There was so much to love about this book, not least that it was immersed in the world of words and publishing but the main protagonist was a feisty women determined to make her mark amongst Oxford wordsmiths despite her humble upbringing and poverty. The setting also taught me a lot about what life was like - especially for the underprivilaged - during the Great War, and how much day to day life in England was affected and permanently changed by the war. It was a delight from beginning to end: Williams is such a beautiful writer.
In 1914, when the war draws the young men of Britain away to fight, it is the women who must keep the nation running. Two of those women are Peggy and Maude, twin sisters who work in the bindery at Oxford University Press in Jericho. Peggy is intelligent, ambitious and dreams of going to Oxford University, but for most of her life she has been told her job is to bind the books, not read them. Maude, meanwhile, wants nothing more than what she has. She is extraordinary but vulnerable. Peggy needs to…
Enjoyable although the setting didn't come alive quite as successfully as some of Rebanks' writing about the English countryside. Some of the reason was perhaps that he drops in the names of flowers without mentioning much about them so the botanically ignorant (like me) couldn't picture them against the landscape. I also think there should have been either more or less about his relationship problems back home. I would have been happy with less! All that said, it is an impressive record of a dwindling Norwegian lifestyle, and of the astonishing Anna and I could feel the storms and wild weather that pinned them down. I also liked the fact that Rebanks is self-effacing and happy to accept that Anna is a stranger character than he is. I am glad I read it.
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Enchanting' Telegraph 'Miraculous' Isabella Tree 'Exquisite' FT
From the No.1 bestselling author of The Shepherd's Life, an unforgettable story of friendship, redemption and a life-changing voyage of discovery on a remote Norwegian island
How far do you have to go to find yourself?
One afternoon many years ago, James Rebanks met an old woman on a remote Norwegian island. She lived and worked alone on a tiny rocky outcrop, caring for wild Eider ducks and gathering their down. Hers was a centuries-old trade that had once made men and women…
From the benignly sanitary perspective of Europe or North America, the rest of the world may look unfit for human habitation. Agreed, as soon as you leave the green and pleasant lands of home, the range and degree of potential health hazards rises. Fortunately, Jane spends her life helping travellers avoid anything from altitude sickness to gastric upsets of Montezumal proportions. This lavishly illustrated and comprehensive guide offers advice on what to do, rather than provide lists of long medical names. Treatment suggestions are given, but only where there is good scientific evidence that they are effective. Alternative remedies that work are mentioned, but untested remedies are not listed. This is not, though, a do-it-yourself doctor kit and it isn’t intended to replace a consultation with a doctor (if you can find one). The first aid guidance is of the kind needed in situations where secondary aid might be poor, distant or absent.
