{"product_id":"9780767930086","title":"The Unlikely Lavender Queen: A Memoir of Unexpected Blossoming","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom one of the founders of Hill Country \u003cb\u003eLavender comes this\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e honest, funny,  and poignant memoir of a woman who gives up a lot for the man she loves\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003eher beloved  blue state, bagels and all-night bodegas—only to wonder: Was it too much? \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In 1990, Jeannie Ralston was a successful magazine writer and bona fide city girl—the  type of woman who couldn't imagine living on soil not shaded by skyscrapers. By 1994,  she had called off an engagement, married Robb, a National Geographic photographer,  and was living in Blanco Texas, population 1600. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Unlikely Lavender Queen\u003c\/i\u003e, Ralston offers a lively chronicle of her life as a wife, new mother and an urban  settler in rural Texas. As she labors to convert a dilapidated barn into a livable  home, deal with scorpions and unbearably hot summers, and raise two young children while  Robb is frequently away on assignment, she realizes her ultimate struggle is to reconcile  her life plans and goals with her husband’s without coming out the proverbial loser.  And just when it seems like she might be losing that fight—and herself—a little  purple bloom changes her life. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e For centuries lavender has been a mystical herb,  so valuable to ancient Romans that a bushel would cost nearly a month’s wages.  But  when Robb returns from a trip to Provence with a plan for growing lavender on their  land, Ralston is not convinced—in fact the last thing she needed or wanted was to  take up farming on top of everything else.  Then, much to her surprise, she slowly  but surely falls in love with lavender, and in the course of growing and selling  blooms, hosting the public at the farm, and creating lavender products, she discovers  a new side of herself.  A few short years later, Ralston had built \u003ci\u003eHill Country Lavender\u003c\/i\u003e,  a thriving commercial enterprise that transforms both her little corner of Texas  and her life. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Unlikely Lavender Queen\u003c\/i\u003e will resonate with all women who have  faced the tough choices that come with “having it all” and secretly (or not so secretly)  hoped for great adventure to come along and surprise them. Ralston’s memoir is a testament to the fact that such adventures await us around  every bend in life.","brand":"Crown Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47127380230384,"sku":"9780767930086","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780767930086_p0.jpg?v=1763661069","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780767930086","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}