REVIEW: Happily Ever Esther by Steve Jenkins and Derek Walter
From the New York Times bestselling authors and loving owners of Esther the Wonder Pig, comes a memoir about their new life on the Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary, which is anything but boring.
Steve Jenkins and Derek Walter, had their lives turned upside down when they adopted their pig-daughter Esther–the so-called micro pig who turned out to be a full-sized commercial pig growing to a whopping 600 pounds–as they describe in their bestselling memoir Esther the Wonder Pig. The book ends with them moving to a new farm, and starting a new wonderful life where they will live on the Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary to care for other animals and just live happily ever after…
Or so they thought. People often think about giving it all up and just moving to a farm. In theory it sure does sound great. But as Derek and Steve quickly realized, the realities of being a farmer–especially when you have never lived on a farm let alone outside of the city–can be frantic, crazy, and even insane. Not only are they adjusting to farm life and dutifully taking care of their pig-daughter Esther (who by the way lives in the master bedroom of their house), but before they knew it their sanctuary grew to as many as 42 animals, including: pigs, sheep, goats, rabbits, chickens, cows, roosters, a peacock, a duck, a horse, a donkey, and a barn cat named Willma Ferrell.
Written with joy and humor, and filled with delicious Esther-approved recipes dispersed throughout the book, this charming memoir captures an emotional journey of one little family advocating for animals everywhere.
Review
This is the second book in the “Esther” series and picks up where the first left off. If readers haven’t read that one, don’t worry. There are some recaps here that will fill you in. Now Steven and Derek, their two dogs, two cats, and Esther have relocated to the farm in Ontario that the two men intend to turn into an animal sanctuary. As Esther turned out to not be the promised “mini-pig” but a full sized commercial pig, most of the animals are large, farm livestock including a bonded donkey and horse pair, four more commercial pigs, plus two oxen and a cow. Are the men ready for all this? Heck no.
Much of the book involves Steven telling the story up until now, and then starting in on farm life. Neither of the men have ever lived on a farm, used farm machinery, or are knowledgeable in how to handle large livestock but they keep at it. Good fences, they soon learn, are a must both to keep the animals in and to keep their neighbors happy. Another lesson is that rail lines from the CN railroad are nearby and large bovines running loose are a reason for the police to show up as hitting an ox can derail a train. At one point, the CN trains were held up for hours as Steven and Derek desperately tried to get the oxen and cow back home.
Also, who knew that adolescent pigs can get moody and sulky? The men discover this when Esther suddenly alternates between the sweet piggy they know and love and a temperamental creature with a will of her own and the weight to back that up.
Mistakes are made but lessons are learned, one of which involves Steven realizing he needs to get dressed before taking Esther out for her morning walk. Esther getting out, which she initially frequently does, could have been disastrous as few of their farming neighbors initially know that she’s a pet rather than just livestock. Injuries and potential injuries crop up at volunteer events which had me wondering why legal liability for these things wasn’t looked into earlier.
Adopting Esther made Steven and Derek switch to a vegan diet and they take the time to discuss a little about commercial farming, to Ricky Gervaise and his girlfriend among others. They do bang on about veganism a bit but don’t go into too much gory detail about commercial farming though be aware that this is discussed.
I do like how honest Steven (who chattily relates the story) is about how much they had to learn, what they did wrong, and how they’ve altered their practices since starting the sanctuary. He tells things with a wink and a laugh but it’s clear that behind the smiles now lies some stress and steep learning curves.
I didn’t like how judgmental the two men can be. When Derek’s parents visit, neither man makes much effort to intervene when pushy Esther corners them and they couldn’t seem to understand why the parents were so upset. Steven relates how the effort of starting the sanctuary took so much time that he ignored and lost friends over it. His feelings seemed to be more “Oh, well” than anything else. Much of their initial fumbling in how to run the sanctuary also gets repeated. A lot. Esther is naughty, the cows get out, the house is cold, the fences need to be redone, rinse and repeat many times.
I admire their enthusiasm and vision but wish the book had been a bit more organized rather than scattered, unfocused, and reading like cutesy blog posts. Publicly dissing some of their volunteers and family annoyed me. The book was published in 2018 and I’ve since learned that Esther passed a few years ago at the ripe old age (for pigs) of eleven. RIP, Esther. I enjoyed the first book but this one, not as much. C
~Jayne
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