Called by the Hills: A Home in the Himalaya
3.990 kr.The captivating story of building a home and a garden on the edge of the Himalayan wilds, illuminated by the author’s own watercolours.
When novelist Anuradha Roy and her husband stumble upon a derelict cottage in the hill station of Ranikhet, they decide it is where they will now live. Leaving behind the freneticism of Delhi, Roy is initially bemused by the gentle pace of life in the mountains. Before long, however, she is won over: spellbound by the landscape, taken to the heart of her sometimes recalcitrant neighbours and adopted by four mountain dogs and counting.
Over twenty-five years, as Roy becomes accustomed to living among forests where leopards roam freely, she will come to encounter nature at its most fierce, beautiful and vulnerable – and bear witness to the destructive impact of global warming on the alpine ecosystem.
Called by the Hills: A Home in the Himalaya is a tender and intimate portrait of a home, a community and a rugged, extraordinary landscape. Written with unsentimental clarity, humour and poignancy, this is an account of profound transformations.
The City and The House
3.690 kr.Giuseppe is leaving his flat in the city of Rome, where he has lived for more than twenty years, to go and live with his brother in America. He must say goodbye to his cousin Roberta; to his former lover Lucrezia and her husband Piero; and to all his friends who used to gather for weekends at Le Margherite, Lucrezia’s splendid house in the country. But even before Giuseppe’s departure, friendships have begun to fracture as frustrated yearnings and past infidelities strain the bonds.
The sale of Le Margherite marks the end of an era and its old inhabitants and visitors are left to pursue happiness on their own. Their stories unfold through an exchange of letters that reveal with great poignancy the thoughts, passions and desires of the protagonists.
In the Garden: Essay on Nature and Growing
3.490 kr.Outdoor space is something everyone should have access to. But you don’t need a garden to become a gardener.
Growing plants and vegetables forces us to pause, pay attention and look more closely. From the vantage point of even the smallest windowsill garden we can observe the passing of time through the shifting of the seasons, as well as the environmental changes the planet is undergoing.
In this collection of essays, fourteen writers go beyond simply considering a plot of soil to explore how gardening is a shared language, an opportunity for connection, something that is always evolving. Penelope Lively trains her gardening eye on her gardens past and present; Paul Mendez reflects on the image of the paradisal garden; Jon Day asks whether an urban community garden can be a radical place; and Victoria Adukwei Bulley considers the power of herbs and why there is no such thing as a weed.
A collection about gardening unlike any other, In the Garden brings together fourteen brilliant writers to interrogate what is most important and pressing about growing today.
In The Kitchen: Essays on food and life
3.490 kr.‘A delightful collection of original, vibrant and heart-warming writing.’ – Nigel Slater
‘I learned that before entering the kitchen, I must get the measure of its hold over me.’
Food can embody our personal history as well as wider cultural histories. But what are the stories we tell ourselves about the kitchen, and how do we first come to it? How do the cookbooks we read shape us? Can cooking be a tool for connection in the kitchen and outside of it?
In these essays thirteen writers consider the subjects of cooking and eating and how they shape our lives, and the possibilities and limitations the kitchen poses. Rachel Roddy traces an alternative personal history through the cookers in her life; Rebecca May Johnson considers the radical potential of finger food; Ruby Tandoh discovers other definitions of sweetness through the work of writer Doreen Fernandez; Yemisí Aríbisálà remembers a love affair in which food failed as a language; and Julia Turshen considers food’s ties to community.
A collection to savour and inspire, In the Kitchen brings together thirteen contemporary writers whose work brilliantly explores food, capturing their reflections on their experiences in the kitchen and beyond.
Contributors
Juliet Annan
Yemisí Aríbisálà
Laura Freeman
Joel Golby
Daisy Johnson
Rebecca May Johnson
Rebecca Liu
Nina Mingya Powles
Ella Risbridger
Rachel Roddy
Mayukh Sen
Ruby Tandoh
Julia Turshen
‘A moving and beautiful tribute to food and taste and how these essential things wrap themselves round the colour of our lives.’ – Stylist
‘Immerse yourself in the culinary charms of this foodie essay collection.’ – Town & Country
‘This warming and varied collection of essays on food, cooking and all the emotions that get tangled up in the process, is a true balm.’ – New Statesman
‘In the Kitchen is literary comfort food for the soul and I heartily recommend it.’ – Idler
Freewheeling: Essays on Cycling
3.690 kr.Cycling? It’s one of my life’s constants, it feeds my need for beauty, for delight and for aimless exploring. It makes my body hum and brings me safely back to the present . . . I hope to continue pedalling, nice and slowly, for the rest of my life, with the same curiosity that ignited my childhood.
In these essays twelve writers consider the joys of cycling, whether in a city late at night, or along country lanes on a summer’s day. Yara Rodrigues Fowler and Xani Byrne write a moving essay on coming to terms with loss through tandem biking, Jon McGregor reminisces on the significance of cycling to Dunwich Beach throughout his life, Annie Lord sings the praises on cycling home on Lime Bikes from parties and the late Dervla Murphy regales us with stories of her cycle to India on her bike, named Roz.
These essays are a celebration of life on two wheels, touching on the joy, exhilaration and serenity to be found while cycling, and how bikes become an extension of ourselves, a type of armour, and a metaphor for life.
Contributors
Imogen Binnie
Aniefiok Ekpoudom
Yara Rodrigues Fowler & Xani Byrne
Mina Holland
Annie Lord
Jon McGregor
Moya Lothian-McLean
Dervla Murphy
David O’Doherty
Jini Reddy
Ashleigh Young
‘Thrums with beauty, wears its humanity like a crown.’ Michael Pedersen
‘The writing here has enough lightness of spirit to whip out on your morning commute . . . the essays have also been judiciously chosen, have an aerodynamic focus, and you’ll speed through them.’ LeftLion
‘An evocative and thought-provoking anthology that captures the multifaceted world of cycling . . . A delightful ride.’ BIKE magazine
The Road to the City
3.490 kr.They say that big families are happy, but I could never see anything particularly happy about ours.
Delia is one of five children, growing up in a poor Italian village. She is seventeen, and dreams of marrying a rich man; she dreams of a grand apartment in the city and silk stockings. To escape her father’s neglect and her mother’s sadness, she begins to take the dusty road to the city every day, accompanied by Nini, her sweet and mysterious cousin.
When Nini takes a job in a factory and moves in with a city woman, Delia sees another way of being. But when she discovers she’s pregnant, she agrees to marry the father, seduced by the promise of wealth and comfort. Nothing, not even Nini’s desperate declaration of love, can stop her – but her rejection will be his undoing.
The Road to the City is a short, poignant novel about the dreams of youth, and the cruelty it takes to make them come true.
