When an American woman and her British husband decide to buy a two-hundred-year-old cottage in the heart of the ;Cotswolds, they're hoping for an escape from their ;London ;lives. Instead, their decision about whether or not to have a child plays out against a ;backdrop of village ;fêtes, rural rambles, and a cast of eccentrics clad in corduroy and tweed. ; Americashire: A Field Guide to a Marriage ;begins with the simultaneous ;purchase of a ;Cotswold cottage and Richardson's ill-advised decision to tell her grandchild-hungry parents that she is going to try to have a baby. As she transitions from urban to rural life, she is forced to confront both her ambivalence about the idea of motherhood and the reality of living with a spouse who sees the world as a glass half-full. Part memoir, part travelogue - and including field guides to narrative-related Cotswold ;walks - ;Americashire ;is a candid, humorous tale of marriage, illness, and big life decisions. ;