The Milkweed Ladies

by Louise McNeill

The Milkweed Ladies is written out of deep affection for and intimate knowledge of the lives of rural people and the rhythms of the natural world. It is a personal account of the farm in southern West Virginia where poet Louise McNeill’s family has lived for nine generations. The Milkweed Ladies is filled with memorable characters—an herb-gathering granny, McNeill’s sailor father, her patient, flower-loving mother, and Aunt Malindy in her “black sateen dress” who “never did a lick of work.” McNeill writes movingly of the harsh routines of the lives of her family, from spring plowing to winter sugaring, and of the hold the farm itself has on them and the earth itself on all of us. McNeill juxtaposes the life of the farm with the larger world events that impinge on it, such as the destruction from lumber companies in the 1930s and World War II in the ’40s. With her poet’s gift for detail and language, McNeill creates a particular world forgotten by many of us, and to some of us, never known.

Genres: Nonfiction

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the memoir of a poet, and that poetry-feel comes across in the writing. If you don't especially like poetry (as I do not), you won't love this book either.

She writes about a period in the mountains of West Virginia before logging companies and road building, describing things that sound downright awful to me but describing them in a sort of removed non-judgmental way that doesn't quite glorify them but also isn't quite neutral either. I got the feeling that she longed for the past she described, but she never really said that directly.

There were a ton of words and phrases in the book that I'd never heard before and could only figure out through context clues. Even having now finished the book, those are some of the bits that are sticking with me and getting me to google around and find out more.

[Kaitlyn Sergent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for my Appalachian class in college. It was a great book with a rich story, but it definitely is not my type of read. I enjoyed it and enjoyed the story, but it’s not something I would recommend to someone unless they’re interested in learning about the Appalachian culture and life.

[Mary Braden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply intimate, unsentimental story of the author’s youth cradled in the West Virginia farm where generations of her family lived and worked. It reads as a gentle hymn to connection to land and family, with humor and sorrow interwoven.

[Joshua Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderfully written, objective account of a life lived in the hills of West Virginia at the turn of the 20th Century. McNeill holds delicately the immense deepness and intimacy of growing up in West Virginia. I loved every line and each beautiful image that was encompassed in this book.

[Corissa Nazarewycz · Rating 5 out of 5]

McNeill’s book was so comforting to read and the nostalgic memories that she conjures up are so relatable. Her sense of family and living off the land depicts a wonderful picture of the essence of living in Appalachia.

[Kelsey Collett · Rating 4 out of 5]

very, very, very interesting.

[Monica St. Dennis · Rating 2 out of 5]

fifty two book club challenge 2026: read a book that spans a decade or more

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up because it is the book of a poet, and because it is centered in West Virginia at the turn of the century (the last one, that is, not the current one), and West Virginia is where the non black sheep of my paternal lineage still seem to hang out (the black sheep skedadled pretty quickly back around the same time McNeill sets her memoirs, off to California).

It is beautifully and fiercely written, and so true to country life. It's not prettified, but there are heart stopping moments. There are also rat turds in the spring water and a leaking roof and land eventually ravaged by the onrush of "civilization". It was a hard scrabble life, and McNeill looks back without sentiment, except when remembering the moments of peace and beauty--very few--that her mother had.

And it ends bleakly, with her view of the Atomic Age and what that might mean.

Very unique little book, with elegant botanical drawings in the margins.