Perley:The True Story of A New Hampshire Hermit

by Sheila Swett Thompson

307 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Kristen Nace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was at my grandparents house after my grandfather's death and my aunt pulled this book out of the book case and said I should read it. It is the true story of man who lived out his life in the backwoods of Stoddard NH which is in southwest NH, not too far from where my own grandparents lived and operated a dairy farm. Their house was (is still) a big old farmhouse, the oldest part of which was built in the early 1800s. Growing up I always wondered what life was like for the orginal inhabitants and who they were. This book does a good job of describing what rural life must have been like for those early farmers.All I can say is how incredibly lazy and spoiled they would think us today! One of the best bits was the diary entry of Perley's mother as a young woman describing her daily chores. It exhausted me just to read it! It humbles me to think about our female ancestors and how hard their lives really were- life was literally one long chore, plus the constant worry of childbirth/rearing. Perley was not a particularly sympathetic person in my eyes. I felt he didn't treat his wife very well, but he was a product of his own time and upbringing. An intersting read.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perley lived in my area, and my friends told me this was a must read book. I enjoyed learning about him. I must admit that I didn't want to read it because I assumed it was a local yokel writing about her family, and the writing would be bad. Boy, was I wrong. Yes, the book is about her grandfather but it doesn't matter if you are from the area or knew Perley because the book truly explores the definition of family and life in general.

10/1/09 I just reread the book for one of my book clubs. And another one of my book clubs will be discussing this in December. It's a good read that is not just about one man and his family but about the Monadnock Region as well. You learn quite a bit of history of the area.

10/12/09 Just discussed the book with one of my book clubs, and the author came! She answered so many questions and she brought a HUGE album of photos and one of his diaries from 1904. How cool is that?!

This book is really universal in its theme, characters, topics.

[Mhill7857 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know it, I'm partial to local history; I loved this book. Maybe it's because Perley was my uncle's (by marriage) grandfather, and I did visit Perley's home once with my parents and uncle, in the mid '60s. I can still remember him calling his goats; I had never seen a house with so much clutter (still never have)! This book made me appreciate why Perley chose to be a hermit. I felt sad for his circumstances, but glad that he tried not to cave into what others wanted him to be. That being said, I think he should have supported his children when he got divorced. Too bad he never found another "housekeeper" (wife)! The author certainly did a ton of research. It's amazing that Perley kept a journal almost every day of his adult life. I'd love to see Perley's journals published.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this because I wanted to pick up something local in the Bellows Falls, VT bookstore, despite having never heard of The Hermit of Taylor Pond. When your grandfather is a beloved semi-legendary figure whose family relationships are more complicated, it's got to be hard to resist either further mythologizing him or bitterly exposing his shortcomings, but Perley and the time and place he comes from show up as believably complex. The book's got a proud, naive man's struggle against unfeeling bureaucrats, moving family drama, fascinating details of rural life in the 19th century, maybe a little too much armchair psychoanalysis, endearingly bad poetry, and hundreds of goats. I'm really glad I got to read it.

[Tammy Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book. A true story about one man's pride and stubbornness unwittingly sealing his fate as an isolationist. We learn to love, understand and relate to Perley, despite his very apparent character flaws. I found myself cheering for him throughout the whole book and shaking my head at his disasterous life decisions. I found myself applying his life of lessons learned to myself.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a great story, but just for story, not the writing.

[Catherine Northcott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as a Christmas present and can't wait until a lazy summer day comes along to enjoy it!