A Day No Pigs Would Die

Robert Newton Peck

ISBN:97806798530608

A semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel, A Day No Pigs Would Die relates the author’s childhood growing up on a 1920s Vermont Shaker farm. Rob’s father is the pig-slaughterer for the community, and though he isn’t Shaker himself, has accepted some of their values, including a respect for life. Rob has a pig that he would like to breed, but she’s barren, and Rob has to make the choice whether to slaughter her for food. Not long after, Rob’s father dies, and at 13, he has to “become a man” and take responsibility for running the farm.