Whitney Brown is a dry-stone waller based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwest Virginia. Originally from South Carolina, she has a masters in Folklore from the University of North Carolina. She first visited Wales in 2009 and returns as often as she can.
This beautiful memoir really got under my skin -- Jenny Tattersall, Cogito Books * Guardian Travel * Confessional, heartfelt . . . memoir . . . adventure and intrigue aplenty . . . this is a book about the stories we tell ourselves and one woman's determination to make hers true. Triumphant and tragic in equal measure, Brown's story is the American dream for the millennial generation * Spectator * A spirited defence of manual labour -- Rebecca Foster * Times Literary Supplement * A fresh . . . heartfelt book that . . . makes you want to throw away your mobile, run for the hills and learn a traditional craft -- Rebecca Wallersteiner * The Lady * Refreshingly funny . . . wonderful . . . Brown's writing about the Welsh countryside, and the Welsh people, is particularly colourful; she captures their earthy warmth brilliantly with her outsider's eye. The details about walling are also fascinating and empowering: as a woman working on the land, Brown writes powerfully about the feminist emancipation she experiences . . . But the woman Brown gets to know best in this multi-textured memoir is herself, as she encourages us to find ourselves, in all weathers, in the open air -- Jude Rogers * BBC Countryfile *