This is a lovely look into pottery artist Frances Palmer's work, home, history and musings, filled with gorgeous photos. Palmer has been creating her unique pottery for decades, starting when her children were young. She gives you refreshing access to her life in this book, not just showing how she makes her pots (which are exquisite) but favorite recipes, in-depth information about growing dahlias (another of her loves, professions and hobbies) and more. It gives great information on how to achieve various effects with pottery, and those sections made me wish I had access to these materials.

This book has rave reviews from Martha Stewart and it's easy to see why. Palmer's work is beautiful and her life seems to be, too. She does not really seem aware of the vast privilege she has been afforded in being able to do this work, which is my one and only gripe. She proudly talks about how she always worked while her children were young, followed her dreams, financed her own business and worked hard. These are all very admirable accomplishments. That said, she also talks about moving with her husband Wally to a bigger house where they brought in antique beams to restore an outbuilding into a beautiful work space for her pottery, turning "an old dilapidated tennis court" on their property (she says this as if having your personal tennis court be dilapidated is somehow unfortunate) into a huge garden area with raised beds for her thousands of rare dahlias and other flowers, and other glimpses into her life that show that she was able to finance her passions because she didn't have to worry about financing real life.

When she walks us through her typical day, it includes rising early and enjoying coffee and reading, taking time to go to barre class to socialize with friends, working on her pots and filling orders, taking a short afternoon nap, working on her pottery some more, enjoying dinner with Wally (the kids are out of the house now), relaxing after dinner and going to bed early. The day does not seem to include any of the elements most of us would have to juggle such as cleaning, laundry, earning another income to make ends meet, caring for children, etc. It sounds like a truly wonderful life, but not one that many craftspeople will be able to easily replicate. For this reason, I view it more as a beautiful look at her pottery and flowers rather than real "inspiration and lessons" to make it on your own if you don't have a wealthy husband and privileged start in life. For that purpose, though, the book is really lovely.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.