Comments: “In Martyrs and Chickens, Beachy writes with exquisite tenderness, wit, and unflinching honesty about faith, family, and the push-pull of heritage. Through essays that are both deeply personal and universally resonant, she navigates marriage, motherhood, infertility, and caregiving—all while reckoning with what it means to inherit a legacy of sacrifice and simplicity. I clutched my heart.” —Kate Baer, Author, How About Now

"This is a wondrous weave of stories and reflections on life as a woman, mother, writer, and ‘granola Mennonite.’ Dancing among subjects from farming to martyr tales, chickens to infertility, breastfeeding twins to reclaiming a writing life, Beachy’s memoir crackles with energy, salted with anger and compassion, leavened with humor and well-earned insight. All of us who know how complicated, exhausting, and rewarding it can be live simply—to care for and nurture others, the planet, and our own beings—will find much to cherish in this brave, smart, relentlessly honest book." —Jeff Gundy, Author, Wind Farm: Landscape with Stories and Towers

"Kirsten Beachy’s clean, simple prose draws us into a world where every detail has meaning and every choice, moral consequence. These artful essays wink with irony and ache with life and insight. Read them and find faith in love’s labors and the sustaining cycles of the earth." —Julia Spicher Kasdorf, Author, As Is

Summary (also available through PDF flier):  grə-nō-lə adj: Term Gen Xers and Elder Millennials use to connote an eco-conscious, peace-lovin’, homemade, slightly unwashed vibe. me-nə-nīt noun: Oh, dear, where to start? Not with bonnets and buggies, certainly, or the denominational conferences and non-conference conferences. Not with Yoders in my family tree. Once upon a time in the sixteenth century . . . 

Raised to believe in peace, woodstoves, and homemade bread, Kirsten Eve Beachy embarks on married life with a Mennonite boy from a dairy farm in this memoir of collected essays. As they dabble in homesteading, care for aging relatives, discover more about their family and denominational history, and overcome infertility, she learns to trust her voice as writer and mother of twins, one with Down syndrome.

With authenticity and wit, Beachy wonders what a martyr heritage means for herself and her children, celebrates the complexities of simple living, and seeks balance as artist and caregiver. Along the way, there are apocryphal Mennonite cookbook recipes, corn day, a farm auction, butchering up close and personal, a doctrine of backyard chickens, surprising genealogical discoveries, an alphabet of infertility, tragedy in the beehive, midnight chantings of a breast pump, dancing through a pandemic, and fresh takes on Amish and Mennonite histories of the Hochstetler massacre, the White Stutzman, and the Civil War.

Market: Anyone interested in a memoir that reports on “granola Mennonite” living, homesteading, chickens, motherhood, disability, and Amish and Mennonite histories. 

Shelving: Memoir, Autobiography, Disabilities, History—Mennonite/Anabaptist/Hochstedler Massacre/Civil War in Shenadoah Valley. BISAC: Autobiography; History, Religion. RTM: 170 Autobiography; 690 Religion/Ethics; Anabaptist-Mennonite literature.  .

The Author: Kirsten Eve Beachy lives with her husband and twin daughters in Briery Branch, Virginia, where she writes about motherhood, disability, backyard poultry, and changelings. Beachy’s MFA in creative writing is from West Virginia University. An associate professor at Eastern Mennonite University, she edited Tongue Screws and Testimonies: Poems, Stories, and Essays Inspired by the Martyrs Mirror (Herald Press, 2010). Her stories, poems, and essays appear in various journals and anthologies. Connect with her at kirstenevebeachy.wordpress.com.

Quote: “These days, instead of praying, I watch chickens. This is not standard Christian practice, even for Mennonites like me, who have traditionally lived close to the earth. It doesn’t even mesh with more eastern religious practices. A flock of chickens is no Zen garden, no smooth open space for meditation. A flock of chickens is a series of distractions . . . .” —Kirsten Eve Beachy in Chapter 11, “Field Notes Towards a Doctrine of Chickens

Publisher: Cascadia Publishing House LLC
Imprint: DreamSeeker Books
Potential Copublisher: None
Publication date: 2025
Tentative Pages: 232
Format: 5.5 x 8.5" trade paper with notes, bibliography
Prices: $21.95 US/Can. ISBN 13: 978-1-68027-025-9