‘Martha’s Vineyard: Isle of Dreams’: Sweet memoir fuels the soul

Before Susan Branch was a James Beard nominated cookbook writer, renowned non-fiction writer, and beloved artist, she was a thirty-something-year-old woman nursing a broken heart and looking for a new start. And she found it in a postcard-sized cottage on Martha's Vineyard in March in 1982.

Branch's latest work, 'Martha's Vineyard: Isle of Dreams,” is the second in a three-book series about Branch's life. Where the first book is about the rise and fall of her first marriage and the third is about falling in love again, the second is about that heartbreaking and magical time in-between, when Brach explored a series of powerful first: living alone, experiencing seasons ('tiny snowflakes began to fall ... like magic”), and learning to believe in and trust herself.

It's a remarkable, heartwarming work that will inspire cooks and non-cooks alike to throw caution to the wind and follow their dreams.

While Branch is a fine writer, what makes her work so consuming is the fantastic physical layout of the text. Instead of using a computer, Branch creates her books by hand, spending between four hours and three days on a single page: the paintings, the drawings, the impeccable handwriting - all of it is Branch's own, resulting in a work that feels as intimate and personal as reading someone's journal.

That intimacy also comes from Branch's open and honest prose. While there are major plot points to this text, such as Branch purchasing and remodeling her home, creating her first cookbook, separating herself from her life in California, etc., it's the small moments, such as her walks in the woods or her musings on the power of her girlfriends that really pack a punch.

Do some of these small moments, such as the detailed accounts of her friends visiting the island, become a bit much? At times, sure. But it's easy to grant Branch a pass because even in these long-winded passages there is a clear sense of her passion - and growing fearlessness.

Book reading

What: Susan Branch will read from and sign copies of 'Isle of Dreams”

When: 7 p.m. Friday

Where: Barnes & Noble, 333 Collins Rd. NE, Cedar Rapids

Cost: Free