The Chicken Chronicles : A Memoir

When Alice Walker grew up in the deep south of America, her family always kept chickens - for meat and for eggs - and her job was to chase down the Sunday dinner!

In later life, when she settled in Mexico and was growing her own food, she realised how much she missed keeping them and decided to get a brood of her own.

So into her life came Gertrude Stein, Babe, Babe 2, Hortensia, Splendor, Glorious, Rufus and Agnes of God, not to mention a few others.

She discovered a deep contentment in keeping chickens, looking after them and watching them develop.

This experience also made her think about her own life - her occasional eating of meat, meditating on the interdependence of humans and animals, and brought back severed memories of her childhood.

This book isn't a 'how to' on keeping chickens, although there is plenty of detail about the practicalites; it is a warm memoir chronicling her journey and the way in which keeping chickens led her to a fuller understanding of herself.