We'll Trace the Rainbow Book

'We have a love affair with the land, the great outdoors, the animals we rear and the wild things which are not too shy to be our neighbours' - Jean Brown. Jean Brown likens her life to the Pennine hillside on which the Brown family has lived for forty years. Their sixteenth-century farmhouse was bought in 1929, rescued from ruin and finally covenanted to The National Trust in 1987. It is balanced just short of the hilltop, not precariously, for though the valley is steep, its foundations are firm. Those living there can see beyond the farm boundary, across the dale, to the autumn purple of Ilkley Moor and the winter tablecloth of Ingleborough. She feels her life has mirrored the pattern of the dales, always climbing, frequently falling, often in sunshine but uncomplaining if a storm rages, confident it will abate.A pinnacle, she says, is to climb not to live upon. She knows that though mist may shroud the opposite ridge, so that the only way seems to be down, it is only an illusion. Though she goes down she will always climb up again. Hers is a tale told with humour and joy, wonder and gratitude. It will make you laugh and cry and also leave you with some of the eternal optimism of the Brown family. Jean's story of life in the Yorkshire Dales, begun in We'll see the Cuckoo, is continued in "We'll Trace the Rainbow", and followed by "We'll Buy Another on Monday". A fourth book, "We'll Blow With the Wind", will bring the story right up to date. A Song to Sing" and a "Tale to Tell" is also available and tells the story of Jean Brown's experiences with children on holiday in the Hebrides.Read More