The Unlikely Lavender Queen

March 17, 2008
Arriving in Manhattan for a McCall’s
magazine summer internship when she was 21, Ralston was smitten with big-city life. Soon she had the career of her dreams, a Chelsea apartment, even a film student fiancé. Then, on a feature assignment for Life
, she met Robb, a photographer for National Geographic
, and her life was up-ended. Before long, Ralston was leaving her boyfriend and New York City, to move with Robb to his home state of Texas. They settled first in Austin, but Robb wanted a less urban lifestyle, so they bought land with a creek and an old stone barn in the Texas Hill Country. Robb’s busy schedule of international photo shoots left Ralston in charge of house renovations, hardly her forte. Then Robb had his next idea—they’d raise lavender on their limestone-rich land, which was similar to the soil of Provence. Ralston agreed, provided they start having children. Together, they began a successful niche-industry, growing and processing lavender into a variety of marketable products. In this satisfying and enjoyable story, the reluctant Ralston eventually falls in love with their fields of lavender.

May 1, 2008
Her life sounds like the pilot for the old Green Acres TV show. When her husband, Robb, a globe-hopping photographer for National Geographic, declares his desire to abandon life in the big city, Ralston, a high-powered New York journalist, finds herself forsaking her Manolo Blahniks for Birkenstocks and her Central Park jogging track for a dirt lane in the bagel-free, latte-less Texas hill country. As if converting an abandoned barn into a residence worthy of Architectural Digest while raising two boisterous sons werent taxing enough, Ralston is nearly stretched to the breaking point when Robb returns from their Provenal vacation convinced that their farm boasts an ideal environment for growing lavender. Between infestations of lethal scorpions and intrusions of wayward livestock, Robbs absence at watershed moments forces Ralston to muster an inner strength and sense of adventure she never knew she possessed. Brimming with piquant observations on everything from marriage to motherhood, careers to cappuccino, Ralstons exuberant memoir showcases the resiliency of the human spirit.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)