Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth

Put Sarah Smarsh’s HEARTLAND: A MEMOIR OF WORKING HARD AND BEING BROKE IN THE RICHEST COUNTRY ON EARTH on your list of must-read books. It’s the kind of book that is so painstakingly vulnerable and hard to imagine yet, you can imagine it through the author’s eyes because she has taken what is a troubled chain that has not been broken for generations in her family and broken it. Wide open. While respecting her family members, she opens her life and theirs, and shows us, not only how things happened to them, but why through an historical look through the decades. Of poverty, abuse, and hard labor. Smarsh has literally availed herself to an education and pulled herself up and out. Never forgetting where she came from. Make no mistake about it, it was not easy. What she saw from her great grandmother, grandmother, and her mother, she was not sure, many times, that she was going to make it, but what kept her going, was talking to an imaginary baby that she didn’t want to bring into the world. Tired of being pushed aside and assumed to be ‘trash,’ as she was thought of by the ignorant, referred to by those who wanted to demean her, simply by where she lived, what her clothes looked like, what she couldn’t afford to eat at school, and on and on. This emotional tale is full of women who each took on challenges in their own way. Did what they had to do or what was best for them. Who are kind and generous people. It is not to say that all men were bad who were in their stories. In the middle of Kansas, farm country, what is a part of our country most people don’t even think about, let alone know exists, this is a book worth looking at and gaining an understanding of a person, a family, generations. As the saying goes, be kind to the people you come across as you never know what their pain is. This is the perfect example. Smarsh’s words are not begging for a handout. Far from it. That would betray her pride. It is simply a matter of understanding someone, some people, who have had life much rougher than you could possibly imagine. But now you might want to imagine. It gives you perspective. Just because someone has less in currency than another does not mean that their value as a human is less than another’s. The very definition of the heartland is literally the heart of our country, yet do we treat it and the people who reside there, who grow the corn, wheat, and raise the cattle, which are staples of our economy, as we would as the central heart that keeps things going. Not at all. It’s time for a better look at the heartland and Smarsh has given us just the outlook we need.

Personal memoirs can focus in so many areas of life and they can invoke many emotions. Some are funny. Others are tragic or sad, while still others try their best to tell a story without getting too emotional overall. A book that is sad at times, shocking at others, yet tries to present a personal story in a straightforward way is Heartland. This book tells the story of a young girl and her family as they work the farm and try to squeeze out an existence in rural Kansas. The book follows the author from her earliest memories all the way through to her early days in college. Along the way, the reader is introduced to the various family members and the constant drama that unfolds as they try to survive. The writing skill displayed in this book is compelling and it does get you thinking about the plight of the rural poor and what they must do to make ends meet. The book makes constant mention of another person; a person who is not with us but may have been if conditions had been different. That person is the author’s hypothetical future child and, while I’m not sure I liked this part of the writing, I get what the book is trying to do, which is demonstrate why the author’s generally negative experience growing up is reason to not bring another child into this world. I related to much of this book, particularly the parts about the constant moving around from residence to residence and the struggle to get by. I grew up under similar circumstances, however, I didn’t experience the violence, which is one of the more shocking parts of this story. Physical and mental abuse seem to be a normal part of life and growing up in impoverished, uncertain conditions is likely one of the many causes. Where this book loses me, a little bit, is toward the end. It’s great that the author was able to turn her life around and achieve great success and again, I could relate to this because my experience is similar. But at the same time, the book seems to stress that economic conditions are next to impossible to change, yet provides an example of the author herself, achieving positive change! I also didn’t like how the book points out things such as the tendency of the lower classes to remain in the lower class, generation after generation, but without any factual data to back it up. I like reading personal memoirs because they often present fascinating stories of survival. I like them even more when I can relate to the story and Heartland is definitely this type of book. Additional facts to back its claims and a picture section showing the different family members would have made the book better, but I still like Heartland overall and recommend adding it to your reading list.

Heartland is a compelling and rewarding glimpse into one Midwestern family. Every member of congress and policy maker should consider this memoir required reading. I loved this book and I am so sad to read the reviews that attempt to take away from this powerful story. Like the author, I too am from the Midwest, had grandparents who were multi-generational farmers and I left and now reside on the East Coast. Smarsh tells a story filled with so much love that, until I read a couple of the reviews, I had momentarily forgotten the sense of scarcity and envy that exists in many of these communities. Thank you Sarah Smarsh for your vulnerability and your bravery. There is grace and dignity in the telling of the story of your family members. Your love for your family and the place from which you came was very clear. I cried with you for Grandpa Arnie and I loved how you told the complicated and fascinating story of your Grandma Betty. Highly recommend for anyone who struggles to understand the Midwest and/or rural America and to anyone who is just looking for an enjoyable and touching book.

Smarsh's discussions and examples from her own life placed against political or sociological theories are excellent and thought provoking. Unfortunately, these lie predominantly in the beginning and end of the book. There was definitely a section toward the end you just have to slog through and seems highly repetitive. Regardless, it is a point of view that I wish our Congress would read.

A heartfelt rendering of a difficult life. Feels like an eye opener for me. In an important way that Im not sure I understand yet.

A powerful read about the struggles of growing up poor among the American dream belief. The lives of generations of women in poverty, with violence, teenage pregnancy and a powerful work ethics was a moving, emotional read. Many thanks for sharing your life and your families struggles with me.

well worth the read - explains so much about America

The author is an amazing woman who wrote an amazing book about her family and growing up on a farm, inter alia, in Kansas. She has such a strong character that she surmounts all impossible circumstances. I finished the book wondering where she had ever gotten such strength and willpower to succeed despite her environment. I wish I had had half of her will growing up instead of wasting opportunities by rebelling! It almost seems like a "rags-to-riches" narrative in the tradition of Horatio Alger. Most of the other women in the book (mostly the author’s relatives) changed husbands more often than the seasons did, and the men were mostly abusive alcoholics. But the women had such resilience that they survived and some even prospered. However, her relatives seem to have a Stockholm syndrome, aligning with Republican Party policies and only blaming themselves and others for their poverty and circumstances.

I read this book when Melinda Gates recommended it on her Instagram. Couldn’t have been a better summer read! Sarah Smarsh has captured so richly life with less that looks like a struggle from the outside but is truly infinite life lessons and motivations on the other side which can’t be acquired otherwise. A new and broader meaning to poverty and an assertive confrontation to our assumption first and foremost that it is about financial situations. A relatable and profound read! Thank you for your voice, it has definitely strengthened mine along the way! ❤️

An interesting read, but not very well written. Very cut up story