What do you think?
Rate this book
Spring Harvest
So much can happen in those last college weeks before Commencement! And so much did happen, to students and to faculty members and even to townspeople, in those lovely long days in the spring of 1914 at the little co-educational college of Westerly in Wisconsin.Impetuous Julie Prescott thought she could never love Mike more than she did, but by Commencement she had found she could, and had grown up in the process, just as Mike himself had attained a new maturity. Perhaps stubborn Professor Prescott never could change from his blind absorption in what he thought right for the college and his daughter, but with Judy finally learning to manage him, and the loving unobtrusive guidance of his charming wife, Sybil, came hope that he might mellow. Dedicated young President Wallace, handicapped by a cold and hostile wife who despised the college and her duties, found comfort and understanding with the gracious Dean. Professor Mark Allingham was deep in despair about the future of the only remarkable voice he had discovered in his years of teaching music, but by Commencement there was again hope. And Dr. Jim Peters, even with an invalid wife, might yet find the comfort and appreciation each man needs.Here is warmth, humor, tenderness, satire and suspense and a loving nostalgia for an innocent period in our past.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
319 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 13, 2019
11 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Gladys Taber
89 books130 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 9, 2020
Set in 1914 before the Great War, written in 1959. A slice of life tale featuring a cast of characters connected to a small Midwestern college, and their marriages, relationships, difficulties, failures, successes, and self-realizations.
It's far more interesting than it sounds, as Taber is a deft writer and very strong in her depictions of the time and characters. For all her many gifts (she is a favorite of mine) she was never really ahead of her time, so it does have a dated feel. However, that, too, adds to the charm and interest.
It's far more interesting than it sounds, as Taber is a deft writer and very strong in her depictions of the time and characters. For all her many gifts (she is a favorite of mine) she was never really ahead of her time, so it does have a dated feel. However, that, too, adds to the charm and interest.
February 12, 2025
This was so good, a tale of a well loved college and the lives of the people who love it so much! I adore Gladys Taber! 💖💖💖💖
January 12, 2016
If you liked Helen Hull's Heat Lightning, I'd highly recommend this book. I'd also compare it lightly to Barbara Pym, but set in a mid-western town. Great if you like character driven novels that do a bit of soul searching without being too dreary.
November 23, 2021
3.5 for this novel by Taber. Although it was well written and entertaining, I enjoy her memoirs and essays more.
May 15, 2021
Back in Time
A beautifully written novel that sends you back in time. It’s like taking a stroll through a small town college. Likable, well rounded characters.
A beautifully written novel that sends you back in time. It’s like taking a stroll through a small town college. Likable, well rounded characters.
January 15, 2025
A gorgeous spring book about the sacrifices women make to keep academia and the patriarchy underpinning it alive. The scent of lilac permeates each page.
June 18, 2020
Sweet, nostalgic read. The last chapter was totally out of sync with the rest of the book...rushed, like "Oh, I reached 200 pages, time to put this to bed."
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews