've finally read him, I understand why. You don't let go of Wendell Berry easily. My sister-in-law was kind enough to get my collection started when she gifted me Hannah Coulter for my birthday in 2024. It immediately earned a place on my 2025 book list, but I didn't quite get to it last year.

Since 2026 has been the year of trying to read all the books I put on my book lists but never actually read, Hannah Coulter automatically got another spot. And when my friend Karis started reading it at the beginning of March, I got the FOMO real bad and resolved to read it as soon as I finished Project Hail Mary (which didn't take long because I couldn't put that book down, though I didn't manage to start Hannah until after Karis finished). Start it I did though and ended up reading it over the course of a week. This quiet, deeply felt novel is written in the form of twice-widowed Hannah Coulter looking back over her life and relating her recollections to Andy Catlett. As Hannah sorts through her memories and recalls her childhood, her first love and loss, building a life with her second husband, and raising children: the reader is transported to a simpler way of living, but not one without its own unique complexities, struggles, and heartaches. It was a pleasure to read, and it felt deeply personal. Hannah's musings on life and the specific choices she made were so real and easy to relate to. Her story is so profoundly human, the characters littering the pages almost tangible. Nothing about Berry's writing felt contrived or overdone. Truly such a beautiful book. 

Wendell Berry is closely identified with rural Kentucky and his writing is known for being grounded in a strong sense of place. Hannah Coulter, published in 2004, is the seventh of his Port William novels which began with Nathan Coulter, published in 1960. There are eight total, and Berry wrote them in such a way that they can be read in any order. Now that I've read Hannah Coulter, I'm most interested in picking up Andy Catlett next since Andy is the one she's sharing her memories with in this book, but I hope to add all eight of the Port William novels to my library and read them as they come. 

To sum up: this reader's opinion is that the Wendell Berry hype is fully earned. After reading a little more about Berry himself, his views and activism, I'm not sure how his non-fiction would land with me, but I absolutely loved my first experience with his fictional Port William and its membership, and I'm looking forward to my next visit there.