A Year on Ladybug Farm

by Donna Ball

Book Overview

Their husbands were gone, their families were grown, and the future stretched out before them like an unfulfilled promise...

Tired of always dreaming and never doing, Cici, Lindsay, and Bridget make a life-altering decision. Uprooting themselves from their comfortable lives in the suburbs, the three friends buy a run-down mansion, nestled in the picturesque Shenandoah Valley. They christen their new home "Ladybug Farm," hoping that...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425225879
• ISBN13: 9780425225875
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.1" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

adventures on a farm in later life

I am in love with the Ladybug Farm and the delightful ladies that have made it their home! Of course, the fact that ladybug was in the title of the book drew me in immediately. I'm such a ladybug fan. And then to read that the ladybugs were everywhere made me want to pack up my bags and move to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. The three ladies who end up on Ladybug Farm are each very different and have different gifts. Which makes them perfect friends and roommates. They each bring their varying abilities and personalities into this newly formed situation. And, of course, it is not without its struggles. New adventures are waiting around every corner and something is always happening. Such quirky people in the town but also people who make a small town friendly and welcoming. It is amazing to see how they rally around each other when someone is in need. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll gasp. You'll get sucked into the lives of Cici, Lindsay, and Bridget. And you'll come out richer for sharing the year on Ladybug Farms with them! Can't wait to get my copy of the second book in this series (At Home on Ladybug Farm).

Great story of friendship

It isn't often that life gives you a second chance to start over again. A chance to try something different, a chance to get out of your comfort zone and be daring. But if and when those chances come along, you'd better grab them by the brass ring and don't let go. This is the premise of the fascinating novel, "A Year on Ladybug Farm" by Donna Ball. Three close friends and neighbors, Cici, Bridget and Lindsey, find themselves at a crossroads in life and long to do something different, something unique. Bridget has recently become widowed, Cici divorced, and Lindsey retired from her teaching position. So when the opportunity to purchase a dilapidated old house in the Shenandoah Valley comes up, the ladies decide to make the leap from their comfortable suburban lives and become lady farmers. They soon find out that they truly have their work cut out for them, as the house is in worse shape than they thought, and inhabited by hundreds of thousands of ladybugs. As they work together to restore the house (and to shoo the thousands and thousands of ladybugs out), the gals find strengths inside themselves they never imagined. Even though the day to day activities are strenuous, a calmness and appreciation for beauty of the simplest things becomes important to the three friends. As the trio work to bring the house to a livable condition, it soon appears that a mysterious guest might be living among the numerous rooms, a helpful if not ghostly guest who keeps leaving clues and solutions to the myriad of problems the ladies encounter. There is also the problem of a gang of renegade sheep and a certain garden thief who keeps the girls stepping lively as they adapt to country life. Author Donna Ball weaves a delightful story of friendship, resilience, and confidence in her latest book. Readers will find themselves chuckling on one page, then tearing up a few pages over. No stranger to the world of fiction, Ball has published over eighty works of fiction under a variety of pseudonyms as well as her own name. With "A Year on Ladybug Farm," Ball promises future stories about the gals down on the farm, and I for one am looking forward to the tales.

Captivating!

I picked up this book in passing at a local bookstore because the name caught my eye. Who knew that I would get caught up in the story of these three women and their adventures on Ladybug Farm! It was a good read although some parts were predictable. I would definitely recommend to a friend! Great book to snuggle up with a cup of tea in front of the fire!

WHAT A GREAT BOOK!!!

This is the first book I have read by Donna Ball and it will not be the last. Read this on my daily commute in two days. This is a terrific story of friendship, independence and self discovery.

Spending time at Ladybug Farm

Nobody creates a sense of place like Donna Ball. Even though Ladybug isn't one of Donna's cozy mysteries or suspenseful science fantasies, she has drawn me in with that rambling old house in Blue Valley. I love how Cici, Bridget and Lindsay rediscover themselves and strengthen their friendship as they restore the house and reinvent the farm. This is the type of book that makes you kick back, relax, smile and remember (or perhaps discover) the joy and value of nature, community and friendship. And these days, any time spent at Ladybug Farm is time well spent.

Different From Her Others

I loved this book. I couldn't put it down and I read it in one sitting. It was very different than Donna's other books. Three middle aged women pool their resources and buy an old farm house in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. I loved reading about their lives and struggles. The descriptions of the house and land made me feel like I was there. This author knows her craft and you won't be disappointed.