Years of the Forest

by Helen Hoover

This is a book that takes us inside the Hoovers’ wilderness home during those sixteen Years of the Forest and lets us experience not only the joys and the techniques but also the challenges and travails of going it alone in the beautiful but not always accommodating wilderness, far from the technology and services that city people take for granted.

It is a book of wilderness adventure, it is an education in the ingenuities of wilderness housekeeping, filled with practical details about making do, building and rebuilding, gardening for fun and for food, even advice about getting away from getting-away-from-it-all.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Animals, Memoir, Biography, Science, Survival

318 pages, Hardcover

First published March 12, 1973

About the author

Helen Hoover (January 20, 1910-July 1984) studied chemistry, and though she never earned her degree, she worked as a metallurgist for Ahlberg Bearing Company during and after World War II. Hoover grew up in Ohio but later moved to Chicago with her family, which is where she met her husband, Adrian Hoover. Both Helen and Adrian held steady jobs when they decided to quit and move to their vacation cabin on the south shore of Minnesota’s Gunflint Lake.

With no steady income, the Hoovers struggled through their first Minnesota winter, and Helen began writing magazine articles. Her first book, The Long-Shadowed Forest, which recounted life in northern Minnesota, was published in 1963. She followed it with three more books inspired by the Gunflint Trail: The Gift of the Deer, A Place in the Woods, and The Years of the Forest, as well as a children’s book The Great Wolf and Good Woodsmen.

Reviews

[Mallory · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this book for the most part. Hoover's descriptive capabilities know no bounds. At times though I was put off by her pretentiousness. I felt for her and her husband, wanting to get back to nature and be more in touch with the environment after years in Chicago. As the years go on and their piece of wilderness becomes less and less remote, there is constant push and pull between the idealistic life they want to live and facing facts about reality and human nature. However, when she started speaking in possessive terms ("our animals"), she lost me. Just because the Hoovers befriended wild animals doesn't mean they were "theirs" any more than they belonged to the casual summer visitor passing through. They belong to no one. They belong to the forest. They bless us with their presence and remind us of things we can't quite understand. And the truth is, the Hoovers altered the forest by their mere presence and by caring for the animals that they encountered arguably as much as a hunter with his shotgun or tourists with their cars.

Favorite quotes: "We were too busy with necessary things to think much about ourselves, which is the way it used to be with most people."

"I wonder what percentage of the world's troubles come out of people being suspicious or afraid of people who aren't like themselves." - Ade Hoover

"There would be difficulties yet, but we were now very experienced in the art of coping. All in all, the view from the rim after the years of climbing was good."

[Kaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. On the one hand, I love her descriptions of nature and life in the northwoods. And I really feel her despair at the humans wreaking havoc and death on her once-peaceful woods towards the end. On the other hand, she kind of comes across as sanctimonious. She makes comments about how "no one who is dependent on a job or government or civilization is truly free," but she herself is dependent on other people - and almost died a few times if it hadn't been for other people's help. She scoffs at humans and their annoying technology, but relies on gas appliances, buys a car, and has a phone line. She takes pride in "not living off the land or killing any animals" but eats meat she buys from a grocery store. Is a canned chicken not also an animal? Are you not taking the life of a cow to eat it? She also laments that the birds and bears and other animals have become tamer because humans are feeding them "to the danger of themselves and other humans" but like... She also feeds all the animals?? I don't know, I really liked some parts of this book but she comes across as kind of a hypocrite.

[Beth Cato · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the kind of gentle, soothing read needed these days. Writer Helen Hoover and her artist husband, Ade, moved to the far-remote Minnesota woods across a lake from Canada. This book covers over a decade of their time there in the 1950s and 1960s, where they dealt with severe poverty to start, making-do without a car and even getting scurvy due to malnutrition. They are there to live in harmony with nature, as much as they can; the mice in the cabin are named and fed, and the deer and groundhogs are regular companions. They resist electricity and indoor plumbing, but the ways of man encroach on them, with deer hunting season an especially dangerous time for the two of them and the deer they love.

This is an intimate portrait of a time and place and two people trying to find peace in a turbulent world.

[Wayne Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1954, Helen Hoover, who was born in 1910 at Greenfield, OH, studied chemistry at Ohio University, and became a research metallurgist for the International Harvester, and her husband Adrian (Ade), a commercial artist, left their hustle-bustle life in Chicago, IL, and bought a remote cabin in the far-northern Minnesota woods. The events of their first year and a half, ending with a fire in Ade’s workshop, were chronicled in her book A Place in the Woods, and story of their relationship to the deer that came to their cabin is told in The Gift of the Deer. The Years of the Forest is a sort of summary of the sixteen years that followed, from 1956 to 1967, when the increasing encroachment of civilization led them to “take a vacation” in search of another wilderness home, with an epilogue about their return in 1971, with the outline taken from a casual, random list of “Things to Do” jotted down by Ade, including “Install wiring, Running water, Inside toilet” and “Get another car” after their old one had broken down. It has been republished as part of the Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage Series.

For anyone who has a secret longing to leave the problems of society and live an eremitic life a la Thoreau’s Walden, this book, subtitled “A down-to-earth (and delightful) book about wilderness living and nature adventure by the author of The Gift of the Deer and A Place in the Woods,” will be fascinating. A few references to man as more highly evolved and how the animals are related to us occur, but there are several statements about the wonders of creation and some citations of Scripture. Also, a little bit of environmentalism is found, but it is mostly the old-fashioned conservation variety rather than the modern “kill all the people to save the animals” whacko kind. Ade is said to swear on a number of occasions, but no actual swear words are used except that the exclamation “Great God” is uttered once and the “d” word twice. The period covered in this book also records the writing of another book by Helen, The Long-Shadowed Forest. In addition, she wrote some books for young readers, such as Animals at My Doorstep, Animals Near and Far, and Great Wolf and the Good Woodsman.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Years of the Forest" is a companion book of Hoover's engaging tale, "A Place in the Woods", and covers approx. 13 years of the Hoover's life in the Minnesota wilderness during the 1950's-60's as Helen and Ade continue their study of the wildlife that populate their small slice of Eden.

Each chapter features a task that the couple completed on their property along with studied observations of the animals that come to see the Hoovers' as a non-threatening source of sustanance. In return, the various deer, chipmunks, red squirrels, groundhogs, bobcats, linxs, frogs, etc. provide much needed inspiration and humor for the couple as they write about (Helen) and draw (Ade) the animals in their habitat for articles (and later these very books). The Hoover's approach to life is simple and spartan and harkens back to a pioneer spirit and rugged individualism that most of us today can only faintly imagine. Their brand of conservation is more distilled and daily applied then most environmentalists today could ever handle. They truely "walked the walk".

Helen and Ade were often let down by mankind, especially as increased development in the MN wilderness and careless poachers needlessly destroyed some of the Hoover's animal friends. The final 1/4th of the book covering the late 1960's and early 1970's was really sad to read, as the Hoovers watched their little Eden slowly being covered over in asphalt roads, trailer homes, and a mindset that didn't honor the interdependance of nature. In the final chapter, Helen, while disappointed in the changes wrought by her fellow humans, also realizes that through her and Ade's small efforts, they were able to bring about a change of their own. One that was positive and that would live on in the woods and creatures they called home and friends.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Ms. Hoover because she appreciates animals the way I do. I envy her because she had the stamina to live in the north woods of Minnesota for years, rarely heading to even the tiny town near the cabin she and her husband shared. I can hardly put my computer down, but she spent hours watching and feeding the animals who lived near her.

Most impressively, she and her husband refused to take power or telephone hookups, because it would mean clearing trees, and though the land technically belonged to them, they knew it belonged to the animals who lived there.

I find her writing a bit rough - though the descriptions are lovely, sometimes I have a hard time keeping track of how much time has passed, and there are times when I have to re-read a paragraph to figure out what she means. It's always worth it, though, to picture the deer and squirrels and other animals who entertained Ms. Hoover and her husband for years.

[Kaia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fed animal is a dead animal. In many places it is even against the law. Throughout the book they feed many animals and then feel bad when they are killed because the animals no longer fear humans. Other than that, the book is an interesting account of getting off the grid and how hard that would be.
They also were against more people coming into the area over time. A case of "we got ours, now shut the door to others." And the outsiders coming in would be bringing trash and beer cans. The author even wrote that "Ade and I were touched the the animals felt we were safe humans." This book is in stark contrast to "American Wolf" where no contact or intervention was allowed with the wolves reintroduced to Yellowstone Park. In MN in the 1950's-70's I know people put out salt licks for deer and corn for pheasants in order to shoot them easily. By feeding animals and reducing their fear of humans you guarantee their death. Sad story.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

"To us, the efforts of man to 'conquer nature' and so prove himself greater than the unity of which he is a part or superior to the forces that created him, seem not only dangerous and presumptuous, but stupid and silly."

I don't think I've ever read a book quite like this one, but I still can't help but compare it to Into the Wild which I read in high school (so it's been a bit). I didn't much like that book, because it felt disillusioned, anti-civilization, and Christopher McCandles always felt woefully unprepared and idealistic to me. Unlike Christopher, Hoover manages to accomplish these ideals/philosophy. She and her husband are able to integrate themselves into the rural Minnesota wilderness and live in the wildlife without taking from it.

Hoover establishes early on that her disappearance from society and life in the forest is not a "vacation," which some of her old friends seem to think of their lifestyle. They tell her that "it must be nice to get away from it all." What her friends don't realize is the hard work and danger that their lifestyles necessitate. In the forest, they must depend completely on themselves. For a good several years, they have no car, no reliable means of income, and no way of communicating with the outside world except through post... and their mailbox is a good six miles away from their cabin. They have to ration their food in the winter, and at one point Hoover is so malnourished that she comes down with scurvy! She also makes a point of how the nearby townsfolk view her and her husband, Adrian. The townspeople can't understand their isolation, and look at them as unclean, immoral, and uneducated, though Hoover was a well-acclaimed chemist before their move. I already knew that I am way too soft and delicate to ever consider living like Hoover and Adrian (as inspiring as it is), but reading this only confirmed that I am in no way cut out for this kind of living.

But at the same time, I can understand the appeal. Living in the wilderness, the couple is completely self-reliant. They have to feel confident in their capabilities and act instinctively to survive. And by living in the forest, they form these profound relationships with the animals that others cannot possibly understand. Hoover makes a point of giving all the animals names and genders; they are never called an "it," and she and her husband see these creatures as equal in value to man and integral parts of the balance of the forest. Humans have the power to destroy this balance, but Hoover and her husband do the best they can to tread lightly and do as little as possible to disrupt the cycles of the forest. She tells stories of generations of deer who seek the safety of the woods nearby their cabin, of groundhogs nosing for food, injured birds and mice, and their pet chickens who have provided them with company over the years. And the forest and weather are characters themselves, dynamic, full of sounds, secrets, and life.

[Robin Ferguson · Rating 3 out of 5]

So nice to go back to quieter times. A dream of living in a forest. I read Gift of the Deer back in high school.

[Aimee Peeling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, but kept thinking of the difference of time, this was written so long ago, yet if someone were to attempt the same today, technically they may have a similar experience? because in the wilderness without convenience hasn't changed. But has it? Yes, less space is left untouched and the minds of people have changed. Hoover lamented these changes in 1971, what would she think today?

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to escape from the city and read at parents cabin in Minnesota.

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book about ecology before there was "ecology". Though it can sometimes be slow-going, Mrs. Hoover made me very, very aware - as has not been done with such directness and poignancy - of the natural place of men amongst all other creatures, the wonder of those creatures (plant and animal and water and ice), and their loss such that man is now mainly living alone on the Earth.

Mrs. H. wrote this book as a type of diary/memoir/long essay on her and her husband's life in a cabin in the forest of Northern Minnesota. Mrs. H. is in love with Creation. Although she sounds cranky sometimes, hers is an irritation and anger directed at those who do not comprehend the world of undisturbed nature that we should rightfully have a place in; and therefore they destroy it or cause it pain wantonly and without consideration for the fact that animals have lives of their own.

Although Mrs. H. and her husband were not modern-day ecologists (for example, they feed "their" wild animals; they plant garden flowers), she realistically describes their "kooky", as she might say, eleven year life without a phone, electricity, and indoor toilet. And she reaches some heights of startling and moving intensity and gravitas.

Here are a couple of her heartfelt passages:

"When they [some of their regular animal companions and visitors] were gone we could have no more friends like them because of the approach of civilization and its influx of humans, who did not understand either the forest or its children, and many of whom would not trouble to learn. Then I felt a wave of hope as I thought of the growing education of youngsters along these lines . . . [But] I would not see the kinder world that a new generation might bring. . . . [These animals that] we would see no more, were still part of the forst but as individuals they were lost, except in my thoughts and love . . . . And when we went they would, in a sense, die with us. I would not accept the going of so much beauty and gentleness from the world. I wanted others to know them . . ." At page 247

"We use light without thinking about it, but lifetimes have been spent studying its nature and it still is not fully understood. I wonder, too, at the foolhardiness of those who plunge ahead on so superficial a knowledge of elemental forces that any use on so slight a basis should terrify them." At page 255

"We are what the ancients said we were: Earth, Air,Fire, and Water. But when we fidget, and tamper, and play with great forces, we destroy only our own tomorrows. We cannot mangle Eternity." At page 306

[E Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two artists, he an illustrator and she a writer, leave Chicago and go to live in a cabin in
Northern Minnesota. They are truly "off the grid" no electricity, no running water, no
vehicle (evidently in route to their new home their car gave out). They have to haul wood
on a toboggan to heat the cabin.

There were few neighbors in winter and even in summer the neighbors seemed to consider
them eccentric "kooks".

They soon became literally starving artists. Mrs. Hoover even developed scurvy.

I consider myself quite an animal lover, but the Hoovers took it to another level. Even
when they didn't have enough to eat, not only would they not consider killing any of the numerous
animals on their property, they shared whatever they had with the animals. Sometimes all
they had was a little oatmeal or some pancakes. Also, they got up in the middle of the night
when their resident groundhog came scratching on the door for something to eat. They
seemed to get almost every animal and bird either eat out of their hand or at least
not run from them. I have never had that success with the wildlife I feed.

They did create a problem by feeding the deer which they felt were starving. They
created the perfect hunting spot for deer hunters and they had limited success with
keeping hunters off their property or keeping the deer in a safe area next to the cabin.

The Hoovers did feel superior to their neighbors who came to the Northwoods to
enjoy it without embracing and preserving the environment.

[༺Kiki༻ · Rating 5 out of 5]

You might also enjoy:

✱ A Place in the Woods
✱ One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey
✱ Singing Wilderness
✱ The Lonely Land
✱ A Country Year: Living the Questions
✱ The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod
✱ A Year in the Woods: The Diary of a Forest Ranger
✱ Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unwilling to give up reading aloud even though I'm done homeschooling, I talked my husband into listening as we went through this together. I'd picked up the book at a library sale some time ago. Helen Hoover and her husband Ade (short for "Adrian") moved from the city to the woods of Minnesota in 1954. This book tells about their life in the forest, working on fixing up their cabin and mostly living amongst animals. And I really mean AMONGST. They seem to have left doors and windows open and let every thing go in and out as they pleased, except for the black bears. My husband kept saying, "She's a nut!" The description of the yard filled with ducks and their animal welfare program ("We bought 400 pounds of corn, all we could load into the car...") was amazing. I also found it interesting that they survived on canned food for years, delivered by a grocer because they didn't have a car. What a wild adventure. Not for the faint of heart!

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helen and Adrian Hoover left Chicago to live in the northwoods of Minnesota in the early 1950's, in a remote area that is now part of the Boundary Waters. In this book, Hoover tells the story of the various projects they undertook each year on their cabin or property. She also tells the story of the natural world around them. Her portrayals of the animals and birds near their home are utterly amazing. These creatures become characters, with thoughts and feelings. Yet Hoover also shows the harshness of the northwoods, and the difficulties it presents for all its residents. Hoover's prose is beautiful, vivid, and almost spiritual, and is enhanced by Adrian's line drawings of the landscapes, birds, and animals.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

After having read two of Ms Hoover’s books, - A Place in the Woods, and The Gift of the Deer, I looked forward to more heart-warming tales of co-existing with nature. While I thoroughly enjoyed both of her previous books, this one was just ok. Some of her previous stories were touched on in this book, so it seemed like I was reading a Readers Digest condensed version at times. Don’t get me wrong; this was still very lovely. Her descriptions of her surroundings and her life in the forest are excellent. Not my favorite book, but entertaining nonetheless.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hoover's decided to give up living in Chicago in the 1950's and move to a cabin in norther MN, and live the basic life. Helen Hoover was a writer and a successful chemist. Adrian was a artist. They live for several years without a car, walking into town in all types of weather to shop/pk up mail etc. to 16 years later, being able to finally take a vacation. The book chronicles how the Hoover's befriended the north woods, animals, weather and people.

[Diane Wachter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helen Hoover, RDC-M, #3, 1973, @ 1973, 7/76. The Hoovers move from the city to the Minnesota wilderness in 1954. Adrian had a short to-do list that actually took 16 years to complete. This is the story of their education in wilderness housekeeping and the challenges they faced at each step. Okay.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book follows up Helen Hoover's "A Place in the Woods". This book covers the major events of the several years following the Hoover's move to the Minnesota north woods. Like "A Place in the Woods", this is written in a humorous style that I found enjoyable to read.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

More on the couple who moved to the wilds of Canada. Having read Helen's other two books I felt like this one repeated stories. They weren't new and fresh. Also, this book lacked the warmth and excitement of discovery that the others had.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t like this book at first, but then I started to really enjoy the way Helen Hoover writes. So even though I found of a lot of their ways of life aggravating, I still thoroughly enjoyed the book.

[Jess]

It's an alright read for nature writing. It's about some middle-aged hippie writers who try to live in rundown cabins in the wood and something is always going wrong.

[Maryanne]

The Years of the Forest 02202011 by Helen Hoover
Interesteing. Peter deer


also wrote
the Gift of the Deer
a Place in the Woods
the Long-shadowed Forest

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Descriptions of her life in the woods and wildlife encounters kept me flipping the pages

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing book following the author, and her husband Ade, as they move from Chicago to the Northwoods of Minnesota. It is an older book, published in 1973, covering the 16-year period from 1954 to 1971. The true story describes really living off the grid with no car and no electricity.

Helen Hoover writes beautiful, concise descriptions of the flora and fauna that surround and entertain them. It is an engaging tale of survival and love of a very harsh environment that very few will be able to experience in this day and age. It is also a very sad tale as civilization (and some very uncivilized people) begin to encroach on their little piece of Eden. Adrian Hoover (Ade) contributed beautiful pen and ink drawings of many of the animals they befriended during their adventure.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like reading about the north woods and nature, Hoover's books are a good read. The beginning is a little slow with one too many descriptions of squirrel/chipmunk behavior. After these first chapters, the the story becomes more readable. Hoover chronicles the changes that come to the forest from 1957 - 1971. She makes a strong case for living with the forest instead of off of the land. As far back as the early 60's, she understands that when she turns over a rock in the forest, she alters the landscape in predictable and unpredictable ways. As in her other books, her husband illustrations of wild life are lovely.

[Craig Schlossin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather a frustrating read as this couple who moved into a log cabin on the MN/Canada border in the 50's with little or no skills. They did not hunt, fish, poor gatherers, poor gardeners, with little money and no car. Inept, lucky they had good neighbors. Then the book talks about feeding mice, squirrels, deer, etc. from their meager supplies. My last read by Helen Hoover.

[Michelle Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

For someone who wants or already understands their place in this world.

Helen Hoover has found, through her words, how to convey the importance and significance of a single lifetime, and how when truly lived, naturally intertwines with the rest of creation too.

[Brandi]

“People are part of everything—stones and storms, mice and mammoths, lichens and linnets. We are what the ancients said we were: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. But when we fidget, and tamper, and play with great forces, we destroy only our own tomorrows. We cannot mangle Eternity.”