Songs of the Ancestral Home is a book with a sense of place. While the image of the "ancestral home" starts with a real house, it enlarges to take in the city of Saint John, New Brunswick and the Bay of Fundy. The book begins with a suite of poems reflecting Hendrien Kippers' close awareness of the almost 200-year history of her much loved home on Hampton Road. She then writes about the city of Saint John, where she now lives, with the eye of painter, and about the Bay of Fundy as one who feels its constant presence. She writes about the social and cultural life of the city as a thoughtful observer and enthusiastic participant. She writes about the surrounding landscape, family, and friends with a sense of nourishing connection. Though mostly written in recent years, these are poems of a lifetime, composed with a strong sense of place, tinged with the travail of life, but, at the same time, filled with the exercise of joy. Hendrien Kippers has a degree in English Literature from the University of New Brunswick Saint John and is an active member of the local literary and arts community.