Armadillo in the Grass

Shelby Hearon's "Armadillo in the Grass" is one of my top favorite books. The main character is Clare Blue, an artistic and poetic soul, who emerges deliciously over time in this book as a wonderfully complex?-or is it all so simple? woman. Women everywhere can identify with Clara Blue as she tackles the issues married women everywhere face: children, husband, finding our own identities fearlessly... I love this book. I have read it and re-read it many times and have made sure to purchase a copy for all my now-grown daughters. I enthusiastically recommend reading this book - in an overstuffed chair, late at night after husband and kids are in bed... :-)

Clara Blue's husband is a history professor whose cerebral nature was attractive to her before they married. Now that she has lived with him for several years and they have produced two young sons, she realizes that he speaks a different language than she does--that he revels in the production of a history book while she delights in being in the moment, watching a raccoon in the yard. To his credit, her husband encourages her pursuits by supplying her with clay and with art lessons from an artist named Locke. As she learns to work with first clay, then wood and stone, she learns more about herself and what she needs in order to be fulfilled. As she evolves into the person she wants to be, she can better allow the same for her husband. This is a beautiful little book about fulfilling your destiny while you encourage others to fulfill theirs.