This image is the cover for the book Northern Farm

Northern Farm

In the tradition of his well-loved The Outermost House, Henry Beston's Northern Farm captures "the elusive magic of a year on a Kennebee farm...in truly beautiful prose" (Kirkus Reviews). Among the blue-white shadows and graceful curves of freshly fallen snow, the first rains of spring, and the quiet green of an early summer morning, Beston brings the reader into an inescapable alliance with the natural world. He translates the philosophy of the Maine farmer into terms as applicable in Manhattan as on the Kennebee. One of the great classics of American nature writing, Northern Farm is inspiring reading and ranks as one of Beston's most memorable and lyrical works.

HENRY BESTON (1888-1968) was the author of many books, including The Outermost House, White Pine and Blue Water, and The St. Lawrence.

Henry Beston

Henry Beston was born and raised in Quincy, Massachusetts. He attended Adams Academy before earning his BA in 1909 and MA in 1911 from Harvard College. In 1912, Beston taught at the University of Lyon. He joined the French army in 1915 and served as an ambulance driver during World War I. His service in Bois-le-Prêtre and at the Battle of Verdun was described in his first book, A Volunteer Poilu. In 1918, Beston became a press representative for the US Navy. He was the only American correspondent to travel with the British Grand Fleet aboard an American destroyer during combat engagement and sinking. His second book of journalistic work, Full Speed Ahead, describes these experiences. After WWI, Beston began writing fairy tales. In 1919, The Firelight Fairy Book was published, followed by The Starlight Wonder Book in 1923. During this time, he worked as an editor of Living Age, an offshoot of the Atlantic Monthly. He also met his wife, Elizabeth Coatsworth, a fellow author of children’s literature with whom he had two daughters, Margaret and Catherine. They lived at Hingham, Massachusetts, and Chimney Farm in Nobleboro, Maine.

Henry Holt and Company