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Stillmeadow #4
Stillmeadow And Sugarbridge
Letters on the joys of country life, exchanged by Mrs. Taber and her friend Mrs. Shenton, of Chester, Pennsylvania.
Hardcover
First published June 1, 1953
3 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
Gladys Taber
89 books132 followersA prolific author whose output includes plays, essays, memoirs and fiction, Gladys Taber (1899 – 1980) is perhaps best recalled for a series of books and columns about her life at Stillmeadow, a 17th-century farmhouse in Southbury, Connecticut.
Born Gladys Bagg on April 12, 1899 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, she was the middle child and only one to survive to adulthood. Her parents were Rufus Mather Bagg, who could trace his ancestry back to Cotton Mather, and the former Grace Sibyl Raybold. An older sister, Majel, had died at the age of six months while a younger brother Walter died at 15 months. During her childhood, she moved frequently as her father accepted various teaching posts until they finally settled in Appleton, Wisconsin. Gladys graduated from Appleton High School and enrolled at Wellesley College, receiving her bachelor’s degree in 1920. She returned to her hometown and earned a master’s in 1921 from Lawrence College, where her father was on faculty. The following year, she married Frank Albion Taber, Jr., giving birth to their daughter on July 7, 1923.
Mrs. Taber taught English at Lawrence College, Randolph Macon Women’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia, and at Columbia University, where she did postgraduate studies. She began her literary career with a play, Lady of the Moon (Penn), in 1928, and followed with a book of verse, Lyonesse (Bozart) in 1929. Taber won attention for her first humorous novel, Late Climbs the Sun (Coward, 1934). She went on to write several other novels and short story collections, including Tomorrow May Be Fair ( Coward, 1935), A Star to Steer By (Macrae, 1938) and This Is for Always (Macrae, 1938). In the late 1930s, Taber joined the staff of the Ladies’ Home Journal and began to contribute the column “Diary of Domesticity.”
By this time, she had separated from her husband and was living at Stillmeadow, a farmhouse built in 1690 in Southbury, Connecticut, sharing the house with Eleanor Sanford Mayer, a childhood friend who was often mistakenly identified as her sister. Beginning with Harvest at Stillmeadow (Little, Brown, 1940), Taber wrote a series of books about her simple life in New England that possessed homespun wisdom dolled out with earthy humor and an appreciation for the small things. She published more than 20 books related to Stillmeadow, including several cookbooks.
In 1959, she moved from Ladies’ Home Journal to Family Circle, contributing the “Butternut Wisdom” column until her retirement in 1967. In 1960, her companion, Eleanor, died and Taber decided to abandon life at Stillmeadow. Having spent some summers on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, she decided to relocate to the town of Orleans where she would live out the remainder of her days. While a resident of Orleans, Taber contributed “Still Cove Sketches” to the Cape Cod Oracle . Her final book, published posthumously, was Still Cove Journal (Lippincott, 1981).
Gladys Taber had divorced her husband in 1946 and he later passed away in October 1964. She died on March 11, 1980 in Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Massachusetts at the age of 80.
Born Gladys Bagg on April 12, 1899 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, she was the middle child and only one to survive to adulthood. Her parents were Rufus Mather Bagg, who could trace his ancestry back to Cotton Mather, and the former Grace Sibyl Raybold. An older sister, Majel, had died at the age of six months while a younger brother Walter died at 15 months. During her childhood, she moved frequently as her father accepted various teaching posts until they finally settled in Appleton, Wisconsin. Gladys graduated from Appleton High School and enrolled at Wellesley College, receiving her bachelor’s degree in 1920. She returned to her hometown and earned a master’s in 1921 from Lawrence College, where her father was on faculty. The following year, she married Frank Albion Taber, Jr., giving birth to their daughter on July 7, 1923.
Mrs. Taber taught English at Lawrence College, Randolph Macon Women’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia, and at Columbia University, where she did postgraduate studies. She began her literary career with a play, Lady of the Moon (Penn), in 1928, and followed with a book of verse, Lyonesse (Bozart) in 1929. Taber won attention for her first humorous novel, Late Climbs the Sun (Coward, 1934). She went on to write several other novels and short story collections, including Tomorrow May Be Fair ( Coward, 1935), A Star to Steer By (Macrae, 1938) and This Is for Always (Macrae, 1938). In the late 1930s, Taber joined the staff of the Ladies’ Home Journal and began to contribute the column “Diary of Domesticity.”
By this time, she had separated from her husband and was living at Stillmeadow, a farmhouse built in 1690 in Southbury, Connecticut, sharing the house with Eleanor Sanford Mayer, a childhood friend who was often mistakenly identified as her sister. Beginning with Harvest at Stillmeadow (Little, Brown, 1940), Taber wrote a series of books about her simple life in New England that possessed homespun wisdom dolled out with earthy humor and an appreciation for the small things. She published more than 20 books related to Stillmeadow, including several cookbooks.
In 1959, she moved from Ladies’ Home Journal to Family Circle, contributing the “Butternut Wisdom” column until her retirement in 1967. In 1960, her companion, Eleanor, died and Taber decided to abandon life at Stillmeadow. Having spent some summers on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, she decided to relocate to the town of Orleans where she would live out the remainder of her days. While a resident of Orleans, Taber contributed “Still Cove Sketches” to the Cape Cod Oracle . Her final book, published posthumously, was Still Cove Journal (Lippincott, 1981).
Gladys Taber had divorced her husband in 1946 and he later passed away in October 1964. She died on March 11, 1980 in Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Massachusetts at the age of 80.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 5, 2021
The coziest book I’ve ever read! Not only do I love the epistolary format (letters are my favorite!), I also adore the black and white illustrations with all my heart! The caring, contemplative and mundane letters that are exchanged between Gladys and Barbara are wonderfully descriptive and utterly interesting. I never knew that I would be so interested about country life in Connecticut or Pennsylvania.
It was difficult to read this book month by month because I just didn’t want to stop when I got to the next month. Reading along with the seasons was amazing, though, and I felt like I wanted to be part of their lovely friendship from the very start.
Highly, highly recommended!! I can’t wait to continue on with more Gladys Taber books. Life affirming in every way. Like a warm and comforting hug from a beloved relative or best friend. Wish I could give this book 10🌟!
It was difficult to read this book month by month because I just didn’t want to stop when I got to the next month. Reading along with the seasons was amazing, though, and I felt like I wanted to be part of their lovely friendship from the very start.
Highly, highly recommended!! I can’t wait to continue on with more Gladys Taber books. Life affirming in every way. Like a warm and comforting hug from a beloved relative or best friend. Wish I could give this book 10🌟!
June 27, 2024
Two friends, Mrs. Gladys Taber and Mrs. Barbara Shenton, correspond by letter over the course of a year between their respective homes in West Chester, Pennsylvania and Southbury, Connecticut. Both women share a passionate interest in nature and dogs and observe in detail the changing of the four seasons and keep one another updated about their pets/animals. We as the reader get a first glance look at what post WWII country life was like.
I wish I would have kept a notebook handy to have written down some of their clever and thoughtful prose.
Recommended for epistolary lovers and lovers of nature writing.
I wish I would have kept a notebook handy to have written down some of their clever and thoughtful prose.
Recommended for epistolary lovers and lovers of nature writing.
December 30, 2022
4.5, what a treat! I adored this very seasonal collection of letters between two long-time friends, Barbara Shenton in rural Pennsylvania and Gladys Taber in rural Connecticut. These letters are like staying up late with trusted friends when the conversation flows effortlessly from laughter to sorrow to philosophical questions to absurdities and back again. And the nature writing is exquisite! Oh, that we could bring back this kind of letter writing! I love that this collection begins and ends in winter because both Gladys and Barbara write so beautifully about the cold, clear hush of winter. There can be an intimacy to winter just like there is to these letters. I feel so privileged to have journeyed with these women for a time.
“It was just three o’clock in the morning. We put our noses out the door. The air was very cold, like dry ice. But what a glory! It made me gasp. The night was very still and deep and quiet, almost holy, in a strange way, lit with innumerable stars. We crunched forward over the frozen ground, and then I stopped and stared. There were stars above, but what was this? Stars beneath our feet, too; frost stars, I saw, bending down, so big and glowing and iridescent, as I had never even imagined before. The ground was alive with them, each blade and twig boasted its own private jewel. I stood still, drinking it in. The stillness and the brilliance were as grateful as water to a parched throat” (356).
“It was just three o’clock in the morning. We put our noses out the door. The air was very cold, like dry ice. But what a glory! It made me gasp. The night was very still and deep and quiet, almost holy, in a strange way, lit with innumerable stars. We crunched forward over the frozen ground, and then I stopped and stared. There were stars above, but what was this? Stars beneath our feet, too; frost stars, I saw, bending down, so big and glowing and iridescent, as I had never even imagined before. The ground was alive with them, each blade and twig boasted its own private jewel. I stood still, drinking it in. The stillness and the brilliance were as grateful as water to a parched throat” (356).
July 11, 2008
This book was a find for me. Gladys Taber has always been a favorite comfort book author. Recently I found another author with a very similar style......Barbara Webster. Turns out they were very good friends and this book is a compilation of letters they wrote to each other back in the 50's. It has many illustrations throughout drawn by Barbara's husband. I originally got it from the library but ended up purchasing a copy for myself from a antique book dealer. May not be for everyone but I love sweet old out of print books.
January 25, 2023
Truly delightful, full of wisdom, humor, coziness, beautiful nature writing, and quotable moments that had me dashing for my commonplace book. This collection of letters between writers Gladys Taber and Barbara Webster - both known for writing about life in the countryside - spans the course of a year and is full of the flavor of each season as it unfolds.
Taber famously lived in Stillmeadow, a colonial-era farmhouse in Connecticut; Webster and her husband Ed Shenton (who was a well known illustrator and poet, and whose drawings add so much charm to this book) lived in an old farmhouse in Pennsylvania named Sugarbridge. Both women revel in their dogs, their neighbors, and the joys and challenges of country living. I'm even more ready to pack up my suburban life and move to a rural setting in New England after reading this!
Gladys Taber is a name I've heard for close to two decades, largely through the writings of her admirer and one of my favorite authors, Susan Branch, but this is the first of her books I've read. It certainly won't be the last since her warm, descriptive writing style is a true pleasure to read.
Taber was a famous writer in her day, but Webster was less so, from what I gather, and I'm not sure how easy it would be to track down her other books. I'd love to, though. After reading Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge she too seems like an old friend.
Highly recommended if you enjoy slow-paced, lovely nature writing, cozy domesticity, and reading letters. This book might inspire you to start up a friendly correspondence of your own.
4.5 stars
Taber famously lived in Stillmeadow, a colonial-era farmhouse in Connecticut; Webster and her husband Ed Shenton (who was a well known illustrator and poet, and whose drawings add so much charm to this book) lived in an old farmhouse in Pennsylvania named Sugarbridge. Both women revel in their dogs, their neighbors, and the joys and challenges of country living. I'm even more ready to pack up my suburban life and move to a rural setting in New England after reading this!
Gladys Taber is a name I've heard for close to two decades, largely through the writings of her admirer and one of my favorite authors, Susan Branch, but this is the first of her books I've read. It certainly won't be the last since her warm, descriptive writing style is a true pleasure to read.
Taber was a famous writer in her day, but Webster was less so, from what I gather, and I'm not sure how easy it would be to track down her other books. I'd love to, though. After reading Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge she too seems like an old friend.
Highly recommended if you enjoy slow-paced, lovely nature writing, cozy domesticity, and reading letters. This book might inspire you to start up a friendly correspondence of your own.
4.5 stars
June 29, 2022
What a positively delightful book, consisting entirely of letters between two women friends for a year in the early 1950’s. The letters are ever so interesting and beautifully written by Gladys Taber of CT and Barbara Webster Shenton of PA, who shared, among other things, a love of country living. Enchanting illustrations are by Barbara’s husband Ed, who also wrote a touching letter to G and B at the end of the wonderful book. It’s always rewarding to finish a book, feeling warm and fuzzy and more mindful of life’s bounties.
September 8, 2024
Country Homes
I'm thrilled this book is in my home library, a wonderful collection first published in 1953. I'm always seeking more of her inspiring writings. Gladys writes from her cozy country home in Connecticut, and Barbara from her scenic farm in Pennsylvania, making this a truly heartwarming read.
I'm thrilled this book is in my home library, a wonderful collection first published in 1953. I'm always seeking more of her inspiring writings. Gladys writes from her cozy country home in Connecticut, and Barbara from her scenic farm in Pennsylvania, making this a truly heartwarming read.
January 14, 2016
I first "met" Gladys Taber in the early 1990s when I discovered a full shelf of worn volumes at my local library. I quickly fell in love with her writing style, which was like reading letters from an old friend. Also, we had a lot of things in common including a love of dogs and cats, home, garden, and cooking. This book was always my favorite in the bunch. It was fun to read the correspondence between Gladys and her friend Barbara. Because this book is laid out over the course of a year and it begins in January, I had a ritual of reading it every January for several years, because I found it comforting to start the new year with good friends and because it seems every time I read it something new stands out to me. I have since moved to another state and started a completely new life, but Gladys will always be a good friend no matter where I live. While the library here doesn't carry her books, I've been fortunate enough to purchase them online and I've decided to start with this book for 2016.
May 6, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the letters between Gladys Taber and Barbara Webster. This is the first book of these two authors that I have read, and it is a book you take months to read, to savor, to reflect on. I love finding these gems in Used Book stores, thrift stores, and garage sales. These are the treasures I look for. Older books, of another generation, that are as relevant today as they were when written. Life is much too hurried and harried, today, and the gentle pace of these writings helps us to slow down and really take a look at life around us. Rural living has its ups and downs, but when I read Stillmeadow, I wished I was there! This is only my first read-through, and I will continue to pick it up and read my favorite letters over and over again.
January 14, 2023
A collection of correspondence between two authors living in rural New England in the mid-20th century.
I think my enjoyment of this was rather hampered by the fact that I was reading page scans on the Internet Archive... probably my least favorite way of reading. Also, one has to be in the right, leisurely mood to enjoy a book like this and be patient with its succession of chatty nothings (and I categorize them that way affectionately!). There were some beautifully written passages, ones that made me feel a bit wistful about what it would be like to take such care over recording the small moments in life.
If these collections of letters were ever properly digitized, I'd probably try some more, sometime.
I think my enjoyment of this was rather hampered by the fact that I was reading page scans on the Internet Archive... probably my least favorite way of reading. Also, one has to be in the right, leisurely mood to enjoy a book like this and be patient with its succession of chatty nothings (and I categorize them that way affectionately!). There were some beautifully written passages, ones that made me feel a bit wistful about what it would be like to take such care over recording the small moments in life.
If these collections of letters were ever properly digitized, I'd probably try some more, sometime.
September 28, 2015
A year in the life of 2 dear friends told through their letters to each other. Since each woman is a published author, the letters sparkle with descriptions of their farm house, children, beloved pets,neighborhood characters and changing seasons. I have always loved Gladys Taber's writing and finding this book was a treat. Somewhat dated but also timeless as the basic joys and sorrows of family and friends have been the same since people began.
April 2, 2011
This book is soooooo slow, but I absolutely love it. It's full of rich language and lovely quotes.
September 5, 2011
I am reading this book now. I fine it fascinating..dialogue between two longtime friends.
March 27, 2011
Loved it!
April 25, 2019
An absolute break from the hectic world we live. Gladys and Barbara are writing letters for one year about their homes and their dogs. Gladys has a passel of cockers, sometimes up to thirty and Barbara has Duke, the great dane. The gardens of both are conversation that changes with the seasons, the friendship is upbeat and humorous. As a reader, you are slipping into their lives in some sort of friendly way.
You just don't want the book to end because the ambiance is such a comfort.
You just don't want the book to end because the ambiance is such a comfort.
May 25, 2025
What a perfect ending on a Memorial Day weekend! As we celebrate our freedom…
Every life, I think has a burden of sorrow and every life also the delicate excitement of happiness. Cherishing the golden hours and forgetting the black ones probably make for the happy person, the fulfilled life.
I always hope I can make the tomorrow’s with more strength, more courage, and more love than I ever have met the past with.
Gladys Tabor and Barbara Webster from Stillmeadow and Sugar Bridge.
Every life, I think has a burden of sorrow and every life also the delicate excitement of happiness. Cherishing the golden hours and forgetting the black ones probably make for the happy person, the fulfilled life.
I always hope I can make the tomorrow’s with more strength, more courage, and more love than I ever have met the past with.
Gladys Tabor and Barbara Webster from Stillmeadow and Sugar Bridge.
October 12, 2017
Gladys Taber is so soothing.
April 25, 2022
Letters back and forth between Gladys and Barbara. I would love to visit New England.
October 5, 2024
Such a lovely book! I'd give it 10 stars if I could!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews