Christmas Day of 2005 was the last time four generations of author Nora Burch’s family would gather at the same table for a Holiday dinner. By the same time the following year, there were two empty seats. In this memoir, Burch describes the loss of first her mother and then her husband and narrates how she came to terms with her grief.

In Go North, Young Lady¸ Burch tells how she returned to teaching and then made one of the most drastic decisions of her life. She left her home state of Louisiana, where she had lived all of her life, and relocated to Massachusetts in 2010. From information gathered in a journal, Burch shares a year’s worth of recollections as she adapted to her new home 1,000 miles away.

From red beans and rice, jambalaya, and Who Dat to quahogs, cawfee milk, and Go Pats, Go North, Young Lady recounts culture shock, first impressions, and travels experienced by a Southern girl after relocating to the North.

My flight landed at the Albany International Airport and I proceeded to the rental car area. Of all things I was given a brand new 2010 Mini Cooper. This little car was as cute as a bug and just full of new gadgets. It almost looked like the cockpit of an airplane. So the adventure began with my Mini Coop because I couldn’t figure out how to get the window down on the New York State Thruway to get a ticket at the toll booth. It was a Saturday and everybody was trying to get out of the city. People forever and here I am having to open my door and quickly grab a ticket. By the time I arrived at the pay booth I still had not figured out the windows. My only prayer by that time was that I get to my apartment before dark because I probably would not be able to figure out how to turn the lights on either. Being from the South I guess I just want a Ford or Chevrolet. The drive out to the Berkshires was very relaxing with beautiful distant mountain scenery and quaint New England homes and farms. I was thinking about how relaxing it was to get out of the city and into the mountains. I arrived at my new home before dark, thank goodness, and when I pulled in the driveway Gail, my landlord, stepped out of her house, to give me a big Berkshire welcome. Sasha, her standard black poodle, was peering at me from under the gate. Gail told me that one of my two large boxes that I had shipped from Louisiana had arrived. Where was my other box? The one with my winter clothes in it. Do you know how much it would cost to replace coats and sweaters? Was this a bad sign? Would I not be able to move on with my life as I had hoped? I still held the feeling that going North was the right decision.