Not so long ago, the Rock Island Railroad was a household name, the Great Depression was a recent memory, and family farms dotted the landscape. Today, the great railroads have nearly disappeared, the Depression is a chapter in history books, and family farms are hard to come by. Yet this time is not forgotten.
In Central Standard: A Time, a Place, a Family, Patrick Irelan vividly recaptures a remarkable era in midwestern history in twenty-four beautifully crafted and often witty essays. Beginning with his parents鈥 marriage in 1932 and continuing into the present, Irelan relates the many wonderful stories and experiences of his Davis County, Iowa, family. In 鈥淐ountry Living,鈥 he describes his parents鈥 disheartening life as farmers during the worst years of the Depression. 鈥淭he CB&Q鈥 then relates the happiest years of his family鈥檚 life when his parents lived and worked in the Burlington Railroad depots of rural Nebraska.
Irelan鈥檚 tales of hard times and harder work, family meals and talkative relatives, depots and farmsteads paint a brilliant yet deceptively simple portrait of one rural, working-class family. At its heart, Central Standard carries a greater message: it reminds us of the enduring strength of the American family.
鈥淩eal life is so much more interesting than fiction, and Patrick Irelan makes his family real. In his simple, straightforward style and living view of the past, Irelan shows us a clear view of his family's struggles and successes. We grieve for lives lost and dreams shattered. We wonder at their survival during the summer of the drought and the years of Depression on their small, infertile 海角乱伦社区farm. We also gain a vivid picture of the railroad and the depots where both his father and mother worked. You'll like knowing these courageous, gutsy people and the time and place in which they lived.鈥 鈥擡velyn Birkby, author of Up a Country Lane Cookbook
鈥淚n a spare, modest style, Irelan weaves a compelling narrative that is an elegy for a time past and a way of life lost, but also maintains a gentle optimism about the goodness of people and the solid foundation of family.鈥濃擳homas K. Dean, The 海角乱伦社区Source
