Notes from Nethers by Sandra Eugster

Ever wonder what it was like to live on a commune back in the days of "Make Love, Not War"? Sandra Eugster takes you on a journey to such a place in her honest and revealing memoir Notes from Nethers. Sandra grew up on a West Virginia commune founded by her mother in 1969. Sometimes funny, sometimes brutally honest, always interesting, Sandra shares her life openly, telling of the heartaches, culture shocks, and a diverse and unconventional "family" of commune members. Some of her three-dimensional characters flow in and out of the story as transient hippies, and others stay with the commune throughout the book.

Notes from Nethers (published by Academy Chicago Publishers) is a well-written memoir that, despite the many trials of growing up in a commune, is never self-pitying. The story line is easy to surround yourself in and flows seamlessly, weaving back and forth through past and present. The writing style is engaging and entertaining, giving the reader a chance to travel back in time and observe a curious world that most of us would otherwise hear only rumors and tall tales. Without her honesty, Sandra Eugster would have sacrificed a great story - a good lesson for any writer who wants to share their life in the pages of a book.