Leaning into the Wind: A Memoir of Midwest Weather

by Susan Allen Toth

Midwesterners love to talk about the weather, approaching the vagaries and challenges of extreme temperatures, deep snow, and oppressive humidity with good-natured complaining, peculiar pride, and communal spirit. Such a temperamental climate can at once terrify and disturb, yet offer unparalleled solace and peace.Leaning into the Wind is a series of ten intimate essays in which Susan Allen Toth, who has spent most of her life in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, reveals the ways in which weather has challenged and changed her perceptions about herself and the world around her. She describes her ever-growing awareness of and appreciation for how the weather marks the major milestones of her life. Toth explores issues as large as weather and spirituality in “Who Speaks in the Pillar of Cloud?” and topics as small as a mosquito in “Things That Go Buzz in the Night.” In “Storms,” a severe thunderstorm becomes a continuing metaphor for the author’s troubled first marriage. Two essays, one from the perspective of childhood and one from late middle age, ponder how the weather seems different at various stages of life but always provides unexpected opportunities for self-discovery, change, and renewal. The perfect entertainment for anyone who loved Toth’s previous books on travel and memoir, Leaning into the Wind offers engaging and personal insights on the delights and difficulties of Midwest weather. Susan Allen Toth is the author of several books, including Blooming: A Small-Town Girlhood (1981), My Love Affair with England (1992), England As You Like It (1995), and England for All Seasons (1997). She has contributed to the New York Times, the Washington Post, Harper’s, and Vogue. She lives in Minneapolis.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Nature

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Dr. Toth graduated from Smith College and Berkeley and received a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1969. She taught English at San Francisco State College and now teaches at Macalester College in Minnesota. Toth has contributed articles and stories to a wide range of magazines and newspapers. She has written two memoirs—Blooming: A Small Town Girlhood (1981) and Ivy Days: Making My Way Out East (1984). She has also written a series of books on England, including My Love Affair with England (1992), England as You Like It (1995), England for All Seasons (1997), and Victoria, the Heart of England: A Journey of Discovery (1999).

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5) I was always going to read this because I’m a big fan of Susan Allen Toth’s work, including her trilogy of cosy travel books about Great Britain. I’m a memoir junkie in general, but I especially like ones that view the self through a particular filter, e.g., garments sewn, houses lived in and train journeys taken. Toth grew up in Iowa and, barring stints on the coasts for her degrees, always lived in the Midwest, chiefly Minnesota. “The weather, I have happily discovered, does not grow old” – a perennial conversation starter and source of novel, cyclical experiences. She remembers huddling in a basement during tornado warnings and welcoming the peace of a first snow. Squalls seen out the window seemed to mirror her turbulent first marriage. She would fret over her daughter driving in thunderstorms until her safe arrival home. Fending off insects is a drawback to summer, and keeping a garden is an alloyed joy. I especially liked the essays on the metaphorical use of weather words and the temptation of ascribing meteorological events to divine activity. Not a squeak about climate change, though at the time the general public was aware of it; there could be an update chapter on shifts in seasonality and the increased frequency of extreme weather events.

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Tejas Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short book best enjoyed slowly in my opinion. At times the weather-focused theme here was like a pulse that beat constantly, steadily throughout the book. Then at other times, I would think it started bordering on being too confined and too constructed with this constant repetition of the same note -- "the weather, the weather, the weather." But overall, I thought it was creative and had some life- moments I could really relate to that were the best parts for me of this little book that, like a sudden summer squall, packs a surprising punch. The writing is pretty solid, but has problems with becoming so meditative as to lapse into being boring. That's one of the reasons I had to read it so slowly. I would read and admire the writing, but then find my attention wandering and my head nodding. Great book for going to sleep to - and I mean that in the best possible way.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Katrinka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe 2.5.

[Laura (booksnob) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone's life is affected by weather. If you happen to live in the midwest you life through cold and snowy winters, severe storms in the Spring, hot and humid summers. On a particular day in Minnesota the temperatures can vary over 50 degrees. Midwest weather can be extreme and Toth does an excellent job of capturing the nuances of it.

Leaning into the Wind is a unique memoir where Toth tells her story within twelve essays. The focus of the book is her life amidst midwest weather. Toth grew up in Ames, Iowa. Met and married her first husband in California and then moved to Minnesota where they both had teaching positions. She raised a daughter and remarried a architect named James Stageburg. He designed and built her a lovely weekend house in Wisconsin.

Toth compares her turbulent first marriage to Minnesota storms in one essay. She writes about gardening and her hatred of bugs of all sizes. She writes about how every day, the first thing she checks in the paper, is the weather and when she mentions the daily forecast to her husband, he seems ambivalent. She writes about weather from the different stages of her life. She includes excellent quotes at the beginning of each essay. She writes thoughtfully and creates a visual picture with her words about weather. Toth will make you laugh and she will make you think about how weather has been an important part of your life.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish there was a 2.5 star for this one. A series of essays loosely strung together by topics having to do with weather. Some of the essays I found enjoyable (the one about wishing one lived somewhere else) and some I frankly just skimmed. I love the author but this volume seemed a bit thin to me.

[JodiP · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely reflection of living in a place with such severe weather. It's a beautiful, poetic version of every conversation I've ever had about the weather. The last chapter veered off into the religious, which others may appreciate, but I skipped it.

[Jan J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting view of Midwest weather.