The Lambs: My Father, a Farm, and the Gift of a Flock of Sheep

by Carole George

“An enchanting book—please read.” —Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE; Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace

In this touching memoir about the relationship between father, daughter, and animals, Carole explores life after adopting thirteen pet Karakul lambs. Throughout her years with the lambs and her aging father, she comes to realize the distinct personality of each creature, and to understand more fully the almost spiritual bond between man and animals.

This is a beautiful book in every way that will touch the hearts of readers everywhere.

“In her new book, The Lambs, Carole George shares the fulfillment she has experienced over years tending a flock of sheep. I hope that this book will inspire readers to become more compassionate toward the living beings deprived of the many privileges we humans enjoy.” —His Holiness The Dalai Lama

“The Lambs is beautifully written, and right on target as an example of the natural—pastoral—world where we may achieve the fullness of human experience. Our descendants may gravitate toward the equivalent of [Carole’s] Virginia farm.” —Edward O. Wilson, University Research Professor Emeritus, Harvard University

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Animals, Nature, Audiobook, Biography

288 pages, Hardcover

Published April 24, 2018

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

One day, the dogs started barking incessantly, which typically means that someone was at our front door. I peeked out and saw my good friend. She had a book to give to me. I asked her, if this was a book she wanted back when I was done reading it, and she said...

"No, I hope you love this one as much as I did. Then send it along to another animal lover."

Which meant it was going to be apart of my Little Free Library Shed for the neighborhood to enjoy, once I was done.

Needless to say...

I am so grateful to her for sharing this beautifully written memoir about a woman, her thirteen pet (yes, I said pet) Karakul lambs, the relationship with her aging father, and the life they experienced on her farm in Virginia.

There are many lessons in this book about quieting our lives so we appreciate what we are living at any given moment.

Edward O. Wilson, a University Research Professor Emeritus, Harvard University, shared...

“The Lambs is beautifully written, and right on target as an example of the natural – pastoral – world where we may achieve the fullness of human experience.”

And...It is indeed a lovely, lyrical, pastoral story of loving animals and being loved by them, and coming to terms with the life expectancy of our loved ones, and therefore of our own. Expect tears.

[Johanna Haas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I so wanted to like this book, but I don't. At its core this book is about a woman rich enough to quit her job, buy a farm, and not worry about money. She buys a flock of sheep as pets, not to learn how to be a farmer. At one point, she even has her piano moved into her new sheep barn so she can play as her friends stand around with glasses of wine and watch the sheep be sheared. Then, over time, the sheep start to die. Yep. On the plus side, she is a good writer - it's just the content that bugs me.
I received this book from the First-Reads program in exchange for this review.

[Wendelle]

The book is a journal of sorts of a former lawyer who enters semi-retirement by purchasing a farm in Virginia and caring for a pet flock of Karakul sheep.

Pros of this book:
a) It is elegantly and quietly written.
b) There are tons of pictures of SHEEP
c) It is a powerhouse of recommendations, having earned advance praise from Dr. Jane Goodll, Dr. Fran de Waal, Dr. Edward O. Wilson

Cons:
a)Given that this book was a heavyweight in the recommendation category as I said above, my expectations were skewed. The truth is this isn't a very remarkable book, although the author's life is a remarkable experience. This book is not a systematic and studious observation diary of sheep and their year-round behavior. Instead, the author tells of her lif in the farm, and sometimes there are sheep in it. The author dwells as much on her reminiscences as a corporate attorney and on the ancient Persian volumes she was currently reading as much as about her pet sheep, which I found disappointing and rather narcissistic. I didn't pick up this book for bland self-praise of her work as an attorney, but as I said, perhaps my expectations were skewed.

b)Some parts of the author's behavior toward sheep struck me as rather selfish and made me uneasy. First, the author picks up sheep without prior preparation or experience. The book portrays t as a spontaneous decision due to a chance remark from her father. The author arrives at the breeding station with only the impression of sheep as monotonically white fluff balls as her sum knowledge of the animals.

Furthermore, she agrees to castrate the animals without dwelling too much on the pain and artificiality of such lives for her sheep, because she does not want to be inconvenienced by the natural life cycle activities of mating and newborns. Truly, then, the author's motivation in acquiring animals is her own leisure and pleasure, which is fine, but in this instance comes at the cost of the sheep's. I can't really frown in judgment at that but it didn't make me too happy with this book either.

[Kirsti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

I did enjoy this story, and I did enjoy the writing. You can hear the BUT, can't you? It's because the set up for the Kindle book is atrocious. Basically the pictures are either not loaded correctly into the book and the writing is interrupted by a number or the author's name, or the picture is put into the text, so that you're reading a line and then hit the picture with the story about the picture below it. By the time you've read the accompanying text, you've forgotten the original thing you were reading and have to go back. It is super frustrating as a reader to be constantly thrown from the narrative. what works in a book (where you can skip the pictures and go back at the end of a chapter/or the book) just doesn't work on Kindle.

The real shame in all this is the distraction from the often beautiful and lyrical writing. There is a real sense of peace and acceptance in this book that makes you long to make enough money to spend days at a farm with a small flock of your own. Having only known one pet sheep in my life, the idea of a whole flock was delightful.

Following this narrative of time is the gradual decline of Carole's father, and his calm accepting of time and fate. There are no real regrets in a life of gentle poetry and good wine, and it made me long for the same kind of relationship with my own father (yeah, not going to happen)

All in all this is a beautiful book that I would love to get a physical copy of, to compare how different it is not to be held back by poor format (I get that it is not the author's fault, however I must review the edition I have and that's that) Three stars!

[Keira Konson · Rating 5 out of 5]

i randomly picked this book up at a used book sale and within the first 10 pages it surpassed all expectations. the author buys a farm in my home state, talks about the greek etymology of her words and ancient poetry and what she calls “poetic landscapes,” and vividly recalls the classical piano music that shaped her mind from her childhood.

“the almost liturgical ritual of my days glistens with a jewel-like radiance that makes the thought of an airport simply offensive.”

this is a beautiful and poetic memoir of a woman grasping at the truth of spiritual reality yet settling for the imagination of great poets, the comfort and peace of nature, and the security of consistent community. i think i learned more about why believers are compared to sheep in this book than a christian one because she wrote so effortlessly about what she observed without forcing them to fit into what she already knew to be true about christianity.

a whimsical story that reminds me of all that classical literature and music allow the mind to experience. the perfect thanksgiving day read.

[Mariann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written memoir about a woman, her flock of sheep, her aging father, and the life they lived on her farm in Virginia. There are many lessons in this book about quieting our lives so we appreciate what we are living at any given moment.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC from a Goodreads giveaway; thank you to the publisher for this book.

While I enjoyed this book, some parts became quite meandering. I particularly fell out of interest when the author kept referring to her former life of a lawyer and her lifestyle and her varied, exotic friends from all over the world. While I understand the premise of attempting to differentiate this life from that one, as a reader I almost felt as if the artsy, jet setting life was being pushed down my throat at times.
With that said, the vast majority of this book is very much appreciated for its simplicity and grace. The artsy life is brought in with the Lambs as well with the reading of the poetry and the reciting of music (not to mention the Lambs are each named after a great composer). I like how the author describes the unspoken communication she has with her Lambs and her interactions with each of them. She writes of her father quite often but never mentions any other family members, giving me the impression that she wishes to maintain a level of simplicity of characters to keep the story focused on the Lambs, which is fine. I also really liked how the author brought forth the humanitarian aspect of the animals typically overlooked as farm animals good only for fleece and meat. They are living beings, after all, and she delves into their world and brings forth their individual personalities and traits, their needs and their love they have not only for each other but their human caretakers as well.
I appreciate what she wrote in the Afterword, almost admitting that the text was written from memory and therefore skewed. I also really appreciated the numerous photographs included throughout. My copy included all black and white grainy photos and I will definitely seek out a color version once it arrives in the library.

[Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. I received an advance copy in the Giveaway. I enjoy memoirs and the idea of the Lambs and the author's choice of the quiet life drew me.

However, as much as I enjoyed reading about the events leading up to her country life with the Lambs, the actually layout of the book threw me off. They were many, many photos of the Lambs and many with more explanatory text attached to the photos than the story text on the page. I would read the story text, then try to read about the photos...I found it unwieldy. Perhaps if the photo explanations were woven into the text of the story, or if the photos has been grouped together on several pages throughout the book,it might have worked better for me as the reader.

Again, I wanted to love it, and I did enjoy parts of it, but I truly see the book as a labor of love on the part of the author that just didn't translate to me.

[Brittany Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will cherish this book forever! The pure simplicity and innocence of The Lambs were enchanting! I love hearing of tales about corporate people transcending to become who they were truly destined to be, shedding all that is no longer needed and their journey to that humble place.

My favorite part of this book was that it did not go on and on about people and the parties and emotions, it's sole focus was on a more spiritual level. The author told her story and left it to the readers to decide what emotions they should feel in such a captivating way! This book truly is a work of art, not just a story. The selection of events was told in such a beautiful and clear way, if I ever write, this book will be of huge inspiration for style and technique.

I want to thank the author, publisher and the Goodreads Giveaway Program, for this free print copy I received in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book and look forward to reading it many times!

[Emmaline Long · Rating 2 out of 5]

As someone who actually breeds and raises sheep, this was just annoying. I have read several "quit my job to start a farm" books and all portray an inaccurate and overly romantic view of raising animals. This one was no different. I chose to read because it was about sheep. I'm glad the author had the experience of raising sheep, but I'm not sure what was so special about her experience.

[Kati Polodna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming account of a woman who adopts a flock of lambs. It's more than just lambs, though, it's poetry and art and companionship with her father. Elegant language makes this a book to savor on a quiet evening. Photographs, too!

[Carin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carole was a bit tired of the legal rat race in Washington DC. She would leaf through the real estate listings, looking at big old farms out in the country (I picture of course the scene in Baby Boom when Diane Keaton does the same thing and ends up moving to Vermont.) She's single and childless, but close to her dad, even though he lives out west. One day, she buys a farm. Then, as she slowly goes about fixing it up and winding down her law firm, she decides to buy some sheep. She ends up with a small flock of Karakul lambs, who she names after historical composers. She doesn't breed them, and of course with only 13, she doesn't get much wool. They're definitely more pets than farm animals. And She adores them. So does her father who comes to visit frequently and for extended periods.

And, as with every single book about animals, they start to age. And they do what every animal in every book about an animal does. Which mirrors also Carole's own ascent into late middle age, and her father's descent in his nineties to the point where he can't come visit anymore as it's too hard for him to travel so far. The sheep (she continues to call them lambs throughout their lives but I'm sorry, I'm not that precious) certainly have distinctive personalities and she even researches the breed extensively and where they are from. Her family is perhaps over-educated, as she and her father wax lyrically about the Caucuses and poetry in a way that would put a lot of college professors to shame. But it's a lovely, lyrical, pastoral memoir of loving animals and being loved by them, and coming to terms with the life expectancy of our loved ones, and therefore of our own.

[Mursullivan5 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would like to thank Carole George and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book to review.

I did not complete reading this book since the authors writing style and mine were not in sync and I found myself annoyed. I felt the author was trying to work hard at throwing as many adjectives in the writing as possible. Also, she continually made obtuse philosophical statements that required me to reread and reread sentences to then ultimately determine it senseless. I am a proud farm girl that was born and raised on a corn, soybean, beef, hog and sheep farm in the midwest. I have no problem with a city girl coming out to the country to enjoy the peace and quiet of rural america, in fact, a Chicago family bought a three acre farm house and barn from us and we enjoyed taking them through the ropes of raising animals. We did chuckle when they kept pigs in their a child's playpen in the kitchen. My issue with the author, was her continual reference of her and her family's wealth. Her eccentric, upper class demeanor was grating on the nerves. For example, inviting the city slickers out for champagne/wine and cheese for the delivery of the lambs and for shearing. Oh brother!

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway in exchange of an honest review.

[Fay · Rating 1 out of 5]

First I would like to thank Carole George and the publisher for providing me the opportunity to read and review this book.

My father started a hobby farm of Finn lambs after retirement. This is what originally drew me to this book. I saw this book had a recommendation by Jane Goodall. I have seen her speak in person and found her anecdotes fun and engaging so I was starting this book with high standards. It is well written. The author is clearly talented at describing scenes that can be easily built in the mind's eye. However I just couldn't get into this book. I skipped ahead and looked at all the pictures which I loved. I loved the descriptions of the lambs and hearing about the Karakuls breed history. At its core though it just read like a rich eccentric person who decided to get lambs and incorporate them in a fashionable, French wannabe lifestyle.

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.

[Lisa J · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was happy to enter Ms. George ´s world on her Virginia farm, leaving her law practice and life of travel behind. I loved how she writes describing the sheep and even ending the book comparing them to clouds. I loved the pictures.
However, I felt the book dwelled too much on the deaths of the Lambs and left me with a sad, fleeting feeling. I felt she could have given more anecdotes, history or her own inspirational works. I know they´re sheep, what more can they do, but I feel like there was more to the story. Idk.

[Bobby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started out very nicely and promising. Clearly it is well written and at times poetic. However, the story itself did not keep my interest throughout as the book kind of loses steam. There is also a bit of pretense sprinkled in throughout that I found vaguely off-putting as well. Too bad because the actual, physical book is quite a beauty!

[Bill Glose · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the 20th Century was drawing to a close, Carole George could proudly say she had mapped out her life and followed her plan exactly where she hoped it would lead her. As the founder of an international law firm based in Washington DC with a client list spread throughout Japan and Europe, she spent much of her time in Tokyo, Paris, and other noted world cities. Ordinarily, she did nothing on a whim, so it was a great surprise—even to herself—when she read a rural property ad in the Washington Post for a 27-acre farm near Orange, Virginia with the peculiar note that a “Grand piano conveys with the property.” As a lifelong pianist and lover of classical music by grand composers, George felt as if the ad had been written just for her. She purchased the farm with the notion of it being a weekend retreat.

When her 85-year-old father visited two months later, they sat upon a bench set beside a pond and a wide pasture. As they took it all in, her father said the words that would change her life forever. “This is ‘poetry country,’” he said. “This ground calls for sheep.

And so the international lawyer used to Channel suits and transcontinental flights visited a local breeder and purchased 13 lambs. The lambs were fur-bearing Karakuls, descended from Persia, famed for their colorful coats. Not that their storied lineage mattered a whit to George. What sold her was the way they captured her heart.

As she writes in her heart-touching memoir The Lambs: My Father, a Farm, and the Gift of a Flock of Sheep, “I rush up to an infant lamb who stands between her mother’s outstretched legs. There is no way to resist her, off-white like her mother, with tangerine curls parting across her nose. Loose white curls cover her little body. She has white eyelashes over downcast eyes. Her ears are long and narrow. She seems shy, but her mouth curves up in a girlish smile. She can’t weigh more than eight or nine pounds. I bend to lift her onto my left shoulder, as I have often carried around a cat. I would be wary of a kitten’s sharp claws, but here I have no concern in the world. This is the first member of my flock. I name her Debussy.”

The next lambs she chooses is Mozart, then Chopin, and then another ten, which she also names for famous composers. The influence of music and poetry resound throughout the book. When her father visits, he often quotes some of his favorite poems. And when friends visit for dinner parties, George sometimes plays on the piano as the sheep gambol about the barn and steal nips of food.

Although the lambs provide several comic mishaps—eating pages from a book George is reading, rooting beneath chairs and knocking guests out of them, plopping onto the ground and refusing to budge—this is not your typical fish-out-of-water memoir. The Lambs doesn’t merely romp about in the peculiarity of a citified person adjusting to country life and the care of animals; it lingers in the soul-searching reflection that George gains ambling at the slow pace of her sheep in the quietude of rural splendor.

“Poetry Country can be the pastoral, Arcadia, paradise, all these things,” says George. “But it’s also the landscape of the mind. There is a richness in quieting oneself and attuning to the environment, in viewing nature in a divine sense.”

As she comes to embrace her role as shepherdess, George gradually shuts down the firm she spent so long building. Her mornings on the farm began at 8:30 when she let the sheep out of the barn and walked the farm’s perimeter with them. Always in the same clockwise direction.

“Sheep are very liturgical,” George says, “probably like human beings. They want order; they want predictability. They wanted to go to the right. So we went to the right. …And this could take two or three hours, starting at the front and walking along this stream, around this central mound where the ground rises. And when you go onto the upper level, you have spiraled around the property.and you can look back on the pond in the front pasture and see where you started.”

George learned that each of the lambs had different personalities, from Ginastera, the playful bounder and flock leader, to Chopin, the nursemaid to the smaller ewes. George had never had children, so the lambs were, in essence, her family. She fed them, she cared for them, and, when the time came, she buried them in a grove of tulip poplars. Over the next decade, she experienced a sense of wonderment she hadn’t known was even possible. She feels as if her eyes are fully open for the first time in her life, that all of her senses are attuned to land, and that whatever time she possesses on this Earth is extremely precious and should be spent judiciously.

As she writes, “To move at the pace of The Lambs or to sit while they graze allows me to see the details on the ground. This morning, for example, I watch a ladybug climb a leaf of grass. These are the luxuries that cannot be bought.”

And this is the greatest lesson that comes from The Lambs. The book serves as a treatise for unplugging from the constant, mind-numbing bombardment of digital minutia and communing with nature. Few of us have the wherewithal to leave our jobs and take up shepherding. But all of us can slow down and admire whatever luxuries lie on our individual paths. And if none can be found, perhaps it’s time to walk somewhere else.

[Todd Strader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminiscent of H is for Hawk I very much enjoyed this read and the emotions it illicites. Like Helen MacDonald, Carol George takes us inside her relationship with her animals, her father and her own transformation.

For much of the book I felt like a kindred spirit. I resonate deeply with Carol’s connection to the land and her sheep. I remember a time when, living on another Virginia farm, when I ventured daily with my pet across very similar fields, forests and stream. Her knowledge of poetry far exceeds mine but I too love word craft that moves the soul. As a practitioner of centering prayer I was delighted to find its place in her story. The spell was a bit broken when I calculated the amount of money being spent with each improvement for the flock (yet glas she could take each measure on their behalf) and as I read descriptions of jet setting cosmopolitans coming in for what were surely expensive parties. As a son of the ‘help’ this part made feel like I was looking in through a window not sitting in as a part. Nonetheless, I appreciated the window. I enjoyed the glimpse into that world.

For the most part the book is about connection. We are taken through the entire life cycle of Carol’s lambs. The personalities of each lamb and the flock as a whole are revealed as she first learns about sheep, about Karakul sheep, then each personality and the nature of their community. She shares a special connection with them that deepens through long daily communes. We are also taken into Carol’s relationship with her father. His time with her on the farm, among the sheep, is a beautiful reflection of a matured father and daughter relationship. Their shared appreciation of the simple, quiet, pastoral life, the company of lambs and poetry combine to carry us into an idyllic world of their creation, a very special capstone of their many years together.

Ultimately, I found the book to be about loss and the revelation that comes with it. Carol does such a wonderful job of bringing us into the world of her relationship with the lambs, her farm and her father that when the ‘letting go’ comes it strikes a deep chord within. We are treated to a world so beautiful and filled with such beautiful lives that when it starts slipping away we feel it in our gut. But we find it has moved us to a new, more profound understanding. I found the final chapters deeply moving.

Carol George has written a beautiful memoir. She has added her voice to those who call for a deeper understanding of our animal friends. The way she blended her world with theirs and their world with hers reflects the growing knowledge that our animal friends are not so different from us. With more stories like hers perhaps we will realize a new day where their lives matter as much as ours.

[Kelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I badly wanted to love this book, because someone I love loves it and wanted to share it with me.

But if you, like me, are not an animal person, it's going to be hard to warm up to sheep eating off plates, sheep coming from under the table and bumping guests out of their chairs, or sheep turning door handles and ambling into the house.

The Lambs tells George’s story leaving her D.C. legal practice to settle on a Virginia farm with a flock of sheep. She speaks of them in the terms you use for friends, that is, for people. She spends nights in the (elegant) barn she builds for them, plays piano for them and feeds them by hand as they grow old and frail.

(Fair warning if you are an animal lover: I predict tears as the flock ages.)

George and her father dearly loved these animals and their time with them. The moments I enjoyed most were when the two of them were together for walks or picnics, sharing their passion for books and the land and the sheep. And I admired the energy with which George threw herself into the project of keeping the animals. But I just couldn't generate the enthusiasm for them that she did.

George is poetic about both her land and her lambs.

"Here, amid the trees, as anyone who loves the woods knows, I feel a deep, abiding sense of belonging. I have never felt this in a city." I think I know the feeling she means. But I have felt it in both the sweet anonymity of a teeming city as well as the calming escape of a mountain waterfall.

There's a vaguely spiritual undertone that comes through especially in one chapter about her connection with a sheep who likes to stare into her eyes. "I respond with humility. It is a measure of the power of his lambness, of his sheepness, his eternal species inheritance. … In the presence of these sacred beings, is not my life judged? I think, Yes, yes.”

It’s a little out there for me.

She goes on to say she has learned her sheep are not messengers. “They are the message. And it is this: Just be yourself, but be all of yourself. Live your own life as fully as you can. Look at how beautiful we are. All we do in life is be sheep.”

OK. I can embrace the beauty of another living thing reminding us to live our own lives, be ourselves.

But then I read that the measure of a good house guest is this: “I know it will be a wonderful sojourn when at lunch our friend does not flinch as Saint-Saens helps himself to the strawberries on his plate.”

And there you have it: I most definitely would have flinched.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have an entire folder on Pinterest with photographs of sheep. If I can find memoirs about shepherds or sheep farms, I will read them. When I saw this book on Goodreads Firstreads I put in for it even though I would have to read it on my Kindle App if I won it and I still prefer paper books. That's how much I wanted to read it. I was fortunate enough to win a copy.
The author, seemingly on a whim bought a farm in Virginia and moved there dissolving her law practice. Her elderly father on a visit declared it "poetry country" and said it needed a flock of sheep. So... she bought 13 Karakul Lambs , intending to keep them as pets. Actually it seemed that they became more like her family. She became so close to the Lambs that she knew each distinct personality and even the different scents of each Lamb. In the early years her father visited often and their days and seasons all revolved around the Lambs. After awhile one by one the Lambs began to die off. It was an interesting and somewhat charming book. I did learn much more about sheep from this book than any other memoir about sheep that I've ever read. Because they were pets, ( or family really) she talked about their habits and personalities in great detail, as opposed to farmers or shepherds that have sheep as a business. She had the resources apparently to make any changes to her farm that fulfilled the vision she had in her head about this idyllic enterprise. I would have liked this book even more if she had talked more about her life before the Lambs. She mentions her "lovely mother" only once. She and her father read poetry out loud and she installs a poetry bench on the farm. Was this a habit that started in her youth? The ability to spend money to fulfill an idyllic vision is a gift that not very many people in this world have, and it made me a bit uncomfortable. She previously had written a book: " International Charitable Giving: Laws and Taxation " so I assume that she has been involved in charitable giving and I would have liked to hear that she still was.

[Melise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advanced reading copy of this book from NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Thomas Dunne Books. Thanks!

What a lovely book. It is the story of a woman who moves to a farm in Virginia, and purchases 13 karakul lambs to live on the farm as pets. The book really relates the time that this woman spent on the farm, interacting with the lambs and her elderly father who visits regularly.

There is a familiar genre of books about city dwellers who leave their lives behind and move to a rural environment. Frequently, those books will tell humorous stories about how they learned new skills the hard way, and often have an specific political point of view about food production, or the damage that humans are wreaking on the environment.

This book is nothing like that. Instead, the author simply tells her readers about the time she spent with the sheep and her father, shares a bit about the history of the karakul breed and its middle eastern roots, and her observations of both her father and the sheep as they aged and eventually die.

There is a picture towards the end of the book that shows the author lying on the grass with her two surviving sheep, all sleeping peacefully together. For me, that image is evocative of the entire book. It is quiet and simple, and just seeks to share the lovely feeling of connection she and her father had with these animals.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really would give this 4.5 stars. I bought this on a whim while at the bookstore because of the beauty of the book and was not disappointed. It appealed to me on many levels. It is a book about the author who "retires" to a farm in Virginia's Orange County, who starts a small herd of "pet" sheep (The Lambs). It is a peaceful book about her life with her lambs and her father.

I am a native Virginian and love this aspect of the book, I am also a veterinarian and enjoyed reading about the remarkable life of these sheep. My only qualm is that she felt that none of the local vets wanted to waste their time with sheep. I find this very sad--when I was in school, we spent many a day on windy hills working herds of sheep and we all loved it. But, later in the book, a younger vet begins to help her and although the outcomes were still discouraging, at least I thought he was presented the profession in a better light.

The author really was remarkable in how she developed relationships with each of her lambs and described their personalities. I think we humans overlook this aspect of animals not commonly seen as pets.

I would recommend this book for any lover of animals and enjoys reading about the relationships we can build with other creatures we share the earth with.

[Tarissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartwarming, adventurous, and bittersweet. Those lambs stole my heart.

I learned much about sheep in general, and specifically about Karakuls (which means "black leg" in Turkic languages). Of course, Karakul sheep end up coming in an assortment of colors, so the name isn't always accurate.

In "The Lambs" there are moments of things to laugh over, like how the Carole George mentions that her woolly pets love to eat fresh dead leaves (thusly named "lamb potato chips" -- haha!). Or how some of the sheep loved books too much -- that is, loved how book pages taste!

But then the story is racked with sadness, as the happy flock of thirteen lambs eventually ages. Each sheep slowly exits the farm, forever leaving another mark on George's soul.

I read the Kindle version of the book, and it's GREAT. Included in some chapters are color photos of the sheep themselves, in all their woolly attire and glory.

So happy to have gotten the chance to read about this accidental shepherdess and the little flock that changed her life. Carole George is an excellent writer, and the story she has to tell just leaps off the page.

Thanks to Goodreads Giveaways for a free copy of this book; I was not required to post a positive review.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was gifted this book after my father passed by my office co-workers. I'd not heard of it, nor could I really understand why this was chosen as the appropriate gift to mark that loss. Reading it, I completely understand. Whatever my co-workers knew or didn't know about this story, the beauty that is realized in the life cycle of developing, shepherding, and then releasing this herd of sheep, "The Lambs" is one of the most profound stories I've encountered that gives voice to the importance of relationship and memories. The author's relationship with her father is key in the development of the poetic and pastoral scene described in the book.

I spent the weekend of my own father's memorial service reading this book, and intentionally focusing on it instead of dividing my attention between the many other books I'm currently reading. It gave an opening for profound reflection, grief, and gratitude for my own relationship with my father. I am grateful for this beautiful book - a work of art as the author states - that gives voice to the ever present cycle of creativity, death, and rebirth.

[R J Mckay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from Goodreads in exchange for a review.

‘The Lambs:’ is a beautifully told story. Its simplicity is a refreshing break. It is like a breath of fresh air.
The story follows the lives of a flock of sheep and the life of the Carole George, their caretaker. Karakul is a unique breed of sheep [I loved the pictures that were included]. From visiting the breeders farm where she selected her lambs, to their lives on her pastoral farm, Carole introduces us to the personalities of each member of the flock. Along the way, we meet her Father and her many friends who visit and become an extended member of Carole’s flock. But we also settle into the tranquil life that she lives, far different than her life in Washington, D.C.. Everyone who visits, finds a profound peace away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
The story will rejuvenate your spirit and bring peace to your soul.

[Chrissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a former shepherdess, I always appreciate books about sheep. I loved my sheep but I raised for meat and for then for milk, hoping for sheep cheese. I am of the ilk, it is anyone’s prerogative to raise pets but this was never my goal. I did, however, love them and love to be around them.

The romantic versions of the book, I loved and can say they were true for our little passel too. I got lost in the names and frequent musical references and ended up skipping large chunks since it was out of my experience zone. The central asian histories and poetry also lost me. I love poetry but evidently not this genre. I thought it would be a great learning time for me in both these areas. Not to be. I kept putting the book down to look things up and eventually gave up on keeping up.

Wondering about her mother. Did I miss something? Did she die? I was terrible confused by this and kept retracing to see if I missed the daughetrly visits and concern?

[Kate Belt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written story of the author’s life and relationship with her dad, their shared love for her flock of lambs, music, history, art, literature, poetry, wine, and gardens, but if I had to choose one theme for the book, I’d give it mortality and immortality. In the afterword, Ms. George writes that her model for the story was “The little shepherd” from Claude Debussy’s Children’s Corner. She notes that memory and imagination are convertible terms. I’d love to see an interview of her explaining what she means by that, rather than me giving it my own interpretation. She says that rather than pinpointing its genre as a memoir, perhaps it is preferable to consider it simply as a work of art, for art always involves a process of selection.” Interestingly, it has a photo of a letter of endorsement from Dalai Lama on the first page.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely beautiful book. The author leaves her law career, purchases a small farm in the Virginia countryside, and, on her father's advice, populates it with a small flock of pet sheep. The sheep are Karakuls, a very ancient breed. All are named for composers, and all have distinctive personalities. A sad book as well as a lovely one, for sheep do not live long, and the book covers a full ten years. It's a book that's full of poetry, lovely photographs, and admirable people and animals. The picture of the author's father and his little sheep friend Satie stays with me.

(note: I skimmed the end, but I don't think my rating will change when I have the energy to read this book as slowly as it deserves. It's not for everyone, but the right readers will love it.)

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely, relaxing book in which you learn that sheep are very companionable creatures, each having a different personality. A quirky kind of shepherdess, the author, enjoys her farm property and her time with her aging father.
Full of facts about Karakul sheep (why on earth would they evolve into creatures with tails too heavy to allow them to walk around comfortably, requiring humans to dock their tails?), the book is a poem to a quiet and relaxed life, far from the author's past career in law.
I also found in it, while looking up a plant, a rose, mentioned at the end of the book, a rose that I loved in childhood, that I will now order to plant in my own yard, a climber called White Eden, white with a pale pink center.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of "The Lambs" by Carole George, through the "Good Reads First Reads Giveaway."

This is a sincere and entertaining account of a bucolic life with lambs, more as pets than grown for wool. The author is obviously enchanted with this rare breed of sheep and refers to them as lambs, even when they are mature. Her language is lyrical and expresses great affection for the history of the sheep and poetry in general.

This book is also a great tribute and memorial to the author's father. Anyone who has loved a pet would love this book.