'Elixir' is a journey in search of a cure, a journey shaped by one river and three mountains. Kapka Kassabova takes us to the valley of the Mesta river, where the surrounding forests and mountains are a nexus for wild plant gatherers. Through the prism of the valley, exploring the deep connections between people, plants and place, she finds a story with vast resonance for us all. Over several seasons, Kassabova spends time with the people of this region. She meets women and men who work in a long lineage of foragers, healers and mystics. She discovers wild plants and their uses, the ancient practice of herbalism in which they are rooted, and experiences a symbiotic system where nature and culture have blended for thousands of years.
Set in the valley of the Mesta, one of the oldest inhabited river valleys in Europe and a nexus for wild plant gatherers, Elixir is an unforgettable exploration of the deep connections between people, plants and place
Pre-order Kapka Kassabova's new book, Anima: A Wild Pastoral, now
'Dark and mysterious and beautiful' FINANCIAL TIMES
'Alchemical prose... She had me under her spell' GUARDIAN, *BOOK OF THE DAY*
Over several seasons, Kassabova spends time with the people of this magical region. She meets women and men who work in a long lineage of foragers, healers and mystics. She learns about wild plants and the ancient practice of herbalism, and experiences a symbiotic system where nature and culture have blended for thousands of years. Through her captivating encounters we come to feel the devastating weight of the ecological and cultural disinheritance that the people of this valley have suffered. Yet, in her search for elixir, she also finds reasons for hope. The people of the valley are keepers of a rare knowledge, not only of mountain plants and their properties, but also of how to transform collective suffering into healing.
Immersive and enthralling, at its heart Elixir is a search for a cure to what ails us in the Anthropocene. It is an urgent call to rethink how we live - in relation to one another, to the Earth and to the cosmos.
About the Author: Kapka Kassabova is a poet and prose writer and, most recently, the author of Elixir (2023), To the Lake (2020) and Border (2017). Border won a British Academy Prize, the Scottish Book of the Year, Stanford-Dolman Travel Book of the Year, the Highland Book Prize and the Prix Nicholas Bouvier. It was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. The French edition of To the Lake won the Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger (non-fiction). Kassabova grew up in Sofia, Bulgaria, and studied in New Zealand. Today she lives by a river in the Scottish Highlands. Anima is the final book in her Balkan quartet exploring the relationship between humans and their environment, following Border, To the Lake, and Elixir.
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