A review by roxydog77
Homeward Bound: Why Women are Embracing the New Domesticity by Emily Matchar

3.0

I was interested in the book because I live in a town that is full of backyard chicken keepers, back yard bee keepers and farmers markets. There is a ton of local food and local hand made crafts. I read about this "New Domesticity" in the Indy and thought it sounded curious. The book did a good job of exploring the many facets of New Domesticity including DIY everything from crafts to parenting. I was irritated much of the time while reading because so many of the folks she interviewed held the "I'm sooooo much better than you because I birthed at home, breastfed until my kids were 6 and never feed my family cereal from a box!" Get out of here. I honestly couldn't, and still can't having finished the book, figure out how these domestic housewives can cook everything from scratch from their homegrown gardens while homeschooling their kids and making clothes and keep their house clean ... do their days have more hours than mine? Not that that sounds attractvie to me, but seriously, what gives? Anyway, much of the DIY stuff intrigues me not because I strive to live off the grid of think that those folks who buy frozen veggies for dinner (thats me people!) are killing their family slowly. I just like making stuff. Always have. I sew because I like it. I cook because I like it. But I would not want these hobbies and joys to become my way of life as they do in the New Domesticity. Overall, it was a good look into this movement (if it really is a movement) but I'm glad to be done with the book.