Hannah Coulter

Wendell Berry is a Kentucky-born writer, poet, essayist, and lifelong farmer whose work is inspired by the land he has worked for decades. Since his birth in 1934 in Henry County, where he still lives and farms, Berry has devoted his life to exploring the value of place, the rhythms of rural life, and the moral bonds that tie people to one another and the earth. His Port William series tells the stories of a small farming town and the generations of families who live and work there. Throughout the series, Berry critiques industrial agriculture and the isolating effects of modern consumer culture, while holding up community, simplicity, and stewardship as the cornerstones of a meaningful life.

Hannah Coulter, the seventh book in the series, offers a unique shift in perspective. Where earlier novels, such as Jayber Crow, Nathan Coulter, and The Memory of Old Jack, center on male narrators, Hannah Coulter gives voice to a woman looking back over her long life. Berry employed his wife, Tanya, to help capture Hannah’s female voice. Through Hannah’s eyes, Berry explores not just the events of war, marriage, and loss but also the quieter, domestic acts of care and endurance that often go unnoticed. Hannah’s reflections open up new emotional and relational dimensions of the Port William world, highlighting the inner life of a community that lives by working the land and watching over one another.

The novel exists in direct conversation with the other Port William stories by incorporating familiar characters. Hannah’s husband, Nathan Coulter, first appeared as the young protagonist of Berry’s debut novel. His uncle, Burley Coulter, one of Port William’s most beloved figures, plays a prominent role in several earlier books, including Jayber Crow. Other recurring characters, such as Wheeler Catlett, Mat Feltner, and Old Jack Beechum, also appear, their histories woven into Hannah’s narrative in a way that lends weight and continuity to the saga. Andy Catlett, to whom Hannah directs her storytelling, is the protagonist of the next book in the series. Through Hannah and her friends and family, Berry revisits his central idea of “the membership,” a term for the deep, often unspoken connections among people and the land. Hannah embraces this idea, but she also mourns its loss, especially when her children, drawn by education and opportunity, choose lives far from the farm. Her narrative reveals her sadness over her losses and the unraveling of an agrarian way of life that formed her identity and life (Berry, Wendell. “Wendell Berry on the Talkers and Storytellers of Port William, Kentucky.” Library of America, 12 October 2018).