This is a wonderful autobiography chronicling a young American writer's journey from the U.S. to a small Irish island, where she lived for over five years with a prominent Irish poet. This is simultaneously a fascinating study of island life and its accompanied poverty, and the development of a young woman from college graduate to serious poet. She analyzes her intentions in making such a drastic lifestyle change as well as the course the relationship takes in response to her sacrifices, and the result is a beautifully poetic description of a life in isolation. ( )