BEAN BLOSSOM DREAMS

Some city folk find that country life is not without its share of troubles, just as Murphey's account—though infused with considerable charm—also has some problems. Many of us dream of shucking off a hectic urban existence in favor of a ``carefree'' country life. The Murphey family acted on their dreams. Sallyann, a print and broadcast journalist, her photographer husband, Greg, and their five-year-old daughter, Charley, trade the confines of their Chicago home for a 22-acre farm in Brown County, Indiana. One moment they're in their apartment in Chicago; the next, Sallyann is talking to a horse in Brown County. The book is stingy with transitions, creating a disjointed effect. And as the Murpheys begin to restore Bean Blossom Farm and grow their own produce, we're left without a clear sense of their goals and struggles; as in nature, all the events in this book happen pell-mell. Sallyann announces, ``It's been fifteen months since the Big Move, and we all have learned and changed a lot.'' But she offers only a few details of this period, glossing over a time of huge psychological—as well as physical— dislocation. But this incoherence is offset by lyrical, humorous writing that traces some of the Murpheys' rites of passage and their farm's transformation—as well as Sallyann's into gardener, herbalist, cheesemaker, poultry breeder. A colorful cast of characters, both human and animal, inhabits the book. In the spirit of Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, the animals have complex lives and psyches: Horses are ``appalled,'' dogs ``mourn,'' bulls grow ``lovesick.'' And a majestic buck teaches Sallyann about strength and survival, becoming a symbol for the will to persevere. Despite its structural and stylistic flaws, this book provides a pleasant rustic excursion, complete with recipes to tease your taste buds.