I'm in love with Andrea Barrett's work. She has a rich sense of language that wraps the reader into each setting. She will always have space on my bookshelves.

Sorry, I ran out of time and was not able to finish reading the book. I am just trying to clean up my NetGallery shelf.

I'm not usually much of a short story reader. I also understand that many of the pieces in this book refer to characters that I haven't read about yet since this is the first book I've read by this author. I'd love to read more of her work though!

The heart of this book is Henrietta Atkins, a teacher who imparts her love of the natural sciences to generations of her students. Henrietta grows up during the American Civil War. She never marries and cares for her sister's children instead of any of her own. Henrietta has a very close friend in Daphne, who is also a lover of nature and who has managed to make a living writing about that topic. Henrietta is one of those people who doesn't ever take center stage for herself but who helps those around her to shine more brightly. Many lives are quietly enriched by her. This is an appreciation for those who teach and support their students' interests and contribute to scientific advancement in that way as well as through their own research work.

Each story flows into the next, vignettes of life in the early twentieth century, the late nineteenth century. A female barnstormer grows up from being a dangerously intelligent child. A gifted student takes over a pottery business and begins to depict local plants and animals in the pottery he creates. A single woman in the early twentieth century finds a discreet lover after accompanying her friend to a vacation spot and scientific salon.

This book is filled with love for the natural world and depicts all the relationships and soft ties that drive so many decisions in life. Although not everyone can make the history books, there are many people in this book that are passionate and remarkable, whether they will be remembered later or not. That's the way it is for most of us, and I appreciated this rich look at all the lives that aren't celebrated but are meaningful and influential nonetheless. I guess as I get older I appreciate this way of looking at things more.

The final story feels like an author self-insert. The main character is a female scientist who chose a path that did not lead her to renown. She revisits an old camp that's hosted scientific conferences since the 70's, when she first attended as a young graduate student. She reconnects with the female mentor who opened the door for more women students like her and sees what her field has grown into. There are some regrets that she didn't take the more ambitious path. But there were rewards along the way nevertheless.

I really enjoyed these short stories with a nature-focused approach. I didn't know the characters, as I haven't read Barrett's work before, so that was a bit confusing at first.

Natural History was a pleasure to read and now I find I must go back and read Barrett's back catalog of work to find all of the connections and echoes I read are ever-present throughout. I do think that this book stood alone as well and am happy for the introduction to Barrett's work. Thank you for the chance to read an advanced copy.

Review was posted on my blog at https://www.thecuecard.com/books/just-when-fall-was-going-well/ on Oct. 22, 2022

I was most interested to check out this book because author Andrea Barrett is known for writing so eloquently about the natural world and her focus on the early women in science is much to be admired. Yet I’ve only read her novel The Voyage of the Narwhal from 1998, which I recall liking quite a bit. So I snatched this one up as an audiobook and liked parts of it but was looking for a bit more.

This book is a collection of six interconnected short stories that includes various characters from her fiction over the years, which I hadn’t read so there were times I was a bit confused by who was who and how they were related. I was most interested in following the woman Henrietta Atkins, a school teacher and butterfly/moth collector who has a long friendship with the notable science writer Daphne Bannister and tells a lie that ends her ties to a close male friend.

Henrietta seems to be the main character in this collection with some stories moving back and forth throughout her life, following her friendships, regrets about her life choices, and those related to her. Most of them are set in a small community in central New York state.

There were glimpses for me of wonder and interest in these science-natural history-related stories and some great writing … but just as I was getting hooked on one then sometimes it would change to someone or something else without fully completing for me the event or character’s resolution to it.

So while I liked how it linked the stories of Henrietta’s life and those who knew her, I found there were a lot of characters and she lost me on some aspects of all of them. Still I liked how she showed the admirable legacy of women passing along their career interests in natural history and science to the next generation.

Natural History by Adrea Barrett is the culmination of a collection of characters featured in her work since the publication of Ship Fever in 1996. This series of six interconnected stories is a progression of her earlier work but since this is my first read by Barrett, I can attest to the fact that it stands on its own without dilution or needed context. Yet I now find myself in the position of having started at the end, wanting to go back to the beginning. A master at weaving together short stories with a common thread, Barrett creates intimate glimpses into the lives of characters that seem timeless. Spanning from pre-Civil War to the current era, her stories invite us to witness the dynamics of family versus ambition and societal expectations versus following one’s bliss.

The central character in this collection is Henrietta Atkins, a scientist and high school biology teacher from a small town in central New York who lives a full life conducting research and exposing young people to the wonders of the natural world. Non-traditional in her singleness, she chooses to follow her interests and gain a sense of significance through the contributions she makes to science and the lives of her students. In “Henrietta and Her Moths,” she grapples with being supportive to her sister, who is in the early years of raising three children, while she herself spends most of her time in her insect nursery. Other stories highlight a student or family member of Henrietta and how they too wrestle with questions of family, ambition and loyalty. The women in these stories share strong friendships with complex dynamics and an unflinching desire to be true to their own nature.

Barrett’s writing is as intricate and varied as the Lepidoptera that unfold on her pages. Her knowledge and appreciation of the natural world is as obvious as her keen insight into the human condition. Spending time in her stories brings about the small-town feeling of camaraderie and loneliness that exists in every human heart. In short, they feel like home.

Thank you to NetGalley and WW Norton and Company for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. This beautiful collection alights on shelves September 13, 2022.

𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝑳𝒂𝒌𝒆, 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒂.

Henrietta Atkins is an intellectual, one who won spelling bees in grade school and wowed people with the Student Fossil Collection, a born naturalist full of wonder for science. After her teacher training in Oswego, she returns home to teach high school biology and establish several clubs, like the Natural History Club, to brighten young minds. Picking the best, most curious students to aid her in local experiments and studies, there are many lives she touches. An unmarried woman who is rooted in intellectual pursuits, trying her hardest to support the promise she sees shining through her students, she is much more than people see. She meets Daphne Bannister after graduation, and the fast friends vacation together often, enriching one another’s existence. Daphne is a well-known authoress of science guides, flusher with money than a biology teacher’s salary allows, but Henrietta helps with her work allowing them to engage in their shared passions. Without Henrietta’s help, influence, Daphne’s books wouldn’t be as successful. The two women avoid the sort of life that Henrietta’s sister has, full of noise and children. Wasn’t Daphne the one to advise that the single life was richer?

In the first story Daphne and Henrietta are ‘sharing a summer vacation’ on Appledore Island off the New Hampshire coast. Summer, the only time Henrietta can focus on her own investigations fully, not trapped by the demands of her school lesson plans. Sure, she helps with Daphne’s work, but feels so far behind with her own. On the shore, Daphne is collecting samples, with Henrietta’s aide, but it’s the invitation to poet Celia Thaxter’s cottage, with a select guest list of writers, musicians and painters, that pleases Daphne to no end. Henrietta would rather be far from such ‘entertainments’ and immersed in the life and creatures outside, making notes on Darwin’s books. There is no other way to spend her time that is as stimulating as her scientific pursuits, and she is unable to behave otherwise, even at the expense of social graces. It is during this time she has her own secrets from her dear friend. Daphne is wrapped up in making much needed connections and Henrietta, in an artist.

1863 we are taken back to Henrietta’s youth in Hello To You, where her employment at the Deverells place includes gathering and filing letters read by the family and neighbors with news of their boys (sons, brothers) enlisted in the war. Soon, she is enraptured by the missives from the regiments camp in Virginia, written by Mr. Deverell’s young brothers, Vic and Izzy. Most interesting to her, are stories about the Observation balloon. She is soon sharing household secrets, and the mystery of Vic’s absence but is let go when Izzy returns, a wounded war Veteran. The stories are knots and will reach out for her later through Bernard, the young child she tended to when working for the Deverells. Will she be able to set the story straight? Dispel the rumors?

In Henrietta and Her Moths she teaches children to marvel and wonder over moths through their many stages, creating educational spaces with breeding cages. If other locals find it all too peculiar and strange, the members of Henrietta’s Young Lepidopterists Club, as well as students in her classroom where smaller display classes call home, are blessed with a unique education. Too, she helps support her sister Hester through the stages of her pregnancy and helping raise her nieces Marion, Caroline and Elaine. She tirelessly helps while also working on projects, teaching, running labs and working with former students. The reader sees Henrietta as something fierce, if not in the same manner as her well-known friend Daphne. Her love for her sister Hester is strong, even if it keeps her from the work she is doing for Daphne and the deadline. Family seems to swallow her up, and though unmarried, she is still very much attached.

The Accident: Daphne is traveling to watch an air show, one where Henrietta’s niece, Caroline, is an aviator and so begins the story behind the brave woman’s unusual set of scars and what had inspired her best friend’s niece to start flying at all. Open House Henrietta is again at the heart of encouraging or ‘pushing’ the young to find a future that is absorbing, that feeds their talents and curiosity. Charlie’s inheritance is working in his family’s winery but she can see that paleontology is his passion, and he has the chance to study in Pennsylvania. It rubs his father the wrong way, and the professor Henrietta reached out to, once welcoming the idea, is no longer communicating with Charlie. Will he get out, thrive? Why is it when Henrietta tries to encourage people to reach for more she is seen as meddlesome?

It is about science and family but also about women and how expectations hinder choices. In the book, Sebastian is explaining to Rosalind about a phenomenon produced on the trunks of trees, and she is curious about the strange coincidences of their meeting at that exact moment. Later she is drawn to him but scolds herself to ignore him because for a female scientist, it diminishes a woman to have an attachment to a man. Her feelings are incredibly telling, that as a woman, you already aren’t taken seriously in the field and must take extra measures as not to appear ridiculous. Science too, in the future, becomes more of a business but the characters within are driven purely by their love of nature, and their wildly curious minds. Henrietta is at the heart of the stories, never birthing her own children but giving life to ideas, observing of the world what we miss and take for granted. She inspires her family and students alike, and their world would be so much darker without her gifts. The comparison between Daphne’s much freer existence and Henrietta’s many anchors that pulled her away from her work is interesting too. Is one better off? Henrietta is not famous like Charles Darwin, but her work isn’t without value. In a sense, she lives through her entire family line having inspired so many. The women after her, do they have it easier? Do the changing times afford them more opportunity?

This was an interesting read, though not my usual fare. There is something engaging about those who chose the path of intellectuals, and so often for women, shamed for it. Henrietta is a force.

Publication Date: September 13, 2022

W.W. Norton & Company

Henrietta Atkins is the link between these six short stories that span over a century. Henrietta and her descendants are all fascinated with science and the natural world- and the collection culminates with Rose Marburg at a retreat for biologists with her friend Daphne, a woman who achieved scientific acclaim Rose turned from to become a teacher. Because this isn't linear, it challenges the reader to see the links but that doesn't matter because the language is so gorgeous and each story so well crafted. It's been years since I've read Barrett and I felt less tied than others might be to the past appearances some of the characters who recur (notably Henrietta and Rose) in Barrett's work. This is terrific whether you're a Barrett fan or if this is your first experience with her work. While I usually recommend reading short story collections one at a time over a period of days, this works well in a gulp. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Great read.

Natural History is a collection of interwoven stories using some of Barrett's side characters from her previous works as the main characters. I am not much of a short story reader so I am not familiar with the author's previous books, but I do enjoy family history, the natural world, and descriptive writing. Barrett's illustrative prose was a delight and her love of the environment shines through.

My only concern is for those readers, like myself, who pick up the book knowing nothing of her previous fictional world. Fortunately, that can be rectified.

Thanks to NetGalley for an early review copy.

Lovely, lovely, lovely. These linked stories about women naturalists, scientists, and teachers range over several generations but are all connected by the character of Harriet, who enchants the reader just as she does generations of children and students. My memory of Barrett’s fine collection, ‘Ship Fever,’ is of stories that were denser and more detailed. Here she leaves the reader a lot of breathing room, making it easy to enter the world of these women as they both move towards and reject ambition, lovers, commitment. I admire the way Barrett is careful not to overly interpret her characters and their motivations, leaving some mystery—a mystery that they themselves feel. If there were times when too many names of characters flashed by, or Barrett seemed to go down a rabbit hole that particularly interested her more than this reader, she always came back round—usually by connecting back to Harriet. There is much to delight in here.

Wonderful stories connecting the same cast of characters throughout their lives. Occasionally confusing but always magical. The farther in you read the more you understand things from previous stories. I found this book to be similar in tone to Andrea Barret’s previous work. The history and themes are carefully interwoven with threads of humanity that tug at your heart strings. Barret has a gift for effortlessly pulling you into the setting and into the minds of the various characters. She is essentially unmatched in her ability to convey so much in only a few words. All the varying experiences, both personal and cultural, are wonderfully conveyed. This book will quietly, powerfully drift through my mind for years to come.

My love of Barrett's books dates back to 1996 when Ship Fever was published. Since 2013 we have been without a new volume, so I was thrilled to find Natural History as an ARC offered by Net Galley and ‎ W. W. Norton & Company. As with Elizabeth Strout's novels, the reader would be rewarded by starting with earlier books and following tales of science and women and women in science. The writing is graceful and colorful, the characters complicated but relatable. Highly recommended.

Natural History, by Andrea Barrett, is a collection of linked stories that return us to some of her characters or their relations from her earlier works and that like those earlier works puts women and science at the foreground. The collection and many of the stories themselves range backwards and forwards in time from the Civil War to modern times, while the setting remains mostly in the northeastern US, particularly and Crooked Lake — a small town in NY. Quiet and character-based, the stories are consistently sharply crafted and full of precise prose.

Henrietta Atkins (one of those characters readers of Barrett have met before), a high school biology teacher from Crooked Lake, figures prominently in several of the stories as the reader sees her move (not always in linear fashion) from a ten-year-old childhood to an elderly age. We see her in several types of relationships, an unexpected romance, teacher-student interactions and influences, the way she helps her sister Hester through difficulties with pregnancy and mothering, and her friendship with Daphne a well-known science writer, as well as, in one of the many wonderful character touches, a highly popular writer — under a penname — of cookbooks. All these relationships, in all their highs and lows, with all of Hester’s changing attitudes toward them or doubts about them are vividly and realistically portrayed. In a later story, Henrietta’s niece Caroline, an aviator becomes the focus. While in the final story, we return to another character Barrett has written of before — Rose Marburg, several generations removed from Henrietta but with a number of parallels we learn, with her decision to leave research science and become a teacher.

There are a number of such echoes that thread the stories together, along with their focus on science, women who choose their lives, and the obligations — the bonds and the burdens — of family and friends, and how those obligations force themselves into the big decisions moments as one decides what to do with themselves, the path to take into the world. As noted above, these are quiet, character-driven stories, with a lot of descriptive detail of the natural world and of the small (but no less important or influential) moments of human interaction. Some readers may well find the book too quiet, with not enough “action” (that isn’t to say things don’t happen, they do. They’re just not flashy or explosive or epic in scale). Some too may find the style at time a little too straightforward. Finally, while I didn’t have either of those two issues, I’ll admit that keeping track of the family relationships and who was whom to whom sometimes got a bit fuzzy. Luckily, a family tree is included, and I recommend using it. Outside of that small issue, I loved the gentle immersion of these stories and welcome the return of one of my favorite authors.

These six linked short stories, including the novelette-length (50 pages) title story, call upon characters from Andrea Barrett's past collections, with the ground zero story being "The Marburg Sisters" from the author's National Book Award-winning Ship Fever. Set in the fictional town of Crooked Lake, NY, the stories move forward in time for the most part, with some well-placed backstories at just the right moments. The overarching narrative fleshes out women's roles in society and their interconnected lives, drawing upon themes of memory and science. This book is for those curious about the natural world as well as the wonders of the human heart.
[Thanks to W. W. Norton & Company and @BookBrowse for an opportunity to read an advanced reader copy of this book.]

Two women—friends, artists, scientists—try to make their way in a world that has other ideas for how they should be spending their time.

Andrea Barrett’s grand universe expands with this collection of stories. Readers will find interest and pleasure here whether or not they are familiar with her Marburg family, and those readers who are new to her work, will have the treat of her back catalog to enjoy once they’ve finished the collection.

Natural History is a linked short story collection, and I'm normally distrustful of this structure, but I thought that Andrea Barrett overall did a good job with the form, particularly in the first section, where the characters are more closely intertwined. It was exciting to get to see little peeks at their lives, with certain things making more sense as I read further stories, or vice versa. Often a linked short story collection will feel as if it would have benefitted from either being a short story collection or a novel, and, to its credit, Natural History definitely felt like it needed to be a novel in stories.

Andrea Barrett is a shrewd observer who is capable of bringing characters to life quickly, with small details, and evoking a mood within a couple of sentences. I felt as if I were immersed in the lives and minds of her characters throughout.

I also loved the way Barrett deals with time in these stories. The stories mostly move forward in time, but there are a few little moves backward, that give important context and history. It kept me on my toes and always made sense!

Overall, I very much enjoyed my time with Natural History, and was grateful to be in the hands of a master storyteller like Andrea Barrett.

Thank you to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for giving me an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I highly recommend NATURAL HISTORY for fans of literary fiction. Andrea Barrett's writing is up to its customary stellar standards as she re-visits characters from prior works and deftly explores women's roles in society and families and the place and impact of science. This is a lush and deep collection that will stick with you.

In Natural History, Andrea Barrett describes the lives of characters who appeared in earlier novels. Spanning the years from the Civil War to present-day, she introduces us to a sprawling cast (multiple dozens) who, to be honest, I couldn't keep track of. The majority of the stories are told in third-person narrative, which felt like backstory/infodump. The writer does have a great gift for description, and if one had the patience and a nice glass of brandy to while away savoring these passages, one might enjoy sinking into her beautiful portrayals of genealogy, setting, and dress. However, I confess I wasn't taken by the work. Perhaps if I'd read the aforementioned novels, this would be more satisfying in that the stories would serve as extended epilogues. But without that, they lacked context, and I struggled to find meaning in them.

Natural History
by Andrea Barrett
Pub Date: September 13, 2022
W.W. Norton
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an early read of this book.
This is a thoughtful collection of interconnected stories. The six stories in Natural History are set largely in a small community in central New York State and portray some of her most beloved characters. Barrett has an eye for the natural world and I really enjoyed that. It made me think about how the role of women's lives in families, work, and in love have shifted across a century and more.
Great book!
4 stars