Chainsaws and Cherry Burls

by Jennifer Neves

Chainsaws and Cherry Burls is the second nonfiction essay collection by Maine author, Jennifer Neves. In her essays, Neves explores the connection between her inner world and the 42 acre farmstead occupied by her large and wildly entertaining family. This collection is a both a window into the chaotic business of raising children and a celebration of how a family can grow and thrive while appreciating the beauty and complexity of the natural world. In Chainsaws and Cherry Burls, Neves pushes her own grief and worry into the light—an offering of vulnerability that uplifts and inspires. Despite the often deeply personal nature of her essays, the tone of this collection oscillates between contemplative and nostalgic to outright comedy.

155 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published July 1, 2023

About the author

Jennifer Neves lives and writes in rural Maine. Author of the forthcoming essay collection, Chainsaws and Cherry Burls, and two previous books, Freedom Farm (North Country Press), and Backpack Like You Mean It (Mad Dash Publishing), her essays have appeared in a variety of journals, including Tulip Tree Review, Literary Mama, and Litro Online Magazine. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Jenny Neves, for the advanced reading copy.

While reading Jenny Neves’" Chainsaws and Cherry Burls," I fell in love with her family. especially her husband and baby, and her children, all of them, actually, one at a time, and, of course, with Jenny and her wide-open amazing world. This family’s Maine farm life is busy, wonderful, chaotic, hard, and lovely. It’s a life of challenge, experiment, and thoughtfulness, whether the thought is of trees, racoons, or shoes.

This collection creates a tapestry of connection that explores family, nature, connection, reading/writing, and relationship. Neves writes with humor, compassion, and tenderness about the days that unfold for them all on 42 acres of orchard and woodland. Leeches, mice, skunks, and madcap adventures coalesce to form a portrait of a family that adores each other and the land.

There is beauty in each burl and book read at night to each child. I loved every single word. —Jessica Barksdale Inclán

[Sam B · Rating 3 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Jennifer Neves’s “Chainsaw and Cherry Burls” reads like a mishmash of essays, narrative storytelling, poetry, and stream of consciousness, offering mediations on parenthood, the natural world, rural living, and a whole lot of other things. There are thoughts in here on so many different things that it was inevitable that some threads would be dropped, and sometimes the wandering paths from topic to topic are difficult to make sense of. There are some parts that were a struggle to get through, for example the seemingly endless discussions of moving wood piles and the difficulties of putting mittens onto children, which really wore at my patience.

On the plus side, there was some extraordinarily beautiful language and the stories contained within are clearly very important to the author and her family. At times while reading, I felt like I knew them (having also grown up in Maine, there’s actually a nonzero chance that I do somehow know them — the entire state is a small town). Many of the activities depicted are things that brought me back to my own upbringing, and for anyone who is interested in what it’s like living in an out-of-the-way spot in Maine, this will give you a pretty good idea.

Recommendation for this one really comes down to personal preference. I didn’t get as much out of reading this as I was hoping for, but there are certainly many readers out there who will find beauty and solace in these pages.

[Laurieanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this eARC from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.

2.5

I like the author’s writing and voice but the book needs some editing to give it more focus and shape. There are discernable themes but they need more form: connection to place; the natural world and its importance to her family; raising young children, and the attendant exhausted humor; and appreciating how your spouse is different from you. But it feels disjointed and meandering with little flow or transition. It reads like her notebook was typeset without any editing. It is not written as discernable essays or chapters.

2026 Buzzword Cover Challenge #1: Cover featuring an internal body part.
Booklist Queen’s 2026 Mini Reading Challenge #1: Odd Cover.
2026 PopSugar Reading Challenge #16: A book with less than 260 pages.
2026 Beyond the Bookends Reading Challenge #7: Read a book set in Maine.

[Mel]

I received a copy of this book from Net Galley, in exchange for an honest review.

I love collections of essays and vignettes. This one is lovely for the most part. I love her writing style. The author's introspective pieces are the most enjoyable parts of the book. The first, "42 Acres" is my absolute favorite and I wish the rest of the collection were like that one.

While I have no doubt Neves loves her husband and children, I didn't like reading about them as much. The writings about raising children were relatable, as a parent to multiple small people myself. I am not disappointed in the time I spent strolling through this little slice of life in rural Maine, and I hope to read more from this author.

Recommend for anyone who enjoys vignettes and peeks into other people's lives.

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

"How many seasons can I afford to miss because I forgot to pay attention?"

The author had me when she claimed to be a 50-year-old woman living on a 64-acre farm. Dang! I expected to be in for some primo nature writing.

She lost me when she admitted that she had inexplicably rounded up her age, was really only 39, and had four young children. And, indeed, most essays are more about raising kids than the wonders of nature.

These are certainly not bad essays, but I would recommend them more for parents than nature lovers.

Thanks to NetGalley and North Country Press for the read.

[Susanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the author, North Country Press and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This collection of essays was a wonderful discovery - I loved the author's writing style as she described her life as a writer, mother, wife, wage earner and homesteader. Lots of chaos, as is to be expected in a family with four small children, and so much tenderness for nature, relationships, family and rural living. As is the normal way of things, not all the essays resonated equally with me, but I very much look forward to reading more from this author!

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of Chainsaws and Cherry Burls by Jennifer Neves in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book and now wants to live on some property with fruit trees. I loved the relationship the author has with her land, her husband and her kids. This was very relatable and honest.